The Rules Committee likes hats. Without apostrophes.

Reminder: “less’ for volume, “fewer” for units. Less pain, one fewer thing to ruin your plans.

OK. It’s a contentious subject. That’s no excuse for cowardly writing. This is the old double qualifier. The first sentence is correct. Not the second. “Suggests” already is a qualifier. You don’t need “could.” A better phrasing would be: “Draft opinion says court would overturn Roe v. Wade.” (PS: While “vs.” is OK for sporting events, the writing “style” for court cases is just “v.” with a period.)

Holy cow! A triple qualifier!
Let’s look at options:
“Most commercially insured patients pay as little as $0 copay.” Nope. Still two.
“Commercially insured patients may pay as little as $0 copay.” Still two.
Oh! How about, ”Commercially insured patients pay as little as $0 copay.” Well, heck. That did it.
Be brave!

Here’s yet another example of a company that decided to cut overhead by not hiring a proofreader. Or by downsizing punctuation. This ad has more mistakes than not! Probably should be, “Are you being non-renewed or having a significant rate increase? Call us today. Representing A-rated carriers throughout the state.” Anyway, we think that’s right. No way to insure.

The story says “I.” But the byline lists two writers. Huh?

People in rooms 458 to 481: Good night, and good luck.

And we go to the video archives for Segment 17: The Comma Splice. https://youtu.be/uRLzHIdMJjg

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 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!