iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It seems every job I’m qualified for requires the use of AI tools. When I entered the workforce, I heard old-timers complaining that they were being forced to use email and the internet. I remember thinking, “Quit your griping and catch up, ya old fart!” Am I the old fart now? Or is this different?

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Writing a news article? Or something that resembles a news article? What’s the most important thing you want the reader to know? PUT THAT FIRST. Don’t build up to it. Just say it.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My final Pilot G2 black pen is about to die. I have four perfectly functional Pilot G2 red pens that a friend gave me because I’m an editor. A thoughtful gift, but I barely use them, as I never mark up hard copies. Do I buy new black pens? Or do I force myself to use a red pen as my everyday pen?

A single, dying black pen surrounded by four healthy, nearly unused red pens.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

(1/3) Etymologies that I didn’t see coming: Helicopter: from Greek “helix” heliko (“spiral”) + “pteron” (“wing”). The “pter” part also shows up in “pterodactyl.” We split the syllables like this: he-li-cop-ter. But it should really be more like he-li-co-pter.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

avenues through which to leverage --> ways to use #AmEditing

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

“Donald Trump doesn’t justify anything,” Grammer said. “If somebody comes at him ... with hate ... he just sends it right back at them.” While these things are true, Kelsey, THAT’S NOT THE BEHAVIOR OF A GOOD LEADER. Also, the Frasier reboot sucked.

closerweekly.com

Kelsey Grammer Explains Why Donald Trump ‘Probably Will’ Become One of America’s Best Presidents

Kelsey Grammer is opening up about his support for President Donald Trump and explaining how his political views have changed over the years. When the former Frasier star, 71, spoke to British radio s...

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Saw some guy on LinkedIn say, “If you’re worried that your AI-generated writing sounds inauthentic, here’s how you can train AI to sound more like you.” Or—hear me out—you could write things yourself. If I find myself missing nature while walking on a treadmill, I don’t move my treadmill outside.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

It’s Labor Day in the U.S., and I’d like to shout out Grover Cleveland and Noah Webster. In 1894, Cleveland signed a law declaring Labor Day a federal holiday. In 1829, Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language, declaring the U.S. would spell “labour” as “labor.”

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

WHERE DOES THE SECOND M IN COMMINGLE COME FROM

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Not a personalized LinkedIn message. More AI-generated spam.

A LinkedIn message from someone named Maria Clark that reads: Hi Dave. Not a billable-hour treadmill. A legal expertise program. Not minimum wage for your time. $125+/hr for your judgment. Not generic tasks. Legal research and contract analysis, evaluated by people who know it. Apply below.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Are there still people out there who object to “impact” as a verb? What’s their beef again?

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Here’s what some of my teacher friends have told me: Students who turned in AI-generated work two years ago tried to hide their use of AI. Now, many students readily admit they used gen AI. In fact, they claim that because they wrote the prompt, the output is actually their work. I hate this.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Don’t assign morality to food choices. For example, if you turn down a cookie because you’re choosing to cut calories, just say “no thanks.” Please don’t say “I’m trying to be good.” If you do eat the cookie, please don’t say “I’m so bad.” Good and bad have nothing to do with it.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

the system produces system-generated notifications —> the system generates notifications #AmEditing

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I’m telling you, “around” is becoming the all-purpose preposition. I’m seeing “centered around” and “based around” everywhere, and today I spotted this: Everyone benefits when organizations work together around shared goals. I would think we should work toward goals, not around them.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Can we bring back “beeves,” please? Source: etymonline

An entry from the Online Etymology Dictionary for the word “beef.” It reads: circa 1300, "an ox, bull, or cow," also the flesh of one when killed, used as food, from Old French buef "ox; beef; ox hide" (11 century , Modern French boeuf), from Latin bovem (nominative bos, genitive bovis) "ox, cow," from Proto-Indo-European root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow." The original plural in the animal sense was beeves.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Someone is canvassing our neighborhood on behalf of the GOP gubernatorial candidate. She’s wearing a pro-life T-shirt. She’s also wearing a mask because people are dying from the wildfire smoke that’s resulting from the climate change her party refuses to address. I wonder if she sees the irony.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I’m editing a 300-word article that contains five lists of exactly three things. That’s gen AI, folks! Take this (altered) excerpt: Leaders need to come together, align on priorities, and build trust. Are “come together” and “align on priorities” both needed? No. No, they are not.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Here’s a fun fact that many folks (including the holder of my nation’s highest elected office) might not know: Flags are flown at half-mast on ships and at naval stations. Flags are flown at half-staff everywhere else. Both terms are lowercase when appearing mid-sentence.

A Truth Social post from Donald Trump’s account that reads: In honor of the remarkable life and achievements of Senator Lindsey Graham, a dear friend of mine, and a truly great man, who achieved so much for our Country [country capitalized], and his beloved Home State [home state capitalized] of South Carolina, I am ordering all American Flags [flags capitalized] throughout the United States lowered to Half Mast [half mast capitalized] until Saturday evening at 6 P.M. GOD BLESS YOU LINDSEY! [all caps] President DONALD J. TRUMP [all caps]

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

There are search engine options that are not Google, but if you’re going to use Google, please type “-AI” after your search term to avoid getting that AI summary that literally nobody asked for. Google tracks everything, and if we’re all typing “-AI,” maybe (?) they’ll change their ways.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I think they meant “ANTI-fraud efforts.” A copy editor would have caught that. On second thought, never mind. It’s fine as it is.

