Sunday, May 31, 2009

braniac

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on May 30, 2009

Straight to the Haul of Shaim. Outstanding.

do gentleman prefer blondes; subconsciouly; brunettes are more victorious is relationships based on their hair color

-- "Date the blonde, marry the brunette? Archie proposes to Veronica" on Yahoo! Shine's Love + Sex on May 29, 2009

Gentleman should be in the plural form. Subconsciouly needs a third S. I think I know the fix required for the final nonsensical sentence: change is to in.

Katy Parry

-- Sympatico / MSN homepage on May 31, 2009

Her name is Katy Perry. Glowing monkeys?!

Sneak peak of tomorrow's sports cars

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on May 31, 2009

The one-way peak/peek confusion continues.

Friday, May 29, 2009

LeBron James scores 37 as Cavs narrow Magic's lead in East final to 3-2; LeBron James scores 37 as Cavs narrow Magic's lead in East final to 3-2

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on May 29, 2009

In case you missed it, here it is again.
In case you missed it, here it is again.

The health violations included:

-- "Calgary man complains of insect in Tim Hortons chili" on Yahoo! Canada News on May 26, 2009

In a related story, a B.C. man complains of negligent writing and poor proofreading. His numerous valid points included:

I believe Victoria was targetted

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on May 29, 2009

After clicking on targetted, I saw the article's headline that quoted the father as saying targeted, and the article itself using targeted. Of course, when one is talking, misspelling targeted is impossible. Not so when writing. Right, Yahoo!?

UP can be seen this weekend; Empire Studio 12 Guilford

-- "UP is Pixar's Latest Triumph" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 29, 2009

Guilford is an actual place, but Connecticut is nowhere near Surrey, British Columbia. The writer meant Guildford. The movie's title is written as UP in the headline, as UP in the image above, but as Up both times mentioned in the article. Also, some 24 hours articles have movie titles italicized, while others (such as this one) don't. Why is that?

red leather jacked

-- "Sex assault (local news briefs)" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 29, 2009

The suspect may indeed have been stimulated and excited, but it's impossible to wear a jacked. A jacket, though, can be worn. Is it only the transit police that are in pursuit of the suspect? Shouldn't the Vancouver Police Department be on it?

www.civlirights movement.ca

-- "Cisowski fundraiser (need to know)" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 29, 2009

When writing a website's address, it's a good idea to not put spaces between words. Correct spelling is also advised.

POSTPONENT

-- Status Update on ESPN's Streak for the Cash on May 29, 2009

I picked this prop and found out that a postponement is scored the same way.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

'Lost's Lilly doesn't want to be Angelina Jolie

-- "Lilly says "no" to being a big star" on Sympatico / MSN TV Guide on May 27, 2009

This is, how you say, awkward. The show is Lost, so the writer has put the title in single quotes. But Evangeline Lilly belongs to the cast of Lost, so a possessive apostrophe is needed. So it should really be 'Lost''s Lilly, but that is awkward, and probably also wrong. The best thing to do is what I've done - don't put the show's title in quotes; italicize it instead. Then it can be Lost's Lilly - not Losts Lilly which is equivalent to the erroneous 'Lost's Lilly.

the Great Vancouver Food Bank on Raymur Street. The FOX will accept donations onsite.

-- "Fox hooks up foodbank (need to know)" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 27, 2009

There are several things wrong in this short blurb. While the food bank is no doubt great, it's called the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, as it represents not only Vancouver but the surrounding communities as well. Raymur is a street, but it's officially an Avenue. Finally, onsite should be on site.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Chamber Welcomes it's NEW MEMBERS!

-- Kitsilano Chamber of Commerce advertisement in The Vancouver Courier on May 20, 2009

To all new Chamber members: Run away! Quickly now, before it's too late and the Chamber and its grammatical errors rub off on you.

Today's stress = Tomorrows Health; West Broadway Street

-- Integrative Healing Arts advertisement in The Georgia Straight on May 21, 2009

Why does Today's apostrophe not equal an apostrophe in Tomorrows? That's a rhetorical question; there should definitely be an apostrophe in Tomorrow's Health. Only omit the apostrophe when referring to multiple tomorrows, as in, This blog will continue for many more tomorrows. Broadway is an avenue, not a street. Well, it is a street of course, because one can drive on it, but it's officially classified as an avenue.

for remote cotrol ease

-- INspiration Interiors advertisement in The Georgia Straight on May 21, 2009

You think that's an impressive collection? Check out this blog's collection of misspellings, remote cotrol included. You'll be so amazed at the number of errors that you won't be able to control yourself.

ready to persecute offenders

-- "No pranksters (local news briefs)" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 26, 2009

That's a little mean. Why not just prosecute offenders?

