‘The editor said no, I’m afraid… ’

Just what does that mean?

‘The editor said, “No”, I’m afraid…’, as in, ’I’m afraid the editor said, “No”.’

Or, ‘The editor said, "No, I’m afraid…" ’ ?

Might seem obvious; but I’ve been informed that the editor deemed my offered piece ‘not suitable.’

I understand, of course, that the editor’s decision is final. However, rather than publish my piece, it was preferred to run Tuesday’s edition with no column whatsoever; and then yesterday, there appeared this bolus of abstruseness.

Now, that such ‘ecclesiastical burbling’ was apparently deemed ‘suitable’ is not my beef. (And I quite enjoyed today’s nice informative effort.)

Just that, without being all temperamental luvvie about it, I fail to see what is ‘not suitable’ about my critique of the misappropriation of science by apologetic Christians.

It’s at times like these that I’m inclined to quote the last line of The Commitments.