A little something for your enjoyment

Here is a little something for you to enjoy between now and when I find my next grammar goof:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

Was They Really?

Hi all, sorry I haven't posted in an incredibly long time, but a lot has happened! I have now become a full-time Editor with a company, and I'm hoping with a more structured schedule I will be able to update more frequently.

Today's goof isn't a local one, but comes from a source where I rarely find errors: www.npr.org. This is from the article entitled, "Dead See Scrolls Are Now Online."


"The scrolls are searchable in English and they were digitized using a $250,000 high-resolution camera, so you can zoom in and get a feel for the animal skin they was written on."

The problem lies in the was as opposed to were. Though I could get into subjunctives, a good, simple rule is to remember that were is more commonly associated with a plural subject. The scrolls were written on animal skin. If there was simply one scroll, it would say, "The scroll was written on animal skin."

Happy late Monday/early Tuesday everyone!

Congratulations to "The Griffin's"

This picture was taken by some friends who recently got married. The assumed writer is actually someone with a degree in writing, so I am guessing that this was written either by their spouse, or by one extremely sleepy writer.

 It should actually read, "The Griffins." In this instance, it is not possessive. You would need an apostrophe for such a phrase as, "The Griffin's home."  To just state the couple in a plural manner, there is no need to be possessive. There is also one other small problem with this envelope. Until has an extra L. Like I said, this came from a talented writer, so it is very much a goof. But, regardless of who wrote it, there can always be a lesson to be learned.

*If you feel like doing some Grammar Goof sightseeing and live in the Springfield, MO area, drive by the Battlefield and National intersection. On the North side of the intersection, there is a school bus for the Springfield Public Schools, with a sign saying you can apply "On Line." I certainly hope the sign doesn't speak for the Springfield Public School system... I will post it, if I can ever get a clear picture.

What belong to you?

Good evening friends, it has been a while. A lot of crazy stuff has been going on over here, but I finally have some goodies to share with you! The first one is of a set of stickers a friend of mine found, I believe at a dollar store somewhere here in Springfield. See if you can guess why they are dollar story quality.

 I am hoping this is just a simple typo, but for those who don't immediately catch on, it should be "belongs." This reminds me a bit of when I spent a few weeks in Japan. A few years ago, the Japanese fashion world went through a phrase of having shirts with English sayings that were not perfectly translated. These stickers might have been cool there and then, but now and in Springfield, MO, this is just ridiculous. I am often amazed by what makes it through the printing process.

Unfortunately I do not have a picture of tonight's other example, but if you live in Springfield and happen to travel past the KFC on Sunshine, you will soon learn how cheap you can get 7 "pices" of dark meat chicken. Only one side of the sign has the error, so I can't help wondering how this happened, unless they simply ran out of the letter I. It would have been nice to have provided a picture, but the light on the sign disagreed with the flash of my camera.

I am going to try to start updating more as soon as things calm down a bit, but my goal is to post at least 1 more item this week. Be prepared to learn the Do's and Dont's of wedding grammar. In the meantime, take my poll! Goodnight everyone, have a great week!

"That" Web Banner Goof

A quick goof for your weekend enjoyment.

This is a web banner a friend sent me. The most obvious mistake is that "220,000" is missing a comma. The next problem is that the word "that" has randomly been added in. Perhaps they could have worded it, "There have been over 220,000 men, women, and children that have been affected..." Unfortunately, they didn't.

The final major goof is more of a personal preference. The banner lacks the serial comma, which is the optional comma before "and" or "or" in a series of three or more. This is also referred to as an oxford comma, the comma with which the band Vampire Weekend has dedicated a song title.

Ex. of a serial/oxford comma: I would like to thank my parents, Barbara Streisand, and God.

Without the serial comma, that would be a very interesting sentence. Have a great weekend everyone, thank you for reading!

To Reinforce Current Beliefs...

I was buying tab dividers for a binder last week, and when I got home I noticed something that seemed awry...

If you can see it past the flash in my camera, there is a typo that says "reinfored" instead of "reinforced." This is a pretty serious typo, as it was on more than one set of tabs I bought, and I am assuming these 96 cent Wal-Mart bought tab dividers are some of the most commonly purchased ones. It is a sad day for tab dividers everywhere. Happy Thursday everyone!

Based on the evidence, you lose

This document was sent in from a reader whose co-worker just got braces. Aside from some structural issues, there are two main grammar goofs that I see. The first is under the second bullet point, where it says, "Alcohol base mouthwashes." The idea that it says "base" instead of "based" could be a simple typo. However, the hyphen is also missing, as it should say "alcohol-based." So that is goof #1.

Goof #2 is on the very bottom line, where it says "If you loose your trays..." This is a common grammar goof. Loose is if an object is loose, like if a table leg is loose. What should have been used is lose, which is the correct word to use for when something is misplaced, like losing one's trays. Another good way to remember this is that lose is the verb (action word like run, walk ,or  talk), and loose is an adjective (describing word like small, skinny, or yellow).

