WE’RE STARTING OUR FOURTH YEAR!
The 2024 presidential race is on! And already folks are making grammatical mistakes.
One word if a noun. Two words if a verb:
“I got to my seat right at kickoff.”
“Primary hopefuls kick off campaign.”
We pulled this off TV back in August 2023. It brings up the issue of “breaking news,” which we contended, back in January 2022, has lost all value and likely has entered the realm of parody. In this case, the breaking news was when the former president was indicted. The obligatory arraignment which followed is not breaking news. Big news, but not breaking. Also: This graphic was on the air more than 24 hours after the arraignment. Really? Nothing breaks for that long.
This is a “chronic.” Several officers attend the arraignment, but a group of them attends. Just omit “Group of” and attend works.
Wendy Rhodes
Once you’re elected, you might want to do something about Public Works. Our Grammar Police correspondent reports every space in this lot was misspelled the same way.
Lynn Miclea
The brilliance of the bureaucracy.
This is another item in which we know what authorities mean but can't swear to it. Does this mean parking is unlimited and free after business hours (which we surmise), or that there's no parking after hours?
Same dilemma. Does this mean any emergency stopping must take place the shoulder, or that the shoulder should be used only for emergency stopping? Or both?
And we go to the video archives for Segment 60: The most horrible of “Horribly Wrong.” So far. https://youtu.be/4lmcGQSusSA
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!