Dictionary.com's definition of persecute:
-verb
1. to pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, esp. because of religion, race, or beliefs; harass persistently.
2. to annoy or trouble persistently.

Dictionary.com's definition of prosecute:
-verb
1. Law

a.
to institute legal proceedings against (a person)
b. to seek to enforce or obtain by legal process.
c.
to conduct criminal proceedings in court against.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Enjoy the our daily pick for the most beautiful and hard-hitting imagery from each week-day.

-- "The Pause - Photo of the day" on Sympatico / MSN Sports on May 23, 2009

Should the or our be omitted. I'm going with the. Weekday should not be hyphenated. What about the capitalization of The Pause - Photo of the Day? I feel that day should also be capitalized. Agree or disagree? This was featured under editor's picks. So MSN Sports has an editor? Could've fooled me.

Forest Gump; Forest; Gary Sinese

-- "Shrimp and Blue Jays (The Wind Up)" on Sympatico / MSN Sports on May 21, 2009

Here we have a writer who firmly believes the film is Forest Gump, about the character of the same name. It's not. It's Forrest Gump for both. And the film starred Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise. I've never heard of Gary Sinese. This writer should stick exclusively to sports.

a well written cover letters

-- "Don't forget the cover letter" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 25, 2009

There are some people who have made a career out of helping people begin careers. Yet when giving simple advice on how to prepare resumes and cover letters, they make simple errors. Here the writer has left out the necessary hyphen in well-written and combined the singular a with the plural letters.

an office heard a "whizzing sound"

-- "Chase ends in Richmond" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 25, 2009

This office not only has the ability to hear, it also has its own cruiser.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Police said they have not to spoken to the victim

-- "Vancouver police seek 2 suspects after stabbing" on Sympatico / MSN News on May 24, 2009

That's too many tos.

Free trail offer; free to recieve and read emails; Find our why SINGLESNET.COM is rated #1

A link to this page was posted to the Detected Errors Facebook group by Driver Christinedrive. There are several things wrong here. In the first line, Free is unnecessarily capitalized - would've been acceptable if trail and offer were also capitalized - and trail should be trial. I before E except after C means recieve should be receive. However, don't ask me about the E before I in Rottweiler. Lastly, Find our why should no doubt be Find out why.

Thanks, Driver!

Allison Lohman

-- Drag Me to Hell (Summer Movie Guide) on Yahoo! Movies on May 24, 2009

While in Hell, leave the extra L - her name is Alison. I've seen this movie's preview a couple of times and I could have sworn that the star was Jenna Fischer of The Office fame (Pam), and it would have been intriguing to see her play a very different character. Lohman's good, though, and I'll probably see this one, but probably on DVD as movie theatre experiences aren't very enjoyable anymore.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Sidney Crosby celebrates with teammate Chris Kunitz as Philippe Boucher, left, Kris Letang and Bill Guerin after scoring on the Carolina Hurricanes

-- "Hawks learning hard lessons" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 22, 2009

There have been problems lately with photo captions in 24 hours, and this one has several issues. Is Kunitz an actor who portrays Boucher? Well, have you ever seen them both in the same room? Oh, yeah, in that image up there and during every Penguins game. Where in the photo is Bill Guerin?

Key Meek Centre

-- "Chantal sings, kids benefit" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 22, 2009

More problems with photo captions. As you can see, the article has the venue's name correct as Kay Meek Centre, while the photo caption changes Kay's name to Key.

a resiliant man

-- "Nestoruk remembered (need to know)" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 22, 2009

What will 24 hours be remembered as? Maybe it will be remembered as the newspaper that had difficulty spelling many words, including resilient.

PAID ADVERTISMENT

-- Vancouver 24 hours front page on May 22, 2009

Those crazy kids in the advertising department are at it again, dropping E every chance they get. Hey, 24 hours, that's at least three times in the past seventeen days that advertisement has been misspelled at the top of your front page. You might want to fix that.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

spotted in the act by an patrol car

-- "Busted by transit cops (need to know)" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 21, 2009

It's an when the following word begins with a vowel or vowel sound, with some exceptions such as, my brother is a university student. The word patrol does not even come close to starting with a vowel sound, so use a, not an.

the women found dead

-- "Park panic" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 21, 2009

Do you see how the large text says woman? Yeah, the photo caption is wrong, much like a photo caption in yesterday's paper regarding the same story. Hey, 24 hours, are you getting embarrassed about the numerous errors found daily in your newspaper? If yes, contact me. If no, seriously?!

