Friday, July 31, 2009

Qasimali Baig or Qasamili Baig

-- "Attack on Vancouver Muslim a hate crime: police" on CBC News online on July 30, 2009

I would have no reason to doubt that Baig's first name is Qasimali, as the article states, except the article's photo caption has the first name as Qasamili. CBC News, which spelling is correct?

'Monkey King's' wild stunt

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on July 30, 2009

The solution is simple: don't put quotation marks around Monkey King. Monkey King's wild stunt.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Furthermore, my parents could have cared less who these stars were dating or what where they liked to shop.

-- "Why have we become so obsessed with the lives of teen stars?" on Yahoo! Shine Parenting on July 28, 2009

I'm pretty sure the writer meant that her parents could not have cared less. If they really could have cared less, then what do we care? Unless I'm missing something, the word "what" should be removed for the final part of the sentence to make sense.

DEBIT CARD GUESTS; All Our Customer's; All Debit Card Transaction

-- Dairy Queen in Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver, BC, Canada, on July 22, 2009

"Debit card guests"? Is the place called "Dairy Queen" or "Debit card"? It's the former, so I suggest writing "Debit card users" instead. Customers is merely the plural form of customer and therefore there should be no apostrophe before the S. Transaction should be in a plural form, but, again, be sure to add the S without placing an apostrophe. The capitalization of every word - except is?! - is making my head spin. On a positive note, the sign correctly states $0.25 instead of o.25¢.

or it's employees; and it's employees; and it's employees

-- Splashdown in Tsawwassen, BC, Canada, on July 26, 2009

It's clear, after reading this large sign found outside its entrance, that Splashdown doesn't understand the significant difference between it's and its. Of the three times it's is used, how many times should it be its? If you answered anything other than "all three", you're wrong.

Elle McPherson

-- Sympatico / MSN homepage on July 29, 2009

While Sympatico / MSN isn't worried about correctly spelling celebrities' names, the rest of the world knows her as Elle Macpherson.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Rihanna's debuts 'fierce' look

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on July 27, 2009

This looks like a mixture of intents. Rihanna's 'fierce' look and Rihanna debuts 'fierce' look are fine on their own, but don't mix 'em - never mix 'em.

Suspect faces mulitple charges

-- Vancouver 24 hours homepage on July 27, 2009

In a related story, I know of a relatively small newspaper that commits mulitple errors every weekday.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

on the first night of the 2009 HSBC Celebration of Light festival. July 23, 2009.

-- "Fireworks night a go despite lightning storm" on CTV.ca on July 25, 2009

The four-night Celebration of Light always goes Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday. July 23 was Thursday. The first night was July 22nd.

Winery is looking to pay a someone $10,000 a month

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on July 26, 2009

Cool, now if only Yahoo! Canada would pay a me $10,000 a month to proofread their website - or even a quarter of that amount to proofread just their homepage. Where's your stinkin' pride?

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Audrey Tautou wanted to be a zoologist when she growing up

-- "Ape academic Audrey Tautou" on Yahoo! Canada Lifestyle on July 24, 2009

It seems this subheadline was written by an ape who did not want to be a writer when he was growing up.

Friday, July 24, 2009

the do's and don'ts of hitting on wait staff

-- "Sexy wait staff tempting targets" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 24, 2009

Or, to write it correctly, the dos and don'ts.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Miscelleanous

-- "What's up in Vancouver this weekend" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 23, 2009

It's a tough word to spell, but there are ways to find out the correct spelling. A dictionary or a spell checker would have informed the writer that the correct spelling is miscellaneous.

Sportscaster Erin Andrew's Peeping Tom

-- "Who Was Erin Andrews' Peeping Tom?" on Yahoo! Canada Video on July 23, 2009

The sportscaster's name is Erin Andrews, which means the apostrophe is placed correctly in the headline but incorrectly in the subheadline.

Jared Weaver

-- ESPN Streak for the Cash on July 23, 2009

There is a pitcher on the Angels named Jered Weaver. Who is Jared Weaver?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Newspapers targetted by Olympic bylaw

-- "Newspapers targetted by Olympic bylaw" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 21, 2009

-- Vancouver 24 hours homepage on July 21, 2009

The first image is from the newspaper's front page, and the second is the top story on the paper's website. If the bylaw helps to get 24 hours and its numerous errors out of the public's consciousness, then I'm all for it. Targetted - as a spell checker would have pointed out - is not a word.

an arial view

-- "'This is a heartwrenching situation'" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 21, 2009

What's "an arial view"? Is it similar to an aerial view?

