I just read a note in Copy Editor, a newsletter, that inspired me to send a Nag note. Ned Purcell, a longtime copy editor for the Washington Post, died this year, and his obituary in Copy Editor quoted from "The Right Word," which Purcell wrote for the Post staff. Here is what he had to say: In entry for chair: "The use of chair in place of chairman/chairwoman is an abomination. Let's avoid calling a person a piece of furniture." (Also, remember that the N&O stylebook rules against use CHAIR as a verb.) Under the entry gender/sex: "Use sex when you mean sex and ignore the adolescent snickering. Gender is a misguided euphemism for sex and sounds coy and cute." As long as you're reading, here are some things that continue to bug me. ** COUPLE in the sense of two people is plural, so use plural verbs and plural pronouns. Examples: The couple WERE honest with THEIR children about THEIR troubles. ** Don't confuse adverse and averse. A conservative stockbroker might be AVERSE to taking a risk because he is afraid that his clients will suffer ADVERSE consequences. ** ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use THE in front of REV. Do this in copy, and do it in cutlines. There is a CORRECT example on 1A today in the Creech story, and we get it RIGHT in the Faith section. We fall down, though, in other sections of the paper. This is really simple, but I'll review: DO NOT USE REV. WITHOUT THE IN FRONT OF IT. (Excuse my shouting, but this has been festering in my brain since I read the paper Sunday and it's just so annoying to see an easy rule ignored.) -- Pam Nelson Day news editor The News & Observer 215 S. McDowell St. Raleigh, NC 27602 (919) 829-4619 toll free: (800) 365-6115 fax: (919) 829-4529