EdSA Christmas trivia
by Melanie Dankel
Last December, Editors SA made the reluctant decision (as did most of us) to eschew our usual in-person Christmas celebrations for a Zoom trivia night. It was a warm evening, and it was good to see some festive outfits (and even more festive glasses of champagne) for a light-hearted evening.
While we were waiting for our quiz master to tally the results, we ran a poll to pass the time. We thought we’d reproduce it here to see how you compare to our group on the night — and it might be worth a chuckle or two.
1. You’re on a deserted island and an urgent job comes in via message in a bottle (yes, it’s a plot hole — we know). What’s the one resource you must have to get the job done?
a) Your laptop (even with dodgy wi-fi)
b) The Macquarie Dictionary
c) The Aus Gov Style Manual
d) A good cup of tea and some chocolate to get you in the mood
Not surprisingly, our teams were split between a dodgy island laptop and some chocolate.
2. I dread hearing:
a) I have a friend who has written a novel. You should edit it.
b) Do you have to read the whole book?
c) I know you work from home so I thought I’d pop round for a cuppa.
d) Don’t people just use spell check?
Again, another split between the awkward ‘my friend needs an editor’ conversation and needing to justify why editors don’t just correct spelling and move commas.
3. My eyes bleed when I see:
a) Typos on the first page of a friend’s self-published novel
b) Apple’s and orange’s
c) Authors in Facebook chats saying you don’t need an editor
If you chose ‘B’, you are in good company as that was the overwhelming feeling among our group.
4. You can take my freedom, but you can never take my …
a) Oxford comma
b) Red/blue pen
c) Hard copy of the Aus Gov Style Manual
d) IPEd membership
Take note, IPEd Style Manual Working Group, because a resounding 70 per cent will not give up their hard-copy version of the Style Manual.
Congratulations to Jane, Helena, Fiona and Melanie who narrowly took out first place amid some stiff competition. We’d like to thank our quiz host, Louise Crawford, and everyone who attended — it was great to see several interstate faces as well as familiar SA colleagues. We hope you’ve all had a relaxing break and we’re looking forward to a bigger, brighter 2021.
Melanie Dankel is the Editors SA Branch President. Contact her at edsa.president@iped-editors.org.