Benjamin Dreyer
@bcdreyer.bsky.social
America's Copy Editor®
author of the New York Times/IndieBound bestseller Dreyer's English and Stet! (the game!) • Random House copy chief/managing editor (ret.) • he/him/his
benjamindreyer.com
author of the New York Times/IndieBound bestseller Dreyer's English and Stet! (the game!) • Random House copy chief/managing editor (ret.) • he/him/his
benjamindreyer.com
Pinned
Benjamin Dreyer
@bcdreyer.bsky.social
· Nov 27
Greetings, new people here at House of Copyediting. Besides first-rate, IISSM, prose advice, you'll get:
• a random theater photo of the day, sometimes more than one
• birthday alerts for dead actresses, and occasionally live ones
• Sallie updates
And it's all free!
• a random theater photo of the day, sometimes more than one
• birthday alerts for dead actresses, and occasionally live ones
• Sallie updates
And it's all free!
On tonight's Poirot, very much enjoying Sarah Woodward, who looks like a cross between her father and Cherry Jones.
November 16, 2025 at 4:15 AM
On tonight's Poirot, very much enjoying Sarah Woodward, who looks like a cross between her father and Cherry Jones.
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
And now: “everyone are at odds.”
November 16, 2025 at 12:09 AM
And now: “everyone are at odds.”
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
From the piece about the Olivia Nuzzi book.
I am trying to remain calm.
I am trying to remain calm.
November 14, 2025 at 6:30 PM
From the piece about the Olivia Nuzzi book.
I am trying to remain calm.
I am trying to remain calm.
one last posting before this goes back in its box
footnotes, endnotes, chatty notes, all kinds of notes
footnotes, endnotes, chatty notes, all kinds of notes
Too many notes?
[notes on notes]
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:14 AM
one last posting before this goes back in its box
footnotes, endnotes, chatty notes, all kinds of notes
footnotes, endnotes, chatty notes, all kinds of notes
oh right yes it's all the *other* sites that are run by pinheads; this place is geniuses as far as the eye can detect
November 16, 2025 at 12:12 AM
oh right yes it's all the *other* sites that are run by pinheads; this place is geniuses as far as the eye can detect
As a great lexicographer once confided to me:
"We can't change things in the dictionary if you don't change them first."
"We can't change things in the dictionary if you don't change them first."
Yes.
ribcage
Done.
ribcage
Done.
Rib cage is two words. I know this, and yet I need two passes to catch when it's been closed up because my eyes slip right over it. Can we just close this term, please?
November 16, 2025 at 12:08 AM
As a great lexicographer once confided to me:
"We can't change things in the dictionary if you don't change them first."
"We can't change things in the dictionary if you don't change them first."
"blending governance and family business"
for the love of
for the love of
Saudi officials used President Trump’s state visit in May to pique his interest in a major real estate development, the latest example of Trump blending governance and family business, particularly in Persian Gulf countries. nyti.ms/4r7mboU
November 15, 2025 at 11:57 PM
"blending governance and family business"
for the love of
for the love of
Yes.
ribcage
Done.
ribcage
Done.
Rib cage is two words. I know this, and yet I need two passes to catch when it's been closed up because my eyes slip right over it. Can we just close this term, please?
November 15, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Yes.
ribcage
Done.
ribcage
Done.
Just had a runthrough with @kerryomalley.bsky.social and Annabeth Gish of the evening’s readings, and…
This is going to be great. Even *I* gasped a couple of times.
This is going to be great. Even *I* gasped a couple of times.
Hey hi, Los Angeles (and Los Angeles–adjacent): This is going to be a super fun evening, and it would be great to see you there.
Thrills and chills guaranteed!
Thrills and chills guaranteed!
November 15, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Just had a runthrough with @kerryomalley.bsky.social and Annabeth Gish of the evening’s readings, and…
This is going to be great. Even *I* gasped a couple of times.
This is going to be great. Even *I* gasped a couple of times.
A book can survive a lousy title or a lousy jacket design but not, I think, both.
November 15, 2025 at 6:35 PM
A book can survive a lousy title or a lousy jacket design but not, I think, both.
"you can do it out of spite"
🙏🏻
🙏🏻
I might play this as my alarm every morning for the next month
November 15, 2025 at 6:12 PM
"you can do it out of spite"
🙏🏻
🙏🏻
I would totally take a gig as the pope's copy editor.
Answer key:
Kill the comma after "console," and the comma after "within us" should be set instead after the immediately following "and."
And of course I want a comma after "it speaks."
Kill the comma after "console," and the comma after "within us" should be set instead after the immediately following "and."
And of course I want a comma after "it speaks."
November 15, 2025 at 6:10 PM
I would totally take a gig as the pope's copy editor.
Goodbye to the amazing Elizabeth Franz.
❤️
❤️
November 15, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Goodbye to the amazing Elizabeth Franz.
❤️
❤️
👇🏻
"Begging the question" used to mean "raising the question" or "inspiring the question" will, at least in our lifetimes, never fail to rouse the ire of a hefty portion of the populace. So unless you have a kink for being howled it, don't bother.
3/2
3/2
November 15, 2025 at 4:04 PM
👇🏻
If you haven't seen the Kate-Sam Glass Menagerie in a long time, or ever, it's absolutely sensational. She strikes a perfect balance of charm and monstrousness, and the two of them are great at showing how much Amanda and Tom love each other (when they're not trying to murder each other).
November 15, 2025 at 3:36 PM
If you haven't seen the Kate-Sam Glass Menagerie in a long time, or ever, it's absolutely sensational. She strikes a perfect balance of charm and monstrousness, and the two of them are great at showing how much Amanda and Tom love each other (when they're not trying to murder each other).
❤️
November 15, 2025 at 3:34 PM
❤️
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
Petula Clark, Singer, Actress, Songwriter, #BornOnThisDay in 1932, in Ewell, Surrey, England
November 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Petula Clark, Singer, Actress, Songwriter, #BornOnThisDay in 1932, in Ewell, Surrey, England
Footnotes.
Endnotes.
Chatty notes.
Too many notes?
Endnotes.
Chatty notes.
Too many notes?
Too many notes?
[notes on notes]
open.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Footnotes.
Endnotes.
Chatty notes.
Too many notes?
Endnotes.
Chatty notes.
Too many notes?
today's especially random theater photo:
Uncle Tom's Cabin, c. 1901
Uncle Tom's Cabin, c. 1901
November 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
today's especially random theater photo:
Uncle Tom's Cabin, c. 1901
Uncle Tom's Cabin, c. 1901
Happy Carol Bruce's birthday!
November 15, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Happy Carol Bruce's birthday!
So as we were saying:
Happy birthday, Sam Waterston!
Happy birthday, Sam Waterston!
November 15, 2025 at 3:22 PM
So as we were saying:
Happy birthday, Sam Waterston!
Happy birthday, Sam Waterston!
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
mariska hargitay’s documentary on her mother, jayne mansfield, is phenomenal
November 15, 2025 at 11:28 AM
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
I like to think of myself as prescient.
@bcdreyer.social in case people are wondering about the correct usage …
November 15, 2025 at 4:15 AM
I like to think of myself as prescient.
It's Sam's birthday tomorrow, and that'll be fun.
November 15, 2025 at 4:10 AM
It's Sam's birthday tomorrow, and that'll be fun.
🫢
How blow? How blow?
November 15, 2025 at 3:31 AM
🫢