wearing vaccum-packed pleather pants

-- "America Gets It Wrong: Kris Allen Wins 'Idol'" on Yahoo! Canada Music on May 20, 2009

I think the writer's brains have been all sucked up by Adam's vacuum, if you know what I mean.

since it's debut; to think that to get record your out in places; a young kid whose trying to speak

-- "Wal-Mart tries to censor Green Day" on Vancouver 24 hours online on May 21, 2009

I think that if you're a professional writer and you write it's where its should be, you should be deeply ashamed. Do it again and you get written up with a letter in your file. Three times and you're out. For the second image, I think the writer swapped record and your and I know that the writer wrote whose when it should be who's. What does that say about the writer?

homebodies at K&K decided not leave town; contemplated buying a reggae album to compliment our mellow mood

-- "Weekend of woe (kudos & kvetches)" in The Vancouver Courier on May 20, 2009

It looks to me like there's a to missing in the opening sentence, and unless the album is able to tell your mellow mood that it likes its shoes, compliment should be complement.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Gateway first opened it's door

-- Email from Gateway Theatre on May 20, 2009

If you're going to send me a promotional email, I'd advise you to double-check your text for any errors. An error in just the second sentence tells me that nobody even single-checked. Gateway first opened it is doors? No, therefore jettison the apostrophe.

Hayden Christiansen

-- "Bilson's home burglarized" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 20, 2009

I wonder if Hayden Christensen, who is engaged to Rachel Bilson, knows that Bilson is also engaged to another Hayden.

a women was found murdered

-- "Woman found dead at Lighthouse Park" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 20, 2009

I'm guessing the writer of the photo caption is not the same person who wrote the article, because the article's headline and main text had it correct as woman. If women were to be correct, then a would have to be omitted and was would have to be changed to were.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Watch's Amy Poehler's full interview

-- Parks and Recreation (NBC) online homepage on May 19, 2009

The only way watch's is ever correct is if you're writing about something that belongs to a watch. For example, the watch's strap is made entirely of pure gold. The same-sounding watches is also correct in the appropriate circumstances, such as he watches too much television. In the above image, neither watch's nor watches is correct. Watch would work fine.

Thieves targetting transit

-- Vancouver 24 hours front cover on May 19, 2009

Normally I restrict the screen capture to the error itself, but in this case I wanted to show just how prominent the error is. Yes, that is the newspaper's front page. The page-three article has it correct as targeting.

the Eric Staal

-- "Fleury of activity" on Vancouver 24 hours online on May 19, 2009

Readers may ask themselves, Why is it the Eric Staal? I'll save you the trouble of making sense out of nonsense: the shouldn't be there - the writer screwed up.

Monday, May 18, 2009

He called the actor is "arrogant"

-- "Alec Baldwin's mail-order-bride joke angers Philippine senator" on Yahoo! Canada News on May 18, 2009

I call the writer ignorant. Did the senator call Baldwin arrogant or did the senator claim Baldwin is arrogant? Make up your mind and make your sentences comprehensible.

Offiicals urge changes

-- Vancouver 24 hours homepage on May 18, 2009

If there are to be changes anywhere, 24 hours, I suggest looking inwards. This is currently the second headline on your homepage.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The only good thing about that is you're memory kicks in

-- "Have you ever deleted something by accident? Oprah feels your pain. (comments section)" on Yahoo! Shine on May 7, 2009

So I found myself reading a Yahoo! article about Oprah hitting delete instead of save (hard-hitting news - don't judge me), and then while reading the comments section (again, don't judge me) I see a grade-school homophone error written by someone who supposedly works at a newspaper. At that point, I was waffling: to post or not to post. Article comments are generally out-of-bounds, but after realizing that the comment was written by someone on Shine staff, I waffled no more.

Friday, May 15, 2009

tear-jerking season fifth season finale

-- "A tear-jerking season fifth season finale for 'Grey's Anatomy'" on Yahoo! Canada News on May 15, 2009

This headline - yes, oh-so-visible headline - would be better off (see: correct) without the first season.

the best female player of all time

-- "Annika's Baby" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 15, 2009

The image above is the "article" in its entirety. I'm familiar with the name Annika Sorenstam, so I know what sport she plays, but if I didn't know the name I'd be wondering in what sport she won ten majors. The answer, which should be included in the article: golf.

NUM3ERS

-- "On the tube" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 15, 2009

The show is Numb3rs. While I've never seen the show, I've seen 24 hours mess up the title many times.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

THURSDAY' QUESTION; as Leader of the NDP

-- "Online poll" in Vancouver 24 hours on May 14, 2009

The question should be: Where did the after-apostrophe S go? A follow-up question could be: Why is Leader capitalized?