ONE DAY SALE: WEDNESAY

-- LA Weight Loss Centers advertisement in Vancouver 24 hours on July 21, 2009

Hey, hey, what's that you say? Okay, every day ends with -day, 'cept in LA.

We buy shoes to fit our feet, we don't by feet to fit our shoes.

-- "Truth's in the toes" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 21, 2009

By and sell. Buy and cell.

the Nazi's; nasty, why aren't you serving your country looks; what the Walton's used; Please tell me I'm not the only one hearing banjo's right now?

-- "Women shop during the day, men go at night" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 21, 2009

All three images contain instances where an apostrophe was used before an S to form a plural. The first image's sentence ends unintelligibly. My suggestion: "dodging nasty 'why aren't you serving your country?' looks from the female patrons." Finally, the final image has text that contains a question mark, but I've yet to find the question.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Mounties have identified remains, found on July 9 ... as Vancouver's Daniel Hughes, who went missing four days earlier. Investigators do no suspect

-- "Hughes' remains found (need to know)" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 20, 2009

According to this article on the Vancouver Sun website, Hughes was last seen on June 5. (The Sun article also says that the first remains were found July 10, but what's a day here, a day there among professional journalists?) Therefore, 24 hours has deduced that the timeframe of June 5 to July 9 is four days. How then can we expect them to realize that "Investigators do no suspect foul play" is not proper English? The phrase "dot the Is and cross the Ts" is meaningless if the Is and/or the Ts are left out.

Jesse Kozac

-- "the last door" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 20, 2009

Jesse's last name is Kozak throughout the article, but the photo caption has it as Kozac. Which to trust?

Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows

-- "Radcliffe casts his charms" in The Georgia Straight on July 16, 2009

Close, but it's Deathly Hallows.

two fireman with a catch mat between them

-- Page 156 of Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor

It's one fireman and two or more firemen.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Richards's has date with wrecking ball

-- "Richards's has date with wrecking ball" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 17, 2009

Over that guy's left shoulder, on the awning, you can see the relevant part of the club's name, which is Richard's on Richards. The text should simply read, Richard's has date with wrecking ball. This image is the main eye-catcher on the so-called newspaper's front page. 24 hours, my longstanding proofreading offer is still yours for the taking.

There are many ways fun ways for new couples to get from A to B on vacation. Car is not one of the them.

-- "Getaway a good couple test" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 17, 2009

Is there anyone at 24 hours who regularly proofreads their work? There are many ways to get your point across; intelligibly is the best way. The first error can be fixed by removing the first ways, but the final sentence is a tad trickier. Perhaps the writer attempted to write, Car is not one of them. However, car can definitely be a fun way, so I'd suggest writing, Car is not the only way.

Empire Studio 12 Guilford

-- "Movie Listings" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 17, 2009

Again and again and again, 24 hours misspells Guildford.

Captive solider appears in Taliban video

-- Yahoo! homepage on July 18, 2009

There is a great blog called Terribly Write that is devoted to errors on the Yahoo! site. The Yahoo! errors posted on Detected Errors are usually from the Canadian version, but I'll sometimes click through to the U.S. version from TW to see what I can find. Today I found solider, which should probably be soldier.

Smoke is seen rising on Saturday from from a forest fire

-- "Raging B.C. wildfire forces thousands to flee" on Sympatico / MSN News on July 18, 2009

Can anyone anyone spot the error? Bueller? Bueller?

Yashpal Mehay, 40, has been seen or heard from since July 14; Mehay has no history alcohol or drug abuse

-- "Police seek missing Surrey man" on Sympatico / MSN News on July 18, 2009

As you can see, the article says Mehay "was last seen on July 14," but the photo caption contradicts that statement by awkwardly stating that Mehay "has been seen or heard from since July 14." I'd say that the word not should be between has and been. I'd also say that the final sentence in the image should read in part, Mehay has no history of alcohol or drug abuse.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Powered by the renouned Microgaming software; They also have an dedicated loyalty team who are always have great ideas for fun every week.

-- Email from Ruby Fortune Casino on July 16, 2009

The problems start just four words into the email. Renouned is not a word; renowned was likely the goal. The final sentence has a couple of issues; An dedicated should be a dedicated, and are should be eliminated.

