Stan Carey
@stancarey.bsky.social
Editor, writer, lapsed biologist in the west of Ireland
Copy-editing, writing: https://stancarey.com
Language: https://stancarey.wordpress.com
Strong language: https://stronglang.wordpress.com
🎞 https://letterboxd.com/stancarey
🦣 @stancarey@mastodon.ie
Copy-editing, writing: https://stancarey.com
Language: https://stancarey.wordpress.com
Strong language: https://stronglang.wordpress.com
🎞 https://letterboxd.com/stancarey
🦣 @stancarey@mastodon.ie
Pinned
Stan Carey
@stancarey.bsky.social
· Nov 10
Stan Carey editing and proofreading | Tidy, tighten, or transform your text
stancarey.com
I should introduce myself, now that the world is ending. I'm a freelance copy-editor/proofreader from Ireland. And I write, mostly about language: stancarey.com
stancarey.wordpress.com
I hike a bit and always have a book on the go and a film in mind. Background in biology; environmentalist at heart
stancarey.wordpress.com
I hike a bit and always have a book on the go and a film in mind. Background in biology; environmentalist at heart
Tom Gauld continues to document my life
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Tom Gauld continues to document my life
Reposted by Stan Carey
Book Cover of the Day:
November 10, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Book Cover of the Day:
Reposted by Stan Carey
Advice welcome - I'm moving as much as I can off Spotify (for various reasons) so where's a good place to link to for the pod? Where do other people use that's not Spotify-related? And any good alternatives to what used to be Anchor (now Spotify) for uploading pods?
November 10, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Advice welcome - I'm moving as much as I can off Spotify (for various reasons) so where's a good place to link to for the pod? Where do other people use that's not Spotify-related? And any good alternatives to what used to be Anchor (now Spotify) for uploading pods?
Michael Viney once wrote about moving from Dublin to Mayo with three bee hives in the trailer; Ethna drove them west at a steady 40 km/h to help the loose bees keep up 🐝
looking forward to seeing footage of the Presidential Bee Swarms frolicking with visiting dignitaries
November 10, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Michael Viney once wrote about moving from Dublin to Mayo with three bee hives in the trailer; Ethna drove them west at a steady 40 km/h to help the loose bees keep up 🐝
Reposted by Stan Carey
The blueprint for winning big on climate also came out last night. No more technocratic, policy wonk approaches. People showed they care about utility bills, free buses, affordable housing, etc. These are all climate issues. Talk about climate in terms people understand and experience.
November 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
The blueprint for winning big on climate also came out last night. No more technocratic, policy wonk approaches. People showed they care about utility bills, free buses, affordable housing, etc. These are all climate issues. Talk about climate in terms people understand and experience.
Reposted by Stan Carey
Gen-Z speak I learnt today:
"Day one-ers" - people you meet on arrival at university then spend the rest of the year trying to ditch.
"Pencils" - casual workers or those on zero-hours contracts who can be called in at a moment's notice (IOW: pencilled in).
"Day one-ers" - people you meet on arrival at university then spend the rest of the year trying to ditch.
"Pencils" - casual workers or those on zero-hours contracts who can be called in at a moment's notice (IOW: pencilled in).
November 6, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Gen-Z speak I learnt today:
"Day one-ers" - people you meet on arrival at university then spend the rest of the year trying to ditch.
"Pencils" - casual workers or those on zero-hours contracts who can be called in at a moment's notice (IOW: pencilled in).
"Day one-ers" - people you meet on arrival at university then spend the rest of the year trying to ditch.
"Pencils" - casual workers or those on zero-hours contracts who can be called in at a moment's notice (IOW: pencilled in).
The trees and the light on the hill this morning
November 9, 2025 at 7:18 PM
The trees and the light on the hill this morning
Reposted by Stan Carey
There’s an essay here on the role of good design/typography in successful campaigns!
November 5, 2025 at 8:20 AM
There’s an essay here on the role of good design/typography in successful campaigns!
Reposted by Stan Carey
Let's talk about linguistic arseholery. I have been thinking lately of examples of people being dickishly pedantic (or just wrong-headed) about what to call things. Three examples below, starting with the well-known case of Anthony Powell. 🧵
November 4, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Let's talk about linguistic arseholery. I have been thinking lately of examples of people being dickishly pedantic (or just wrong-headed) about what to call things. Three examples below, starting with the well-known case of Anthony Powell. 🧵
"Mamdani" as a crash course in English phonotactics with sociolinguistics on the side, all in 101 seconds) 🐦🐦
This is good. On the linguistic roots why, people say Mandami and why it's not just linguistics (i.e. the impulse is linguistic but at this point for certain people it's deliberate)
November 5, 2025 at 3:12 PM
"Mamdani" as a crash course in English phonotactics with sociolinguistics on the side, all in 101 seconds) 🐦🐦
Reposted by Stan Carey
Do I know anyone (who knows anyone) who writes for a big press outlet on LBGTQIA human rights issues, especially worldwide? I'm trying to draw attention to the plight of a group of people in South Sudan who are facing grave danger and additional barriers to aid because of their identity.
