These are scary!

The horror of the misplaced modifier! Sounds like the quiet and careful observer is very skittish! Apparently, observers also prefer to hunt at night and sleep during the day.

Aargh! It’s Santa! Already! And while he might know how to make a list, these folks don’t. Here’s what this says:
Santa said you were naughty.
Santa said you were nice.
Santa said you were laughed out loud.
Correct:
Santa:
Said you were naughty
Said you were nice.
Laughed out loud.

Better: “We all could use…”

The Apostrophe Monster strikes again!

And there’s that dollars dollars thing again again.

And we go to the video archives for Segment 4: Oxymorons. https://youtu.be/_2-c0SVy67w

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

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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!