What will the the GAME RESULT?

-- ESPN's Streak for the Cash on July 15, 2009

Can anyone spot the the error? The first the should be be.

Trimmer's message

-- "Breasts bared for big bucks" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 15, 2009

The person's last name is Trimmers, so it should be Trimmers' message. It's Trimmer's message only if the last name is Trimmer.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Green fingered Sienna Miller

-- "Green fingered Sienna Miller" on Yahoo! Canada Lifestyle on July 14, 2009

Now here is a headline that caught my eye. Who was it? Seth? Tom? Red? But it wasn't what I thought. According to the article, Miller is really into gardening. There should definitely be a hyphen between Green and fingered.

Thanks again for puchasing tickets! Show complete order detail

-- Email from Ticketmaster / Mariners.com on July 14, 2009

You're welcome, but puchasing is missing an R and detail should have an S after the L.

Jessica Simspon's ageing pleasure

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on July 14, 2009

-- "Jessica Simspon's ageing pleasure" on Yahoo! Canada Lifestyle on July 13, 2009

It's another Yahoo! Canada homepage error that repeats itself in the article's headline. Since Jessica Simpson's name is correctly spelled in the subheadline seen directly below the headline, maybe the writer is comparing the singer to a Sims character.

ABC, 10 p.m.

-- "Tuesday primetime" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 14, 2009

The grid that's beside this blurb shows that Better Off Ted is on at 9pm. It's been over two months since I've seen an episode, but the blurb above - with its "final two pairs" and "previously eliminated couples choose a winner" - doesn't seem remotely accurate as to what the sitcom is about.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Pedestians and cyclists

-- "Burrard Bridge traffic woes expected till Monday" on Sympatico / MSN News on July 11, 2009

For the article, MSN News used the same photo and photo caption that were featured in a June 23 Detected Errors post. One word was changed, but it wasn't the incorrect pedestians.

Last year, nearly 73,500 people died in road accidents in China last year, or more than 200 fatalities per day

-- "Chinese road vigilante an Internet hit: report" on Yahoo! Canada News on July 13, 2009

Today, I found this redundant error online today.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Who should be responsible for bailing out the $1 billion Olympic Village project? Yes 36 per cent; No 54 per cent

-- "Web poll nation" in The Vancouver Courier on June 24, 2009

If you can get past the absurdity of a poll using yes/no answers on a non-yes/no question (which might, if you're like me, take a while), shouldn't the Yes percentage plus the No percentage equal 100%? I don't see a Maybe option covering the remaining 10%. "This is not a scientific poll." Yeah, clearly.

Jeremie, the chef is a genius and I am excited to witness the smiles on my friend's faces after they take their first bite

-- "Wow, a night out!" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 10, 2009

If the writer is identifying Jeremie as the chef, then a comma should be placed after chef, otherwise it seems the writer is addressing only Jeremie and omitting the chef's name. The article is about spending time with three friends, not just one friend, so the apostrophe should be after the S, for friends'. If you think your friend has more than one face, then you could probably use a night in. I'd say it's a good idea to proofread a few times more than usual when doing some after-a-night-out writing.

As long as their is room for them to go, they will go away."

-- "Coyote shot after biting girl in Port Coquitlam" in Tri-City News on July 1, 2009

If their in the first sentence is correct (which it is), then how can the writer think it's correct in the second sentence? However, the writer is quoting someone, so, uhh, maybe the speaker said the wrong word.

will soon lose it's post-apocalyptic, dusty lustre

-- "Nightmare on Granville (kudos & kvetches)" in The Vancouver Courier on June 26, 2009

Writing 101. It's and its are two very different words. Is will soon lose it is post-apocalyptic, dusty lustre correct? No, so jettison the apostrophe. It's is used correctly in the very next sentence.

Sasha Baron Cohen (thrice!)

-- "Brüno (Movies)" in Westender on July 9, 2009

With three identical misspellings in such a small space, the writer of the review clearly believes the actor's name is Sasha and not Sacha. The common confusion is no doubt due in part to the fact that there is a famous Sasha Cohen - the American figure skater who's won an Olympic silver medal.

Twice the story

-- "'Extreme' violence" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 10, 2009

-- "Man arrested in machete attack (canada news briefs)" in Vancouver 24 hours on July 10, 2009

These two stories - almost identically worded - were just a few pages apart.