Y’all Need a Copy Editor: HOW much alcohol are we allowed to drink, again?

Here at Words Collide, we’re not into grammar nazism. We do, however, believe that if you’re a well-resourced entity running a public-facing agency, company, or brand, you cannot afford to let messy or offensive errors destroy your messaging. Y’all need a copy editor.

I’ve learned that I no longer have the time or energy to criticize everyone else’s English mistakes, and that (shocker), it usually isn’t my place to do so anyway. The human writers, and editors, among us are far from infallible at the best of times. My editorial philosophy overall is that most situations deserve gentleness and grace.

This column is different because we’ll be talking about the kinds of sloppy mistakes that can embarrass a brand, diminish a minority group, or undermine a key message. Y’all Need a Copy Editor is a pointed callout to businesses, brands, and public figures who should already know better and, if they don’t, immediately invest in the resources and relationships to help them do so. It is a place to uphold the value of employing a diverse, knowledgeable staff when one is able.

The best copy editors aren’t out there merely nitpicking spelling and grammar. They’re deploying years of expertise to help save publications, companies, nonprofits, and governments from their own hubris. It’s unsung, behind-the-scenes labor that most people will never notice until it isn’t done.

If your organization has been releasing material with errors like this, do yourself a favor right now and hire a copy editor, pronto.

Today’s entry joins us from The New York Times’ Wirecutter, the publication’s flagship product review section, in a Facebook ad for a podcast episode recorded for Dry January. Spot the typo: It’s supposed to be “seven,” not “seen.” The correct quote appears several minutes into the episode.

Dana G. Smith, a reporter covering health for The New York Times, was being interviewed by colleagues for Wirecutter’s Dry January podcast, an episode that originally aired in January 2025. While speaking specifically about how the term “moderate drinking” is defined by gender and by government, Smith observed that binge drinking on the weekends doesn’t fall under the “moderate drinking” label. People cannot accurately view themselves as moderate drinkers, Smith said, if they abstain during the workweek but make up for it by having “all seven or 14 drinks on the weekend.”

Contextually, Smith was referring to the maxim that women should have no more than one alcoholic drink daily (two for men) in citing these figures.

Six months later, the NYT’s social post promoting this old podcast episode accidentally mis-transcribed Smith’s quote as “all seen or 14 drinks.” Under the circumstances, it’s an especially embarrassing typo.

What’s wrong with it? It’s not an ideal pull quote, because even without the typo, it contains a double negative. That’s a reflection of how many Americans speak in casual conversation. The real world isn’t an English classroom. When choosing direct quotes, however, writers and editors need to be mindful of anything that could confuse readers. The wording here is all-around clunky, but the ideas are good.

This episode is six months old, and if it were going to be rereleased for views boosting, more time and thought should have gone into the promotional repost.

Instead, the NYT managed to make their own expert on the dangers of alcohol consumption sound drunk.

What they got right: The in-house expert they were quoting gave good information about how the way moderate drinking is defined is marked by culture and geographical location as well as objective physical health metrics. Even if you do enjoy alcohol and don’t plan to give it up anytime soon, the episode is worth a listen.

Reporters who cover a beat long enough tend to learn a lot more about their assigned subjects than they ever publish. It’s fine that Wirecutter chose to bring Smith in to comment on all that knowledge acquired on the job.

Updating, promoting, and rereleasing content is standard practice at many publications. Dry January seems a slightly odd choice for late July, but in this season of backyard barbecues and summer parties, it’s not a horrible idea to remind people about the potential consequences of excessive alcohol consumption.

Found a doozy we should see? Submit your typos, your punctuation goofs, and your befuddling cultural missteps to Y’all Need a Copy Editor here.

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