Merrill Perlman riffs on a recent question from an editing conference, where legendary copyeditor Mary Norris was asked about the "rules" for doubling consonants before suffixes: "Because the 'p' in 'ship' is doubled with a suffix to become 'shipper,' you’d think that someone engaged in 'worship' is a 'worshipper.' Yes, one is a 'worshipper' in the New Yorker and in the Associated Press, but one is a 'worshiper' in the New York Times and the Chicago Manual of Style."
October 13, 2016
