Wednesday, January 17, 2018 // The Statement
6B

Copy That: Stylizing my hometown

M

y flight ticket didn’t show 
the boarding gate, and 
“St. Louis” didn’t appear 

anywhere on the blue departure 
screens. I was panicking, but I didn’t 
want anyone to know I was panicking. 
This was my first solo flight, and I was 
determined to solve this on my own. 
So I stood in front of the departure 
screens until I felt security shooting 
me weird looks, and then I picked 
up my bag and started confidently 
walking in a random direction.

I must have walked the entire 

length of the airport three times until 
it finally occurred to me St. Louis 
could also be spelled Saint Louis. 
Instead of looking for flights starting 
with “S-T,” I should’ve been looking 
for flights starting with “S-A.”

Standardization is everything at 

copy desk. It’s necessary in order 
to 
avoid 
confusion 
and 
promote 

uniformity. But to be consistent, you 
have to have great attention to detail 
and to know the correct way to stylize. 
The “Saint” in St. Louis, for example, 
should 
always 
be 
abbreviated, 

and seeing my hometown spelled 
out Saint Louis makes me weirdly 
uncomfortable. 

But I’ve learned not only at the 

airport, 
but 
almost 
everywhere 

I’ve traveled, that facts about my 
hometown aren’t as widely recognized 
as I’ve assumed. It’s always interesting 
to hear outside opinions of your city, 
or perhaps a lack of opinion because 
many people don’t know where St. 
Louis is. However, in the copy desk 
spirit of consistency, I’m here to clean 
up these misunderstandings.

First, St. Louis is pronounced 

“Lewis,” not “Louie.” Since it was 
named after King Louis IX of France, 
it may be more accurate to use 
the French articulation “Louie” — 
however, Dr. Seuss is also technically 
supposed to be pronounced “Soice,” 
but I don’t think any of us are going to 
change how we say that anytime soon.

Second, St. Louis is in the Midwest. 

It is not part of the South, to the 
surprise of many. It’s also not in the 
West, though it’s called the “Gateway 
to the West.” It’s Midwest in the 
extreme.

Much of St. Louis is actually in St. 

Louis County, but the county is more 
rural than urban. My neighborhood 
is surrounded by farmland. The bus 
ride to middle school involved passing 

horse pastures and misty cornfields, 
which 
my 
friend 
and 
I 
always 

speculated would be the best place 
for a horror movie scene: a murderer 
appearing from the fog, framed 
between the fence and dilapidated 
barn. You drive a little farther and 
you reach miles and miles of open 
space, huge fields of wheat stubble 
and hay bales.

Finally, St. Louis is fighting, but 

it has not capitulated. Often, when 
people hear I’m from St. Louis, they 

ask me about the Ferguson protests 
and Michael Brown, an unarmed 
Black man who was shot by a white 
police officer in 2014. The rage is still 
very palpable in my city as protests 
continue to turn violent and questions 
continue to remain unanswered. This 
is something that weighs heavily 
on my soul because these national 
discussions 
have 
happened 
right 

in my backyard. Yet, it appears 
these discussions may be having a 
positive effect. The city has elected 

a new mayor. A newly formed citizen 
advisory committee helped select the 
city’s current chief of police. This may 
be a turning point my city needs, and 
an example my country can look to for 
a more just future.

As copy chief this semester, I’ve 

done my fair share of correcting small 
mistakes. Accuracy is important, even 
for airport staff. The problems within 
my city are deep and evident, but I’d 
like to think under closer inspection, 
one can notice change is occurring. 

BY ELISE LAARMAN, COPY CHIEF

ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH MYERS