October 21, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Do I know anyone (who knows anyone) who writes for a big press outlet on LBGTQIA human rights issues, especially worldwide? I'm trying to draw attention to the plight of a group of people in South Sudan who are facing grave danger and additional barriers to aid because of their identity.
Very good 3-part documentary about the climate emergency.
"What are we prepared to give up to save the future?"
"What are we prepared to give up to save the future?"
“But there’s no interest in #climate change any more!”
Barely a fortnight on YouTube and Global Warning has already been watched half a million times. Plus look at the appetite in the comments for more reliable info. @aljazeera.com has made them free to air so share them.
youtu.be/F8vI5_gN90g?...
Barely a fortnight on YouTube and Global Warning has already been watched half a million times. Plus look at the appetite in the comments for more reliable info. @aljazeera.com has made them free to air so share them.
youtu.be/F8vI5_gN90g?...
Inside the planet’s most urgent climate warning | Global Warning E1 | Featured Documentary
YouTube video by Al Jazeera English
youtu.be
November 3, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Very good 3-part documentary about the climate emergency.
"What are we prepared to give up to save the future?"
"What are we prepared to give up to save the future?"
Reposted by Stan Carey
How am I only hearing of the Scunthorpe problem for the first time? As always, @stancarey.bsky.social is a delightful follow.
This is what copy-editing by machine gets you. See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuntho...
October 28, 2025 at 11:41 AM
How am I only hearing of the Scunthorpe problem for the first time? As always, @stancarey.bsky.social is a delightful follow.
Reposted by Stan Carey
I recently realized that this month is the twentieth (!) blogiversary of Arrant Pedantry. My posting frequency has been pretty bad the last few years as I've dealt with health problems, pandemic burnout, and regular burnout, but I wanted to mark the occasion by sharing some of my favorite posts.
October 31, 2025 at 7:05 PM
I recently realized that this month is the twentieth (!) blogiversary of Arrant Pedantry. My posting frequency has been pretty bad the last few years as I've dealt with health problems, pandemic burnout, and regular burnout, but I wanted to mark the occasion by sharing some of my favorite posts.
Reposted by Stan Carey
I can confirm they are tremendously successful with this reproduction strategy. They also manage to still live at this time of year. They are also my personal enemies. You can outrun them though. They are very slow.
Nothing I watch this Halloween can compare with these lines about midges I just read in Jane Powers's "An Irish Nature Year"
October 31, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I can confirm they are tremendously successful with this reproduction strategy. They also manage to still live at this time of year. They are also my personal enemies. You can outrun them though. They are very slow.
Fun, wide-ranging podcast about monsters throughout history and what they mean. On a linguistic note, I loved @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social's use of the word "monstertopian" in reference to the Muppets and Star Trek
New episode!! 🎉😱
A conversation with @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social & Natalie Lawrence about monsters of all kinds.
Monsters seem to be everywhere—our myths, our maps, our children's books, our political discourse. What do these creatures tell us about ourselves?
Listen: disi.org/monsters-and...
A conversation with @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social & Natalie Lawrence about monsters of all kinds.
Monsters seem to be everywhere—our myths, our maps, our children's books, our political discourse. What do these creatures tell us about ourselves?
Listen: disi.org/monsters-and...
November 3, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Fun, wide-ranging podcast about monsters throughout history and what they mean. On a linguistic note, I loved @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social's use of the word "monstertopian" in reference to the Muppets and Star Trek
Nothing I watch this Halloween can compare with these lines about midges I just read in Jane Powers's "An Irish Nature Year"
October 31, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Nothing I watch this Halloween can compare with these lines about midges I just read in Jane Powers's "An Irish Nature Year"
Reposted by Stan Carey
My essay on bird rescue, death, and transcendence is now online @winterpapers.bsky.social
Some more pieces now up on our digital archive, including this fine essay from vol 5 by @zanbreathnach.bsky.social
winterpapers.com/selected-wor...
winterpapers.com/selected-wor...
BIRDS, WATCHING · Suzanne Walsh
Winter Papers, volume 5
winterpapers.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:22 PM
My essay on bird rescue, death, and transcendence is now online @winterpapers.bsky.social
Reposted by Stan Carey
"...back then Halloween would have been more about getting revenge on people, that sort of thing..." says my mother, wistfully
October 29, 2025 at 1:01 PM
"...back then Halloween would have been more about getting revenge on people, that sort of thing..." says my mother, wistfully
"Don't do it with publication in mind, don't do it for posterity, don't do it for the likes…Just write for the sake of it. Write to see what your own thoughts look like when you force them into sentences"
Joan Westenberg on how regular writing debugs cognition www.joanwestenberg.com/p/why-you-sh...
