Benjamin Dreyer
@bcdreyer.social
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
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
Pinned
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!
• 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!
On what planet is ARIGHT not a word?
🐝
🐝
February 15, 2026 at 5:20 PM
On what planet is ARIGHT not a word?
🐝
🐝
Also, I don't die on hills, but with my last breath I will insist that Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight is gaslighted, not gaslit.
February 15, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Also, I don't die on hills, but with my last breath I will insist that Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight is gaslighted, not gaslit.
Sir Walter Scott?
The toilet paper people?
Who knows.
The toilet paper people?
Who knows.
"American culture, with its English-Scotts-Irish origin, is great and worth fighting for."
Has he not heard any American popular music?
Has he not heard any American popular music?
February 15, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Sir Walter Scott?
The toilet paper people?
Who knows.
The toilet paper people?
Who knows.
A, 🤮.
B, the past tense of the verb "to sunset" is "sunsetted."
B, the past tense of the verb "to sunset" is "sunsetted."
From today's @washingtonpost.com front page:
"Abruptly terminated": harsh, contentious, negative
"Sunset": natural, pleasant, the circle of life
h/t @alecmac.bsky.social
"Abruptly terminated": harsh, contentious, negative
"Sunset": natural, pleasant, the circle of life
h/t @alecmac.bsky.social
February 15, 2026 at 4:19 PM
A, 🤮.
B, the past tense of the verb "to sunset" is "sunsetted."
B, the past tense of the verb "to sunset" is "sunsetted."
Happy birthday to lovely Claire Bloom!
February 15, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Happy birthday to lovely Claire Bloom!
today's random theater photo:
Mabel Taliaferro and Edith Taliaferro in Rachel Crothers's Young Wisdom (1914)
Mabel Taliaferro and Edith Taliaferro in Rachel Crothers's Young Wisdom (1914)
February 15, 2026 at 4:04 PM
today's random theater photo:
Mabel Taliaferro and Edith Taliaferro in Rachel Crothers's Young Wisdom (1914)
Mabel Taliaferro and Edith Taliaferro in Rachel Crothers's Young Wisdom (1914)
Happy Gale Sondergaard's birthday!
February 15, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Happy Gale Sondergaard's birthday!
very excited for Gale Sondergaard's birthday tomorrow
February 15, 2026 at 2:05 AM
very excited for Gale Sondergaard's birthday tomorrow
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
As a coder I can say this just isn’t true at all. Using AI to code is frustrating beyond belief—I have to spend all my effort cleaning up and correcting things I’d have done right the first time. Granted a lot of engineering had been turned into ugly rushed hackwork but it does not have to be so.
A key challenge, and a huge source of the disconnect between Silicon Valley and the other creative industries is that, for coders, AI eliminates the drudgery so they can focus on the creative/expressive part. In every other creative discipline, it has the exact opposite effect.
February 15, 2026 at 1:36 AM
As a coder I can say this just isn’t true at all. Using AI to code is frustrating beyond belief—I have to spend all my effort cleaning up and correcting things I’d have done right the first time. Granted a lot of engineering had been turned into ugly rushed hackwork but it does not have to be so.
I thirst after knowledge as much as the next person, but truly I am sorry that I ever learned that there were such things as tankies.
February 15, 2026 at 1:38 AM
I thirst after knowledge as much as the next person, but truly I am sorry that I ever learned that there were such things as tankies.
🙏🏻
Sketches—some self-portraits—by John Barrymore, born either 2/15 or on this day.
February 15, 2026 at 1:08 AM
🙏🏻
Maybe she forgot.
Ghislaine Maxwell lied on her US citizenship application. She checked the no box when asked if she had ever procured anyone for prostitution.
She had been trafficking since 1994. This could get another 25 years added to her sentence.
She had been trafficking since 1994. This could get another 25 years added to her sentence.
Ghislaine Maxwell Appears to Have Lied on Her Citizenship Application — The New Republic
The revelation could put her citizenship status at risk.
apple.news
February 15, 2026 at 12:53 AM
Maybe she forgot.
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
Acting like he’s SO not into the whole portrait thing but clearly very into posing! Also proud of his crazy armor & that beard. By Jacopo Bassano, whose day is today.
February 14, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Acting like he’s SO not into the whole portrait thing but clearly very into posing! Also proud of his crazy armor & that beard. By Jacopo Bassano, whose day is today.
