74 Tweets That Will Make You Laugh If You Love Grammar, Copyediting, And Language

Follow the BuzzFeed News copy desk on Twitter @styleguide!

1.

Twitter: @CharlesFinch

2.

Hey! You know what! In 2022 I am using exclamation points at the end of every email sentence! I don’t care if it looks like I’m unhinged! I am! Warmest regards!!!

Twitter: @kaitfeldmann

3.

Twitter: @styleguide

4.

this headline makes sense in context but it really sounds like a story about a witch's curse gone wrong

Twitter: @petridishes

5.

if you can pretend that a groundhog is predicting the weather for the next six weeks, you can use they/them for a single person

Twitter: @rivbutcher

6.

when they forget to give the copy desk access to the Google Doc:

Twitter: @styleguide

7.

Them: We used the Google Docs spellcheck, so I think it's pretty clean. Me:

Twitter: @styleguide

8.

How many copyeditors does it take to change a light bulb? This is the first time you've mentioned a light bulb

Twitter: @PiersTorday

9.

Twitter: @1followernodad

10.

Twitter: @winenshine

11.

Twitter: @kenjennings

12.

electricity went out and i had a small meltdown at work today

Twitter: @pragdua

13.

Twitter: @SaltyScribe

14.

Yeah I love the “Grammys” — all the grammy lessons in my damn style guide

Twitter: @styleguide

15.

It's a common mistake, but Frankenstein was actually the author

Twitter: @MedCrisis

16.

The past tense of the verb “lead” is “led,” which sounds the same as the element “lead,” which rhymes with “red,” which sounds like “read,” which is the past tense of “read.” Somehow we navigate through these words every day, so don’t tell me singular “they” is too confusing.

Twitter: @The_GrammarGeek

17.

"Don't Worry Darling"? But I am worried! About where the vocative comma went!

Twitter: @styleguide

18.

When your editor lets you add that extra em-dash:

Twitter: @temurdur

19.

An editor’s job is thinking, but a copy editor’s job is overthinking.

Twitter: @editwithemily

20.

why do we always add -ussy but never add -enis

Twitter: @0xPenryn

21.

Twitter: @kdnerak33

22.

“Now I put commas wherever the fuck I want”

Twitter: @PFTompkins

23.

Twitter: @AndyBCampbell

24.

The sexual tension between me and the em dash is insane. I literally cannot stop.

Twitter: @_InGoldInk

25.

we need an american girl doll who’s a descriptivist

Twitter: @styleguide

26.

they're a 10 but they use two hyphens instead of an em dash

Twitter: @styleguide

27.

"twerp" is derived from a guy named t w earp

Twitter: @depthsofwiki

28.

writer: i ran a spellcheck, so it's probably good to go copy editor:

Twitter: @styleguide

29.

Once i read an article about how women need to use less em dashes because it is a feminine way to write and I was like “ok—“

Twitter: @christapeterso

30.

spotted an ellipsis in the wild… it really gave me pause.

Twitter: @jelenawoehr

31.

queue is such a funny word. you get it right on the first letter and then take four victory laps

Twitter: @_unwell

32.

Shout-out to the other neurodivergents who use parentheses too much (to add context to make sure nothing is misunderstood) (because parentheses clarify our directness) (I hope this tweet makes sense).

Twitter: @BeingCharisBlog

33.

YOUNG PEOPLE: heres some slightly different language you can use to be more inclusive OLD PEOPLE: we are going to burn the entire earth to the ground

Twitter: @ben_rosen

34.

Dogshit - Very poor quality Bullshit - Not true Horseshit - Nonsense Apeshit - Rambunctious Batshit - Insane This is an excellent feature of English that we should continue building upon.

Twitter: @lacquerleaks

35.

“men used to hunt” yeah well i stay in the google doc and watch while an editor is working on my copy

Twitter: @angelmendoza___

36.

going into next week I think I speak for all editors by saying that the name Beyoncé should universally autocorrect to include the accent mark over the e across all devices and platforms

Twitter: @SteveKandell

37.

This is worrying. We've only started using robots ourselves.

Twitter: @cupking11

38.

the chicago style hot dog implies the existence of the mla style hot dog

Twitter: @twentylifetimes

39.

don’t touch that, it’s my emotional support emdash

Twitter: @dragonspleen

40.

Copyeditor: “I am going to break up some of your longer sentences” (crowd boos) “with more em-dash pairs” (crowd cheers)

Twitter: @BRKeogh

41.

