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Benjamin Dreyer

@bcdreyer.social

75K followers 1.4K following 50K posts

America's Copy Editor® author of the New York Times/IndieBound bestseller Dreyer's English and Stet! (the game!) • Random House copy chief/managing editor (ret.) • he/him/his benjamindreyer.com

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · Nov 27

Greetings, new people here at House of Copyediting. Besides first-rate, IISSM, prose advice, you'll get:

• a random theater photo of the day, sometimes more than one
• birthday alerts for dead actresses, and occasionally live ones
• Sallie updates

And it's all free!

our dog, Sallie, a pit mix who looks a bit like a pony or a calf, dozing in bed amid pillows and a quilt

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 9h

“That’s actually kind of a derp and philosophical question

Oh, sorry: deep.

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 9h

what a g.d. dork

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 9h

he had me at "robust"

but the "unapologetically" sealed the deal

and the glasses adjustment? 👨🏼‍🍳💋

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 10h

What will the new Adam O'Neal–hosted WaPo opinions podcast sound like for the next few decades? Maybe a little something like this x.com/WashPostComm...

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 9h

"That's so quaint that you think any of these people will ever be brought to justice" = 🔔

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 11h

Heal well, Micah.

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 12h

It just occurred to me that C. Aubrey Smith, with whom Margaret O'Brien appeared in the 1949 Little Women, was three years older than Harry Davenport, so that's 162 years and counting.

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 21d

The Gladys Cooper–Robert Redford co-star span is 137 years (1888–2025, that is).

Harry Davenport–Margaret O'Brien (1866–bless her heart) (Meet Me in St. Louis) is probably the record holder.

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 12h

oh puh-leeze

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 12h

The software thingies are supposed to know where all the breaks go. Sometimes a proper noun gets confused, but stuff like outhouse and offline should be no-brainers.

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Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer

William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 12h

Peace, good Doll

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 12h

Also, "nightclub" has been dominantly one word in the US since about 1966.

Also also, like, come on, we don't need to capitalize "presidential."

Also also also, I can't keep track of when TNY uses small caps and when they use full caps, but as long as they know...

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 12h

oh dear

Mark D. White @profmdwhite.bsky.social · 12h

That isn't how you split "offline" you doofuses.

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 13h

I was just thinking that "Destiny beckoned / I never reckoned / second-best" is actually a pretty clever lyric, and I don't know who I am anymore.

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 14h

Try the link again. The system glitched, and now it should be fixed.

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 16h

Flora Poste, is that you?

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 16h

This is the most “don’t read the replies” post in recent memory.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 1d

My statement on the two year anniversary of October 7, 2023.

“Two years ago today, Hamas carried out a horrific war crime, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping 250 more. I mourn these lives and pray for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities.

In the aftermath of that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war: adeath toll that now far exceeds 67,000; with the Israeli military bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble. Every day in Gaza has become a place where grief itself has run out of language. I mourn these lives and pray for the families that have been shattered. Our government has been complicit through it all.

This must end. The occupation and apartheid must end. Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes, and our government must act to end these atrocities and hold those responsible to account.

These last two years have demonstrated the very worst of humanity. We must answer it by modeling the very best: a relentless pursuit of our higher ideals and an unwavering commitment to universal human rights.”

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 17h

Oh! (As I recall, it was not the Kismet of my dreams.)

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 17h

Oh!

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 17h

I have the idea that a production cast with authentically Middle Eastern/Western Asian performers, and with something of a sense of humor, might work, but I'm not holding my breath to see that happen.

(I also have ideas about The Mikado.)