Stet is an obelism, used by proofreaders and editors to instruct the typesetter or writer to disregard a change the editor or proofreader had previously marked. It is a form of the Latin verb sto, stare, steti, statum.[1] This usage of the verb, known as the "jussive subjunctive",[2] derives from the active-voiced third-person subjunctive singular present and is typically translated as "Let it stand"[3] or "As you were".
Conventionally, the content that included the edit to be disregarded was underlined using dashes or dots with a blue pencil and stet written and circled above or beside it.[3] Alternatively, a circled tick or checkmark could be placed beside the content in a margin.[4]
Other uses
Stet is sometimes also used imperatively, as in, for example:
- "Stet that colon",[3]
- "Stet Nick Allen's paragraph that was deleted."
See also
References
- ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles. "A Latin Dictionary". Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- ^ Heuchan, Valerie. "Latin Grammar Review Pages" (PDF). Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "stet". Dictionary.com. Random House. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- ^ "Copy preparation and proof correction. Specification for typographic requirements, marks for copy preparation and proof correction, proofing procedure", BS 5261-2:2005, British Standards Institution, 2005
External links
The dictionary definition of stet at Wiktionary
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