A lot of editing work that I do is less about correcting simple, understandable mistakes and more about mystically channeling the intent of absent writers who were completely incapable of explaining themselves on paper. Allow me to share a favorite example, which always gives me a giggle whenever I remember it.
I was working as a copyeditor for a monthly magazine in Egypt, and was checking the calendar of cultural events, which was often garbled as it was drafted by native Arabic speakers with limited English abilities. Under plays was this listing:
“The Three Peens” by Bernard Bubernold.
Umm…“The Three Peens”? This was not a play I had ever heard of, so I Googled the title and author. You’ll not be stunned to learn that I came up blank.
The play was allegedly showing at the American University in Cairo, but wouldn’t you know it, their website was down. It was past midnight and we needed to go to press, so calling the office that had sent us the information was not a possibility.
So, I allowed myself a moment of quiet meditation on peens, three of them, and Mr. Bubernold.
And then, the insight struck! But of course! Once I had figured out the real name of the play, I was able to verify using Google that a play of that name was indeed scheduled to be performed in Cairo on the specified date.
My question for Dopers: can you guess it?