We love Beyoncé’s new video for Formation—New Orleans is the most fun!!! But our copy editor, Linda, overheard us watching it and was appalled by the grammar in the lyrics. She wouldn’t stop talking about it until we promised to publish these corrections. She also says unfun isn’t a word, and the word we’re probably looking for is anhedonic, but we don’t know what that means. Anyways, allow our copy editor to #grammarsplain this song to you:
Original lyric: “Y’all haters corny”
Suggested change: “All of you who hate me are behaving in a banal fashion.”
Note from Linda: “Avoiding contractions makes your writing more clear, concise, and compelling.”
Original lyric: “I rock his Roc necklaces”
Suggested change: “I wear his necklaces that are made of rocks.”
Note from Linda: “The importance of good spelling should really not be underestimated. That is why I keep a dictionary by my desk. (I’m also a big fan of geology, so this one was personal.)”
Original lyric: “I twirl all my haters”
Suggested change: “I twirl my hair.”
Note from Linda: “I always advise writers to proofread their reading. That a mistake like this made it into the song is somewhat embarrassing for Beyoncé.”
Original lyric: “I slay, hey, I slay, okay/I slay, okay, all day, okay/I slay, okay, I slay okay”
Suggested change: “I slay all day and I am okay with that.”
Note from Linda: “Again, try and keep your writing concise and to the point. Words should be deliberately chosen for the work they are doing. I don’t love the rhyming because it distracts from the point of the sentence, but I felt the artist would want it STET.”
Original lyric: “I stunt, yeah, little hornet”
Suggested change: ?
Note from Linda: “I’m not sure what the intended meaning is here. Hornets are fairly large.”
Original lyric: “Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper.”
Suggested change: “Always be gracious. Your best revenge is to publish your newspaper with journalistic integrity.”
Note from Linda: “When presenting a point, follow logic and link together your ideas. Keep in mind that the reader may not know your entire perspective.”
According to Linda, Beyoncé should hire a copy editor. We’re loving this new version of the video as edited by Linda. Watch it below!
