Attack of the Monkies

A few days ago, L.A. Weekly designer extraordinaire Ryan Ward called me at my desk with a simple question: How do you spell the plural of "monkey"? Before I could really think about it, I said "m-0-n-k-i-e-s." Judging by the reaction of my co-workers, you would have thought I'd just committed an act of high treason.

The hoots and hollers of derision (monkeylike, now that I think of it) rained down upon my poor head. I quickly corrected myself to Ryan ("Sorry, dude, the executioners in here just told me it's "m-o-n-k-e-y-s") and prepared for a day's worth of ridicule. When you're first entering the copy editing world, experienced folk will tell you about some of the job perils: odd hours, lack of recognition, a lifetime of staring into a cold computer monitor. But what they don't tell you about -- primarily so they can embarrass the living hell out of you after your first miscue -- is that copy editors love to jump all over their colleagues' mistakes.

We're so bad at the Weekly that we pounce if someone mispronounces a French term or doesn't use the subjunctive when it's required. (But we have the utmost respect for our writers. We never make fun of the mistakes we correct in copy. Honestly.) I tell you, entering that room every day is like climbing into a steel cage in preparation for a Grammatical WrestleMania against a half-dozen nerdly Ultimate Warriors.

So if you're interested in the alluring world of copy editing, have the chops, know your style ... and develop a thick skin.

*****

Many thanks to LA Observed for the link. Now we're more paranoid than ever about mistakes on this thing!