CNN’s grammar goof on Obama
So you think large news organizations always edit their content before publishing it? Think again.
Archive for goof ups
Avoid periods in headings and titles
There should be no period after the “2008″ since it’s a heading/title. These banners were plastered all along the waterfront. Clever visitors surely noticed this blunder.
Plague Words
People learn by imitating what they see. That’s how children learn to speak; it’s also how most people learn to write and otherwise express themselves. You might call this “education by contagion”. While it is a workable system, it does have some drawbacks.
One of these drawbacks is when instead of ‘catching’ a good habit, you begin imitating something which is actually wrong. Another person sees you, and does the same. Soon, an incorrect meme spreads and brings down the level of clarity. Contagion becomes a plague.
Some common plague words:
And/or: Outside of the legal world, most of the time this construction is used, it is neither necessary nor logical. Try using one word or the other.
Irregardless: No one word will get you in trouble with the boss faster than this one.
Of: Don’t write would of, should of, could of when you mean would have, should have, could have.
Many similar linguistic pitfalls are covered under Plague Words and Phrases. It makes for a good checklist.
Writer’s strike
The media has covered the writers strike in great detail (read as “gone overboard”). However, many well known media outlets continue to misspell the phrase.
Using an apostrophe in “writer’s strike” implies that the strike belongs to writers (which it technically does). However, the term “writers” in “writers strike” is used as an adjective to describe the type of strike that is taking place, viz. a strike for writers. Technically speaking, an adjective cannot be possessive. Therefore…
…no apostrophe is required. Instead, it should be “writers strike” just as a strike held for teachers is a “teachers strike.”
More details to convince you that this is true can be found here.