ADVICE FOR THE LIT-LORN

Wait—white what?

Is there a new meaning of the term 'white elephant'?

Neck by a nose

Which is correct, neck-and-neck or neck-in-neck?

Fully conscious

To E or not to E

Togetherness

OK, I give up—how do you know when to use 'altogether' and 'all together'?

Italic otherness

Why do English-language style guides tell us to italicize words in other languages when they appear in English running text?

Uppercase parents

Can you please explain, in terms that a gerbil could understand, when to capitalize Dad and Mum, and when not to, and why?

Editing on the side

Is it a good idea to finance a writing career by doing freelance editing?

Humour us

Why oh why do we Canadians spell 'humour' with a 'u', but 'humorous' without the 'u'?

Guten tag, Jerry

Is “jerry-built” an insult to people of German descent?

Hard art

May I say more about the anguish of writing?

The reverential pronoun

Is it necessary to capitalize “he,” “his” and so on when referring to God?

Beginner's luck?

Why would a publisher sign up an unknown novelist's first book and say no thanks to an experienced writer's second book?

Pre-washed before

In the world of lettuce packaging, what's the difference between “washed” and “pre-washed”?

Inelegance

Is it usual for an editor to change a writer's text so that some words are repeated severaltimes?

Pumped

Where do you stand on superheated words?