Spell check!
Ramesh Nyberg
Phenomena is plural. This was a phenomenon.
Some might argue we are nitpicking. Tender and juicy are tactile senses. You don’t taste tender or juicy.
For now, let’s not point out the use of a period, instead of a colon, after “operation.” More importantly, on which days is this place closed? Right. None. So just say, “Open every day.”
Does anyone have 50 reunions? No. This was the 50-year reunion. (Confession: Eliot was an organizer of a similar reunion and made a similar goof!)
This is a bit of newspaper “inside baseball.” And we were going to let it go. But it happened twice in a week. In the same newspaper.
When a story is shared with numerous outlets, the reporter or original editor sometimes inserts a note such as this, telling editors at the other papers that, if they need to cut because of their space limitations, this would be a logical spot in the storytelling to do so. But, of course, it’s incumbent on the new editor, before sending the story to the printing press, to REMOVE THE NOTE!
The “Horribly Wrong” team — comprising a semiretired reporter and copy editor — often has defended newspapers, which, because of declining income, don’t have enough proofreaders. And said that, if you see a lot of mistakes, you can fix that by subscribing and advertising so papers can hire more.
But, this is something that makes a reader say “huh?”, as we covered June 30, 2023, and again October 20, 2023. A non-journalist spotted both of these at the kitchen table. How did they get past all editors?
And we go to the video archives for Segment 75: Even More Clichés. https://youtu.be/oBzRQ8kfg2o?si=3SnO6i3jjXE2p6Yy
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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