About this site

Bill Walsh died on March 15, 2017. I have decided to keep TheSlot.com more or less in its final state, at least for now. {signed} Mrs. TheSlot

Since 1995, when I had to preface most mentions of this site with an explanation along the lines of "You see, there's this thing called the Internet . . .," I've been foisting my opinions about the written word on the wired world.

I'm Bill Walsh, chief of the copy desk for the national desk of The Washington Post. This site is not affiliated with the Post; when I started it, in fact, I was across town at The Washington Times. I do this in my spare time -- the writing, the coding, everything. It's a one-man operation, and my only financial compensation is whatever I make selling the books and logo items I offer.

Did I mention books? In fall of 2000, Contemporary Books published my first dead-tree effort, "Lapsing Into a Comma: A Curmudgeon's Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print--and How to Avoid Them." Some of the book's content came from this site, and the publisher insisted that I eliminate most of the overlap, so the site isn't as big as it once was, but it's growing new content at a good pace. In the spring of 2004, McGraw-Hill (which bought Contemporary) published my second book, "The Elephants of Style."

How to use this site

If you're looking for more information about copy editing as a profession, you'll want to visit the WHAT EXACTLY IS A COPY EDITOR? section. I get a lot of requests for career advice, and it's in this section that you'll find my advice on how to become a copy editor.

Frequently asked questions

In the old days, copy desks were shaped like horseshoes. The leader sat in the middle, or "slot," and was known as the "slot man," or "slot" for short. (In the old days, everybody was a man.)
MORE HISTORY

How can I become a copy editor?

Be good. Damn good. You'll find more career advice here.

How can I work at home as a copy editor?

Believe me, I wish I knew.

Should I use one space or two spaces between sentences?

One, unless you're using a typewriter.

Is it "a historic" or "an historic"?

Do you live in an house? I didn't think so. A historic.

Why don't you use "smart" quotes and apostrophes?

I used to. Then I started getting e-mail asking me why someone who claims to know the language is writing without apostrophes. Apparently a small minority of computer systems cannot read the HTML codes that make these characters, so I'm playing it safe.

Why do you leave out serial commas / capitalize four-letter prepositions in headings / use quotation marks where you should use italics / not use en dashes?

I'm a newspaperman, and these are newspaper conventions. I'm also a bit of a populist, and I don't think language snobs should force the more esoteric typographical nuances down the throats of the general public. I'm not saying my way is always right; I'm just saying it's my way.

FAQ: Is it "an ef-ay-cue" or "a fack"?

I vote for "an ef-ay-cue." I tend to default to the letter-by-letter pronunciation. The Irish Republican Army and an individual retirement account are eye-are-ay, not "Ira." You wouldn't believe the shock that registered on my face the first time I heard somebody talk about a freeway's "hove lanes." And as for FAQ, I'll accept the term for either a collection of frequently asked questions or a single frequently asked question.