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!