As the years go by, I’m increasingly becoming the guy on the right, in more ways than one. https://t.co/4kMOGPsWQ0

Twitter: @The_GrammarGeek

42.

It's wild to me that we have a word for "throwing someone out a window" but not for, like, "the day after tomorrow". What's going on here? Big Window?

Twitter: @illocutie

43.

If there’s one thing I’m gonna do it’s use an em dash

Twitter: @rosedommu

44.

me when I see writers lurking in the Google Doc while I'm still editing

Twitter: @megh_wright

45.

every time I send an email with no exclamation points I am just a tough lil guy. so stern. so brave.

Twitter: @slizagna

46.

THE USE OF SINGULAR “THEY” ACTUALLY DATES BACK TO THE 1300S SO YOU CAN’T MAKE THE ARGUMENT THAT IT “BOTHERS YOU” BECAUSE IT’S “GRAMMATICALLY INCORRECT” EVEN SHAKESPEARE AND EMILY DICKINSON USED “THEY” WITH A SINGULAR ANTECEDENT AND NO ONE SAID A THING

Twitter: @styleguide

47.

They say consistent writing makes your language-brain sharper, but I somehow wrote 2k new words today and then when I was making a grocery list I couldn’t remember the word “lettuce” so I wrote “sandwich leaf”

Twitter: @erinslaughter23

48.

“Yeah it’s late but at least when I file, the copy is clean” The copy editors:

Twitter: @elamin88

49.

Twitter: @hardin

50.

[tears in my eyes, pulling out a gun] ok my darlings... I have some bad news...

Twitter: @BrotiGupta

51.

when taylor uses hyphens instead of em dashes in her album announcement

Twitter: @styleguide

52.

my brother, taking one (1) journalism class in college and texting me to ask if I know what the AP style book is...

Twitter: @katikokal

53.

when the copy desk doesn't get to edit the draft

Twitter: @styleguide

54.

Twitter: @ashtonpittman

55.

They totally missed a trick here https://t.co/0oNgKql2Fe

Twitter: @emilygathergood

56.

Twitter: @styleguide

57.

when you see someone else in the google doc but it’s just you in another tab

Twitter: @nicolewboyce

58.

I'm sorry but "non-fungible" will always mean "impossible to turn into a mushroom" to me

Twitter: @DarkLiterata

59.

Wait, Laurie doesn’t believe in the Oxford Comma? Maybe Michael was right.

Twitter: @Neil_McNeil

60.

poke is a way better gender neutral term than person: mailpoke, congresspoke, handypoke, snowpoke. all perfect.

Twitter: @isle_mcelroy

61.

watching my editor work in the google doc

Twitter: @davidmackau

62.

Twitter: @joycecaroloates

63.

The contradictory Oxford comma use, the missing punctuation, the random insertions of Elon-speak… It’s always immediately noticeable when copy editors get fired

Twitter: @kattenbarge

64.

when the pre-write still needs a re-write

Twitter: @ddiamond

65.

I hate commas its not my job to tell you when you breathe work it out youre a grown adult

Twitter: @ACartoonCat

66.

Using an en dash is lowkey goated in situations where displaying a date range is the vibe

Twitter: @tassel_loafer

67.

if twitter really is dying, my confession is that i never noticed the comma in that one pride and prejudice quote, so up until recently i always read it as "you have bewitched me body and me soul" in a leprachaun voice and i never understood how people found that romantic

Twitter: @oyinwrites

68.

Twitter: @styleguide

69.

Microsoft Word wrapped -you deleted the same sentence 947 times -you stared at 14 different documents and added nothing before closing them in disgust -you were in the top 1% of users of the word “just”

Twitter: @megelison

70.

a real testament to the evolution of language is the fact that every "today is giving tuesday" type email subject line makes me laugh at least a little

Twitter: @NifMuhammad

71.

I learned a new phrase today: going goblin. I intend to use it at every opportunity.

Twitter: @StephenKing

72.

Goblin mode has made it to China. In this screenshot it’s both being translated phonetically and rendered as “摆烂模式”, which basically means “fuck it mode”. I love this

Twitter: @benegotherit

73.

Two different languages are being spoken here lmaooooo

Twitter: @samah_fadil

74.

city of toronto, you needed a copyeditor on staff for this one.

Twitter: @maxymiw
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