Monday, June 8, 2009

Verbal "ooohhs" and disappointed "ahhhs"

-- "Aquarium abuzz over baby beluga birth" in Vancouver 24 hours on June 8, 2009

How does the writer know that the crowd wasn't saying "ooze" and "azzz"? The Ss should not be within the quotation marks as they were not said. "Ooohh"s and "ahhh"s would be better, although a one-H oooh would be best.

2 comments:

  1. Laura10/6/09 19:46

    Maybe I'm just being a nitpicky, curmudgeonly word nerd, but doesn't "verbal" mean "with words" or "spoken"? Perhaps the writer meant "audible" instead. But, if the sounds "rang out" I suggest either word -- "verbal" or "audible" -- is unnecessary.

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  2. jblue12/6/09 17:39

    Good catch. What do you think about "excited" to complement "disappointed"?

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