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Thread: Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

  1. #1
    Clueless but well-meaning Hatshepsut's avatar
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    Default Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

    Some of you may have seen this over-the-top letter from Giles Coren to sub-editors (I guess thats Brit-speak for "copyeditor?) at the Times, in which he throws a tantrum because his words were changed from "for a nosh" to "for nosh." The man can write, I'll grant him that, and he's correct that "for nosh" sounds lame, but he's pretty clearly a self-centered twat. And I don't understand one of his arguments:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/23/mediamonkey

    And worst of all. Dumbest, deafest, shittest of all, you have removed the unstressed 'a' so that the stress that should have fallen on "nosh" is lost, and my piece ends on an unstressed syllable. When you're winding up a piece of prose, metre is crucial. Can't you hear? Can't you hear that it is wrong? It's not fucking rocket science. It's fucking pre-GCSE scansion. I have written 350 restaurant reviews for The Times and i have never ended on an unstressed syllable. Fuck. fuck, fuck, fuck.
    Okay, I understand that "for a nosh" sounds MUCH better than "for nosh." But the syllable stressing thing? Huh. I read the last phrase with the following stress:

    WON der ing WHERE to GO for NOSH

    as opposed to:

    WON der ing WHERE to GO for a NOSH

    Either way, "nosh" gets a stress.

    What am I missing?

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    Oliphaunt jali's avatar
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    Default Re: Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

    I enjoyed reading Mr. Coren's various emails. Thanks for the link and the smiles.

    He's a rand rover.
    They weren't singing....they were just honking.
    Glee 2009

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

    By the look of his (lack of) use of capitals, he needs a sub-editor.

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    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

    What an unbelievable douchebag that guy is. Geez.

  5. #5
    Clueless but well-meaning Hatshepsut's avatar
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    Default Re: Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

    Quote Originally posted by amarone
    By the look of his (lack of) use of capitals, he needs a sub-editor.
    I think that's the website's problem, not his. I originally read this letter (and the absolutely magnificent answer he was given) in Harper's magazine, and the capitalization was correct.

    Here from another site is the letter with the answer - unfortunately the captitalization and punctuation are mucked up a bit, but that is clearly not how it was originally written. If you can overlook the typos, the response is marvelous.

    http://poetrydispatch.wordpress.com/200 ... continued/

    But I still don't know what he's going on about regarding stress!

  6. #6
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

    What a dick! A writer should really be aware that he should treat his copy editors well, seeing as all his "deathless prose" must pass through them before it is published. Abuse them, and there is a much greater chance that your prose will be abused.

    Seriously. Copy editors are the unsung heroes of many an article, and you don't want to turn your savior into an enemy.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

    Quote Originally posted by CairoCarol
    But I still don't know what he's going on about regarding stress!
    Whilst you can choose to stress any syllable you like, there is a natural place for the stress to fall in any given sentence. Despite being a bit of a prick about it, Coren is right that without the "a" you naturally end the sentence on a falling note - which, as he says, is not good for a punchy newspaper piece. A lot of writers never even think about this kind of issue, and many of them don't have to as it comes to them naturally. Coren obviously overthinks it.

  8. #8
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Explain to me why Giles Coren's knickers were twisted

    Quote Originally posted by CairoCarol
    If you can overlook the typos, the response is marvelous.
    That is a beautiful thing to behold.

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