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Subject:Editorial nit picking From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Wed, 12 Mar 1997 09:19:22 -0600
I've heard the phrase "editors are so <epithet> nit-picky"
so often that I've developed a standard reply to it. "Yes,
we pick nits, but if we didn't, they'd survive to grow up
into lice. If you want lousy documentation, dispense with
the editor."
It's worth noting that this particular idiom has become so
common because most people never bother to look up "nit"
and "lousy" in the dictionary, and hence don't understand
the original meaning of the phrase. I'd guess this is
because we're fortunate enough to live in an era in which
personal hygiene has let us largely forget that nits and
lice ever existed... outside unedited docs, of course.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
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