Joan Westenberg on how regular writing debugs cognition www.joanwestenberg.com/p/why-you-sh...
Why You Should Write Every Day (Even if You’re Not a Writer)
Writing Is Thinking With the Training Wheels Off
www.joanwestenberg.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM
"Don't do it with publication in mind, don't do it for posterity, don't do it for the likes…Just write for the sake of it. Write to see what your own thoughts look like when you force them into sentences"
Joan Westenberg on how regular writing debugs cognition www.joanwestenberg.com/p/why-you-sh...
Joan Westenberg on how regular writing debugs cognition www.joanwestenberg.com/p/why-you-sh...
Reposted by Stan Carey
Never.
Enough.
Etymology.
Enough.
Etymology.
Pairs like this are common but easily missed, and often have a voiced–unvoiced distinction. Jespersen lists e.g. speech/speak, bath/bathe, batch/bake, price/prize, glass/glaze, grass/graze. "Ache" is a curious mix of the old noun's spelling and the old verb's pronunciation #etymology
Idly wondered if "stench" is related to "stink" and got my mind blown by this note in Etymonline:
"Related to stink (v.) as drench is to drink, as clench is to cling."
Oh, of course! But I never thought of it that way.
I love etymology.
"Related to stink (v.) as drench is to drink, as clench is to cling."
Oh, of course! But I never thought of it that way.
I love etymology.
October 29, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Never.
Enough.
Etymology.
Enough.
Etymology.
Reposted by Stan Carey
As it’s October, how about a thread of lost German horror / weird films from the 1920s? Films we can only watch in our mind’s eye based on limited available info; an ever-fascinating “what if” alternative cinematic horror canon
Synopses and posters (where available) to follow…🧵 #filmsky
Synopses and posters (where available) to follow…🧵 #filmsky
October 20, 2025 at 12:43 PM
As it’s October, how about a thread of lost German horror / weird films from the 1920s? Films we can only watch in our mind’s eye based on limited available info; an ever-fascinating “what if” alternative cinematic horror canon
Synopses and posters (where available) to follow…🧵 #filmsky
Synopses and posters (where available) to follow…🧵 #filmsky
"The way that Connolly expresses herself […]—confident and articulate, without being aggressive or bombastic—is also part of her appeal at a time when dysfunctional caricatures of masculinity, from Trump to McGregor, are clogging up the landscape." —Daniel Finn
jacobin.com/2025/10/iris... #Áras25
jacobin.com/2025/10/iris... #Áras25
Ireland’s Presidential Election Was a Left-Wing Landslide
Ireland’s new president, Catherine Connolly, is an outspoken left-winger who champions the rights of the Palestinians and opposes Europe’s militarization drive. Her resounding victory came as a huge s...
jacobin.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:25 AM
"The way that Connolly expresses herself […]—confident and articulate, without being aggressive or bombastic—is also part of her appeal at a time when dysfunctional caricatures of masculinity, from Trump to McGregor, are clogging up the landscape." —Daniel Finn
jacobin.com/2025/10/iris... #Áras25
jacobin.com/2025/10/iris... #Áras25
Reposted by Stan Carey
A fascinating piece on Nazi tattoo removal and the attendant challenges. www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025...
Tattoo fixers on removing Nazi symbols: ‘You don’t know if they’re changing or hiding’
Senate hopeful Graham Platner covered up his tattoo once he learned of its Nazi associations. It’s a problem so common there are free programs for it
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:33 PM
A fascinating piece on Nazi tattoo removal and the attendant challenges. www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025...
Pairs like this are common but easily missed, and often have a voiced–unvoiced distinction. Jespersen lists e.g. speech/speak, bath/bathe, batch/bake, price/prize, glass/glaze, grass/graze. "Ache" is a curious mix of the old noun's spelling and the old verb's pronunciation #etymology
Idly wondered if "stench" is related to "stink" and got my mind blown by this note in Etymonline:
"Related to stink (v.) as drench is to drink, as clench is to cling."
Oh, of course! But I never thought of it that way.
I love etymology.
"Related to stink (v.) as drench is to drink, as clench is to cling."
Oh, of course! But I never thought of it that way.
I love etymology.
Stench - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Originating from Middle English and Old English stenc/stync, meaning "a smell or odor," stemming from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz, denoting scent, pleasant or unplea...
www.etymonline.com
October 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Pairs like this are common but easily missed, and often have a voiced–unvoiced distinction. Jespersen lists e.g. speech/speak, bath/bathe, batch/bake, price/prize, glass/glaze, grass/graze. "Ache" is a curious mix of the old noun's spelling and the old verb's pronunciation #etymology