Regret the Error

The English language, which arose from humble Anglo-Saxon roots to become the lingua franca of 600 million people worldwide and the dominant lexicon of international discourse, is dead. It succumbed last month at the age of 1,617 after a long illness. It is survived by an ignominiously diminished form of itself. The end came quietly [...]

Philip B. Corbett, a deputy news editor at the New York Times, is the latest of the paper’s editors to offer himself up for a Q&A with readers. Corbett “is in charge of revisions in the newsroom’s style manual, and he handles questions from colleagues and readers about language and usage in The Times. He [...]