Readers: Here are more examples in which the writer used almost the right word, and missed altogether.

1. Cities like Austin, Texas, are using some creativity and helping families find new ways to celebrate.

“Like” means “similar to.” Not “including.” Austin cannot be a city like Austin. Sacramento is a city like Austin. You want to say “a city such as Austin.”

2. He was feeling badly that his wife’s surgery was going bad..

You “feel badly” if you lose sensation in your fingers. The rest of the time, you feel bad that the surgery is going badly.

3. The embattled governor’s staff became beleaguered.

“Beleaguered” means beset. “Embattled” does not. It means to be prepared for battle.

4. Flags will fly at half-mast today in honor of the late mayor

No. “Half-mast” for ships. “Half-staff” for buildings. Early in his career, Eliot regularly got this wrong, and Lou Ann would have to fix it.

5.  First annual pageant

For now, you don’t know whether there will be a second annual. So just say something such as, “the pageant, whose organizers hope will be an annual event.”

6. Families are wracking their brains out to plan for holiday gatherings.

Racking. And not “racking out.” “To go to wrack and ruin” means to fall into a state of decay or destruction, so the optics of people “wracking their brains out” is pretty horrific.

7. A search is underway for a possible sailor overboard.

A possible sailor went overboard? We’re guessing he definitely was a sailor. How about “a sailor possibly overboard.”

8. The program will pump 6 to 9 million dollars into new construction.

It’s actually 6 million to 9 million. We’re guessing the number didn’t start with six dollars.

9. NASA is launching a telescope and a balloon the size of a football stadium into the stratosphere so researchers can study the formation of stars. The telescope, named ASTHROS, measures at 8.4 feet and the balloon carrying the device is 400 feet wide.

At 400 feet, it's longer than a football FIELD. If it was the size of a football stadium, we'd like to see a rocket get it off the ground.

10. "The murder-for-hire trial of a slain Florida State university professor came to an end Friday afternoon with a guilty verdict..."

Bad enough he was dead. Then his corpse has to go on trial for his own murder!

Watch this on video! https://youtu.be/y_fMjkAs1i4

Next time: Clichés. Avoid ‘em like the plague.

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, 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 properly can credit you. 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