A news story that reads: MILWAUKEE —
With the midterm elections in sight, Vice President JD Vance touted the Trump administration's fraud efforts during a stop in Milwaukee on Wednesday, urging supporters to vote for Republicans up and down the ticket and responding to Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who criticized the FBI's renewed probe into the 2020 election.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I just spoke to a client who wanted to make clear that my colleagues and I should not be using AI tools to edit their material. I was like, not only will we not use AI tools to edit your material, but if you wanted us to, we’d probably fight you.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

You can absolutely begin a sentence with “and” or “but.” You always could. If you were told otherwise, you were lied to. However, I don’t like to begin a *paragraph* with “and” or ”but.” They’re just not strong enough words to immediately follow a paragraph break.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

TIL of the now-defunct Society for the Suppression of Unnecessary Noise, founded in 1906 in NYC. They sponsored “safe and sane” July 4th celebrations sans fireworks. Shoulda been the Society for the Oppression of Unnecessary Noisy Distractions, abbreviated SOUND. They really missed an opportunity.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

If I hear people my age wax nostalgic about drinking garden hose water one more time, I’m gonna crack.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

contributed descriptions of --> described #AmEditing

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

manpower shortages --> labor shortages #AmEditing

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I don’t know what LinkedIn is becoming, but today I saw a poll from some guy I’m not connected with asking how many holes a straw has. His profile says he’s a Girl Dad. I damn near pulled a hammy running to the hide button.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

as this directly supports our cost optimization efforts --> as this saves us money #AmEditing

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Saw a commercial for a popular disposable diaper brand that declared its product is “up to 100% leakproof.” That would be every diaper. Every diaper is up to 100% leakproof.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

When you select a word or phrase in a Microsoft Word document and press Ctrl F, Word finds all other instances of that word or phrase in the document. There are many features I wish Google Docs had, and this is one of them. Such a simple thing.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I sent a work email today, and I wasn’t sure the receivers would understand that my tone was meant to be friendly and inquisitive, not complainy and accusatory. So I added the word “conundrum” near the end. No one in a bad mood has ever used that word, right?

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

All I’m saying is, if you’re emailing me asking if I know of any writing or editing jobs, and you make three punctuation errors in four sentences and type two spaces after periods, I’m probably not going to reply.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I just used Microsoft Word wildcards to search for footnote markers (the footnote marker wildcard is ^2), and it was a life-changing experience. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll sum it up: I’m a geek.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

engage in discussions around --> discuss In the last several years, I’ve noticed “around” is becoming an all-purpose preposition, often taking the place of “on,“ “about,“ and “regarding.” Interesting. #AmEditing

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

to provide a visual depiction of --> to visually depict #AmEditing

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Standing outside a restaurant in Milwaukee, waiting for a table, immersed in glorious Wisconsin accents. Overheard: “Didja drop these sunglasses er no?” “I was gonna borrow ya my pen but I seen you already got one.” “Oh jeez, it’s busy, ay?”

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

leaders from across the retail ecosystem --> retail leaders #AmEditing

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

WE ARE ALL FREE TO PRONOUNCE ALL WORDS HOWEVER WE WANT TO PRONOUNCE THEM. However, I don’t understand the logic behind saying “processes” with a long “e” in the final syllable.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

AP style recently switched from recommending “health care” (two words) to “healthcare” one word. It’s kind of a big deal. It’s also not really a big deal. I wrote about it. Please read if you are so inclined. dragonflyeditorial.com/aps-switch-f...

dragonflyeditorial.com

AP’s Switch From “Health Care” to “Healthcare”

The AP Stylebook, which provides guidance to journalists and other communications professionals across the U.S., at long last has made the switch from two-word “health care” to one-word “healthcare.”

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

When I post editing advice on social media, I should remember to include “This is what I sometimes do in some situations, not a hard-and-fast rule; you’re free to do whatever you want.” Otherwise, people think I’m spouting hard-and-fast rules, perhaps because that’s how grammar was imposed on them.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

When I began my editing career, I often changed “utilize” to “use.” For the past eight years or so, I’ve been changing “leverage” to “use.” Now I’m changing “use case” to the noun “use.” What do you people have against “use” in its various forms? It’s a perfectly fine word.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Just learned the ctrl + enter in Microsoft Word gives you a page break, and it’s changed my life.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Don’t let the look on my face fool you. I’m having a blast at #ACES2026 with my Dragonfly Editorial colleagues.

Seven nicely dressed people, six of whom are smiling and one of whom look uncomfortable.

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

AP style: Following the change from "health care" to "healthcare," AP now recommends "daycare" and "childcare." #ACES2026

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

AP style change: "healthcare" is now one word! IT'S NOW ONE WORD! DO YOU PEOPLE REALIZE HOW HUGE THIS IS?!?!?!?! #APStyle #ACES2026

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Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

The AP editors announced some changes they DID NOT make: "All right" is still two words, not "alright." They're keeping the classic definitions of "comprise" and "compose." #ACES2026

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