Devoted to technical writing and technical writers

One of the more unpleasant tasks that an editor or his designated assistant has to do is to review submitted articles. Inevitably, the editor has to decide if certain grammatical errors or clumsy sentence constructions should be allowed to fly, or if these should be corrected / excised. The job becomes especially difficult if touchy or name writers are involved. When and where does one exercise editorial prerogative?

Obviously, an editor must be properly equipped with mastery of the language in question, familiar with its idioms, idiosyncrasies, and nuances. In a word, know the rules, and then know when to break them.

The use of two words in particular always used to get my hackles up. Even to this very day, I find many misusing THAT and WHO in everyday language. I do not have my old English texts before me, but I distinctly remember a crusty old professor howling: “THAT should be used only for objects and WHO should be used in reference to people!” 

For example: “I remember this favorite uncle of mine WHO used to regale us with tall tales that would boggle the imagination. He has this trusty book THAT he carried with him all day, probably the source of his many wild stories.”

These days, I get to hear so many others say: “I have a mentor THAT helps me with my homework.” Aaaargh!