I respect this local news organization, in general -- I really do. But why do errors like this always slip through on its site?
I don’t tink so
Reply
Category Archives: The Wall of Why: English Anguish
The funniest forum exchange I’ve seen in a long time
From Slashdot.org (thanks to @PhilJamesRoxby on Twitter):
Disgusting grammar.
by XcepticZP (1331217) on Thursday February 19, @11:05AM
What a disgusting display of English grammar. Come on, Slashdot! I thought you editor's had better standards.
Re:Disgusting grammar.
by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 19, @11:12AM (#26917645)
If you are going to criticize someone's grammar. Your post should be grammatically flawless. And your post isn't. That's laughable.
Re:Disgusting grammar.
by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 19, @11:39AM (#26917979)
If YOU are going to. criticize someone else's. Grammar. Don't use sentence fragments to do. It.
Re:Disgusting grammar.
by hairykrishna (740240) on Thursday February 19, @12:38PM (#26918911)
Shatner, is that you?
How not to begin a sentence
A full day of copyediting today reminded me of another pet peeve: Goofy words at the beginning of sentences.
They're the lazy guy's way of communicating, the equivalent of n in an algebraic equation. In these sentences as in algebra, the objective is to get rid of the n and replace it with something meaningful. And when we're successful, the whole equation—the sentence—adds up more sensibly.
Two n words stand out: Continue reading
Preventing apostrophe abuse
It's a danger that reaches into every aspect of modern communication: apostrophe abuse. Every day, thousands of innocent apostrophes vanish, leaving the words where they lived bereft of meaning. They're not even safe at Amazon.
When they do turn up, they're typically enslaved into the service of some inappropriate word. Witness the well-meaning "it's" used as a possessive, as in "an apostrophe worth it's weight in gold." Oh, the humanity.
Equally as disturbing is the random appearance of these humble punctuation marks in places an apostrophe should never go -- the dark, dank underbelly of words that are neither possessives nor contractions. "We have dictionary's for sale!" (Don't try that at home.) Makes me wonder if perhaps there's been an appropriation for apostrophes in the president's new stimulus package, and now we have to use them up. (Hey, why not? It includes funding for a butterfly garden in Florida -- why can't they back a few apostrophes? Commas, however, may be excessive.)
Enough of the abuse. Apostrophes, unite and proclaim your simple truths:
Continue readingIt’s Moronic Monday!
Monday is blah. Monday is blue. Monday is the perfect day for complaining. So... Every Monday (time permitting), I will whine, criticize and otherwise carry on about some grammar or spelling goof that makes me crazy. It might be something I spotted recently or just one of those common, irritating errors that the nuns at St. Margaret's Elementary slapped out of me.
[Disclaimer: Nobody's perfect. I make mistakes, too. But just for fun, let's pretend I don't.]
Today's goof comes from syracuse.com, an affiliate of Syracuse's Post-Standard. Given that the site draws more than 58,000 visitors per month -- and represents a metro-area newspaper that boasts a new $40 million press hall -- you'd think the peeps over there would be staffed to the gills with copyeditors and proofreaders. Maybe that would make a difference.
Stating the obvious
As any good writer will tell you: It's always better to show than to say.*If you don't get what I mean, you'd best not apply for the job ;-).