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
“Aides said [Trump] talked about Ivanka Trump’s breasts, her backside, and what it might be like to have sex with her, remarks that prompted Chief of Staff John Kelly to remind the president that Ivanka was his daughter.” —Miles Taylor, who worked for the first Trump Administration.
February 14, 2026 at 10:30 PM
“Aides said [Trump] talked about Ivanka Trump’s breasts, her backside, and what it might be like to have sex with her, remarks that prompted Chief of Staff John Kelly to remind the president that Ivanka was his daughter.” —Miles Taylor, who worked for the first Trump Administration.
"I have an English BA and an MA in comp/lit
...and am about to say something amazingly harebrained.
I know. You're shocked.
...and am about to say something amazingly harebrained.
I know. You're shocked.
February 14, 2026 at 10:08 PM
"I have an English BA and an MA in comp/lit
...and am about to say something amazingly harebrained.
I know. You're shocked.
...and am about to say something amazingly harebrained.
I know. You're shocked.
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
Roses are red
Violets are purple you blind ass mf get some glasses
Violets are purple you blind ass mf get some glasses
February 14, 2026 at 9:51 PM
Roses are red
Violets are purple you blind ass mf get some glasses
Violets are purple you blind ass mf get some glasses
bonus birthday Thelma with Susan Priolo and Margaret Hamilton in James Kirkwood's disastrous UTBU, directed by Nancy Walker quite a few years before Can't Stop the Music.
Tony Randall, Alan Webb, Constance Ford, and Cathryn Damon were also in it.
15 previews, 7 performances
Tony Randall, Alan Webb, Constance Ford, and Cathryn Damon were also in it.
15 previews, 7 performances
February 14, 2026 at 9:38 PM
bonus birthday Thelma with Susan Priolo and Margaret Hamilton in James Kirkwood's disastrous UTBU, directed by Nancy Walker quite a few years before Can't Stop the Music.
Tony Randall, Alan Webb, Constance Ford, and Cathryn Damon were also in it.
15 previews, 7 performances
Tony Randall, Alan Webb, Constance Ford, and Cathryn Damon were also in it.
15 previews, 7 performances
Of course it’s a drag that Thelma never won an Oscar, but on the other hand she and Gwen tied for Best Actress in a Musical for New Girl in Town, and how fun is that.
February 14, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Of course it’s a drag that Thelma never won an Oscar, but on the other hand she and Gwen tied for Best Actress in a Musical for New Girl in Town, and how fun is that.
Five days till Merle's birthday!
February 14, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Five days till Merle's birthday!
That said, "You can love literature and not publish a freaking screed about the new movie version of Wuthering Heights" is eminently valid.
“You can love literature and ignore Wuthering Heights.”
Thanks, sis.
Thanks, sis.
February 14, 2026 at 8:11 PM
That said, "You can love literature and not publish a freaking screed about the new movie version of Wuthering Heights" is eminently valid.
when you post the same emoji repeatedly do you post an odd number of said emojis or are you a serial killer
February 14, 2026 at 4:18 PM
when you post the same emoji repeatedly do you post an odd number of said emojis or are you a serial killer
❤️
Everyone in the world comes to get married at the NYC Marriage Bureau. Last week, the Mayor stopped by to officiate a few of those ceremonies.
Thank you to all the couples who shared their joy with us. Happy Valentine's Day, New York.
Watch the full video at Youtube.com/nycmayorsoffice
Thank you to all the couples who shared their joy with us. Happy Valentine's Day, New York.
Watch the full video at Youtube.com/nycmayorsoffice
February 14, 2026 at 4:17 PM
❤️
Reposted by Benjamin Dreyer
Just as ICE and CBP have no legitimate role in "election security" neither does the head of DHS. The mere existence of this press conference should be a scandal, much less this tone-deaf comment.
Kristi Noem: "When it gets to Election Day, we've been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country."
February 14, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Just as ICE and CBP have no legitimate role in "election security" neither does the head of DHS. The mere existence of this press conference should be a scandal, much less this tone-deaf comment.
[and certainly not forgetting]
Happy Gregory Hines's birthday!
[photo by Kenn Duncan]
Happy Gregory Hines's birthday!
[photo by Kenn Duncan]
February 14, 2026 at 2:48 PM
[and certainly not forgetting]
Happy Gregory Hines's birthday!
[photo by Kenn Duncan]
Happy Gregory Hines's birthday!
[photo by Kenn Duncan]
Happy Jack Barrymore's probably birthday!
February 14, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Happy Jack Barrymore's probably birthday!