In a story that ran in Monday's issue of The Times-Delphic, the writer interviewed Eric Gudmundson, a member of the group that oversees PMACs and plans Welcome Weekend activities. However, his last name was spelled incorrectly every time it was used, with the exception of his introduction in the story. Maybe the writer had a sticky "d" key..
I know that "forsook" is the correct past tense of "forsake." But that doesn't mean I don't think it's weird. As a writer, I would avoid using this word at all costs. Clearly this Gawker writer thought differently.
Fmylife.com is a website where individuals anonymously post their negative daily experiences. In this entry, an individual wrote, "Today, I was at my ex-girlfriends house, whom I still have a major crush on."
Aside from the "is your" part of this status that makes no sense, this Facebook user should have used "you're" instead of "your." Because she means to say "you are like a hard candy," (whatever that means), "you're" is the only option.
It seems that another grammar fiend found this error before I did, but this sign from second-floor Meredith was post-worthy anyways. "Whomever" is not correct, as indicated by the scribbles the anonymous editor made over the "m." Because it would be incorrect to say, "Him has the key," we know that "whoever" should be used instead.
I'm a terrible person. Over the weekend, I went to a social function with "I'm on a Boat" (a popular song) as the theme. Individuals wore nautical clothing, sailor hats, etc. One group of girls decorated their own t-shirts quoting lyrics from the song.
Elections for Student Senate Executive Officers are coming up, and as individuals try to one-up each other through posts to their Facebook groups and careful poster placement, one individual was less than meticulous with his grammar.
A nitpicky comment, but related to what we've been talking about in Working with Words: Sarah Fiske, a professor of psychology at Princeton University, said, "This is just the first study which was focused on the idea," but she should have used "that" instead. According to Working with Words, "'That' introduces a clause not set off by parentheses, dashes, or commas," and since the quote includes no nonessential clause, it is not necessary to use "which."
The original error I found was from the commercial for Glade PlugIns Scented Oil Lasting Impressions, a new fan-powered air freshener product.
Just a simple typo, but the word "casion," judging from the context, should be replaced with "casino." This mistake comes from the Rosemount Town Pages, a weekly newspaper from a Twin Cities suburb. (On a side note, I wrote for this newspaper in high school, so finding these errors is a little more fun for me.) These types of errors are not uncommon, so expect more from the Town Pages in the future.
The problem with this Internet democracy we have is that you can't exclude individuals with bad grammar. In Sen. Adil Khan's comment, he wrote, "When Senator's look past self interest." Because he was referring to "Senators" as a plural noun, the apostrophe was unnecessary. "Self interest" should appear as "self-interest" because "self" is a modifier. Also, "Senators" should not be capitalized, because he is referring to a group of people rather than to an individual with a specific title. He did get it right later in the comment.
A grammar "oops" from one of my own classmates - sorry! While this student wrote that "someone is still not use to writing or typing 2009," I must suggest substituting "used" for "use." All in the name of accountability?
This excerpt from Gawker.com mentions Samantha Power's "unspecified 'gesture to bury the hatched,'" an attempt to use the common phrase "bury the hatchet." I'm not sure if the error falls on Power or on the writer of this post, but my first response to this quote was, "Bury the hatched what?"
I admit that I am sports-illiterate, but even I know that this headline on ESPN.com should say "Streak in Jeopardy" and not "Steak." Although personally, I would be much more concerned if steak was in jeopardy.
Not exactly a recent example, but this movie title has always bugged me. The word "weeks" should be both plural and possessive, so the correct title would be "Two Weeks' Notice."
This gem of a banner incorrectly uses "there's" - meaning "there is," to refer to the "many reasons," which is clearly plural. Instead, this sign should read, "There are so many reasons to love it," or something similar. Nice job, Tampa.