The final goof I would like to talk about is more of a goof in regards to clarity. The word inevitably is hyphenated, allowing it to continue on more than one line. In standard practice today this is rarely done, as it can be confusing to the reader and takes longer to read. It is much better just go ahead and put the entire word on the next line, so that the text is clearer.

I will be posting a couple more grammar goofs for your enjoyment in the next few days, as some readers and friends have been sending them in. Thank you for reading, and keep 'em coming!

"Its" been a while

Sorry it has been a little while since my last posting. Between work and crazy amounts of snow and other weather, it has been a little hectic.

Here are the results from the first poll:

2/3 of you feel that conjunctions in papers are never okay
1/3 believe that conjunctions are okay in moderation

I have always been told not to use them at all, but I also believe it relies heavily on the subject matter. A more casual academic paper may allow it. I also, obviously, believe they are okay when the subject matter is conjunctions. However, it is always important to ask your professor/boss/whoever you are writing for, and to understand that even just one conjunction turn a formal paper into a much more casual one.

 Speaking of conjunctions, I did,  manage to find an Ozark Grammar Goof on Valentine's Day. My boyfriend and I went to a singles charity event downtown, not knowing it was for singles (we found out the day of, called, and learned lots of couples were going so we figured it was okay). This was posted outside of it:

The "Its" drove me crazy. The event is the subject and the event is for charity, therefore it is or it's for charity. "Its" is possessive, like if you are watching a dog play outside and you say "Look at the dog go into its house." I always remember by thinking if you can say "it is" with the sentence and it makes sense, then use "it's." If the word is would not make sense, use "its."

I am going to keep looking around for local grammar goofs, hopefully one comes along soon. Happy reading!

THE Not So Super Super Bowl

Unfortunately due to the recent blizzard I have been unable to get around much to look for grammar goofs. Luckily, I decided to go to the Springfield News-Leader Web site and found something right away. Take a look at this sentence from the article "Pizza always wins on Super Bowl Sunday":

For sit-down pizza restaurants, Super Bowl isn't so super, since diners are likely to be glued to their seats for three hours or more, says Tony Gemignani, who owns both take-out and eat-in pizza parlors in Northern California, including the well-known Tony's Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco's North Beach district and the new Pizza Rocks in Sacramento.

Now this sentence has several errors, despite the fact that it actually appears to be grammatically correct. Most technical writers would agree that this sentence is too long and lacks clarity. There are no quotes at the beginning, which may be due to paraphrasing as opposed to a direct quote, but the wording afterwards suggests it is a quote.

However, the part that bugs me the most is "Super Bowl isn't so super." This part of the sentence is lacking an article, and could be fixed with changing it to "the Super Bowl isn't so super" or even "Super Bowl Sunday isn't so super." I am assuming this is a simple typo, but regardless, it is definitely a grammar goof.

By the way, there is one last day to vote, so don't forget to take my poll! Thanks for reading!

Wet Seal "Your" a Goof

I don't even want to know how many people looked at this shirt before it was printed. Your vs. you're is a grammatical error I see quite frequently, and I am always surprised. The best way to explain this rule, like with other conjunctions, is to simply consider what you are saying. Determine whether you want to say "Your" or "You are" and go from there.

This goof isn't exactly native to the Ozarks, but there is definitely a Wet Seal store at the mall just a couple of miles from where I live. To make matters worse, according to this site Wet Seal knows about the error and is not fixing it: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/wet-seal-s-valentine-s-day-t-shirt-fail-2444704.

If you are still in a state of shock and do not believe that Wet Seal is really selling this, go here: http://www.wetseal.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=42539

I actually can't take credit for this find, as it was found by my boyfriend. If any readers would like to send in any goofs they find, send an E-mail to JulieLBrooks@gmail.com and you may just see it on the blog. Thanks for reading, more goofs are coming soon!"

Introduction

I suppose one of the best ways to start a blog is by supplying a little bit of information about the author. My name is Julie Brooks, and I am currently completing my Masters at Missouri State University in Professional and Technical Writing. Currently I have completed all my coursework, and am using this semester to finish up my degree papers and study for a major exam. While finishing up school, I am working part-time at a shoe store, and working on several writing endeavors. I am also searching for a full time job, preferably in technical writing.

My current writing projects include:
-Writing articles for Demand Media Studios, to be published on sites like eHow and LIVESTRONG
-Writing articles on Native American Literature for www.examiner.com
-Writing this blog, and another one about great films: www.moviejulie.blogspot.com

So now that you know a bit about my background you may be asking yourself, what is going to make Grammar Goofs different from other grammar Web sites? The answer is simple: I am going to keep it local. I live in the heart of the Ozarks, and plan on showing my wonderful audience pictures and examples of grammar goofs in my area, instead of simply searching the Web for funny typos, misspellings, or errors. My hope is that this blog will be something that can be appreciated not only by outsiders, but also by those of us who know our grammar, but live in an area proud of its hillbilly stereotype.

Unfortunately I have no goofs to show you today, but I have left you with a poll to take while I take some time to gather my goofs. Expect your first grammar goof in the next couple of days. Happy reading!