John McIntyre, mild-mannered editor for a great metropolitan newspaper, has fussed over writers’ work, to sporadic expressions of gratitude, for thirty years. He is The Sun’s night content production manager and former head of its copy desk. He also teaches editing at Loyola University Maryland. A former president of the American Copy Editors Society, a native of Kentucky, a graduate of Michigan State and Syracuse, and a moderate prescriptivist, he writes about language, journalism, and arbitrarily chosen topics. If you are inspired by a spirit of contradiction, comment on the posts or write to him at
john.mcintyre@baltsun.com.
Comments
Some things never go out of style. There is nothing more "dashing" on a hot summer day. Hope you had a gin and tonic with lunch.
Posted by: jed | June 2, 2010 10:26 AM
Pardon my ignorance, but is boater another word for bow tie?
Regardless, the seersucker suit is the pinnacle of gentlemen's summer wear. If only I could pull one off.
Posted by: Robert Lintott | June 2, 2010 10:44 AM
A boater, sometimes called a skimmer, is a flat straw hat, the kind you sometimes see gentlemen wear in barbershop quartets.
Posted by: John McIntyre | June 2, 2010 11:56 AM
"barbershop quarters"
Or quartets, whichever you prefer. But barbershop quarters does bring a nice image to mind, as if barbers were a communal bunch who found comfort in shared residence.
Posted by: Tim | June 2, 2010 12:27 PM
"Barbershop quarters" = the price of a shave and a haircut.
Posted by: Ol' Scrapiron | June 2, 2010 1:00 PM
"Barbershop quarters" = the price of a shave and a haircut.
Posted by: Ol' Scrapiron | June 2, 2010 1:01 PM
All right, all right, settle down, people. I've corrected the typo.
Posted by: John McIntyre | June 2, 2010 1:06 PM
It was more fun the other way.
Posted by: Tim | June 2, 2010 2:16 PM
Classic clothes worn by a classic gentleman.
Posted by: Abigail | June 2, 2010 4:16 PM
O excellent, Madame. O bon riposte!
Posted by: Patricia the Terse | June 3, 2010 3:19 AM
You are milk & sugar! Turns out...Seersucker originates from Persian & shir o shakkar "striped cloth," lit. "milk and sugar".[351] AND ....Sanskrit क्षीरशर्करा (kshirsharkara), or milk-sugar."[352]
Posted by: HaliMaryland | June 3, 2010 4:05 AM
Yes indeed, my grandfather had such a hat according to my mother. He was from 1895.
Posted by: Laurent | June 3, 2010 11:34 AM
I have seersucker shirts, but no seersucker suits.
The shirts are very comfortable.
Posted by: PCB Rob | June 3, 2010 11:53 AM
Check out Seersucker Suit Day at the U.S. Senate. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3302753&page=1
I used to sponsor SSD where I worked and wow, seersucker comes in some great colors!
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3302753&page=1
Posted by: Cool as a Cucumber | June 3, 2010 6:39 PM
Sorry about the link above posted twice, but while I'm here, the most, uh, memorable mention of seersucker was in Sophie's Choice, one of the few moments of levity in that dense, tense movie.
Posted by: Cool as a Cucumber | June 3, 2010 6:42 PM
For the past couple days - since this was a fresh post - I have been operating under the absolute conviction that Museum Gift Shop Lady's son is walking around with his pants hanging down and his underwear hanging out.....
As I began to type this, however, I realized that both my grandmothers were born in 1898, which would put MGSL in my parents' mid-80s age group. Her son would be my age so, unfortunately, he may - this is an attempt at tact - lack spiffiness.
Posted by: Eve | June 4, 2010 9:10 AM