Picky, picky…

Yeh, I am sometimes kinda nit-picky. So?

One reason I like eBooks in html format is that I can easily edit them when the author and editors have fallen down on things that they ought to catch. I mean, after all, if I paid $4 for a book, I have a right to expect these folks to earn their $$ by doing a workmanly job of writing and editing it. (You’re not paying me jack for reading this, so mty typos stay. So there.)

Case in point (and the spur for this nit-picky post): I’m reading a book right now that’s really pretty well-written. The author not only has a history degree (and other neato keano DV stuff) but he wasn’t ruined by a history degree in a contemporary college/university, that is, he knows his stuff. It’s fiction, but this guy’s fiction is usually pretty tight, and any historical/cultural references are pretty much on target.

So, when I ran across a piece of dialog where a character said (according to the author’s “transcription”), “Here, here!” I was just a tad disgusted.

As the guy should know, the expression is “Hear, hear!” as derived most likely from the expression “Hear him, hear him!” as I recall the OED stating it. It’s an expression of strong agreement.

“Here, here!” means, well, nothing, has no roots outside of subliterate blatherings and is entirely unworthy of this author.

So, yeh, I’ve corrected a few other usages, typos, misspellings and expressions in this particular book, and I kinda have to wonder if

1.) The editor wasn’t waaaay under the weather (or relying on some sub-par copyreaders) or
2.) The co-author (yeh, there’s someone else in the mix), whom I’ve never read before, wasn’t responsible for this bit, or
3.) Both.

I vote for both.

But at least I can correct the usage, save MY copy (corrected) and read on…

Nice thing about eBooks in html format…

🙂