Thursday, October 29, 2009

George Stroumboulopoulis

-- "Late night (Television)" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 16, 2009

Oh, the writer almost made it through George's entire last name without stumbling. That I should be an O. So close.

I wanna a new drug; or veer you off your path"?

This is the headline for an article in Vancouver 24 hours on October 14, 2009. Beautiful isn't it. Even if the single-letter word a is removed there are still issues, but more on that later. First, another error:

See how the first question has the question mark inside the closing quotation mark? That's where it should be. The second question has the question mark outside the closing quotation mark; that's not where it should be.

Back to that headline. Who thinks that writing I wanna new drug is a correct slangy way of writing I want a new drug? Compare it with I wanna go to the game. Here wanna is in place of want to, not want a. I'm curious - is wanna a suitable substitute for both? And then what about the song "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas. I Got To Feeling?

Andy Pettite

-- ESPN Streak for the Cash on October 25, 2009

Game six of the ALCS was postponed a day due to rain, but ESPN's error remained the same. Pettitte's name is correct in the question, so why can't ESPN get it right in the answers?

Saturday, October 24, 2009

BRITISH COLUMBIA PAVILLION

-- "Host City Olympic Transportation Plan" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 15, 2009

Pavillion? Gold medal for misspellings.

the Atlanta Thrashers' affilaiate

-- "Great old one" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 14, 2009

The Vancouver 24 hours sports section is at it again. Proofread? Spell check? Nahhhh.

she was snatched near her home while walking near her South Lake Tahoe home

-- "First photos of kidnapped woman" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 15, 2009

But was she near her home?

Robert Pattison

-- "Dress me up, dress me down" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 16, 2009

His last name is Pattinson and the S in Twilight's should not be italicized as it's not part of the movie's title.

The event at Yaletown's Roundhouse Community Arts Centre, brings unites 12 of the most innovative

-- "Creative juices ready to flow" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 21, 2009

This writer shows some creativity with unnecessary usage of the comma and using both brings and unites when just one would suffice. I'd go with unites.

seven or eight pieces a 10-piece puzzle; Anoyone with information is asked police

The article "Cops hunt for minivan driver clues" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 19, 2009, is missing the two-letter word of (a 10-piece puzzle),

while later there is another missing two-letter word, to, and it has taken a four-letter word, call, with it.

the shows producers; penned an misleading letter

The article "Climate calamities" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 15, 2009, is missing an apostrophe in show's producers,

and added an N where no N belongs directly before misleading.

you can't see see eye-to-eye

-- "Blame it on the brain" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 20, 2009

I've often wondered why writers can't see see obvious errors. Some writers obviously obviously don't proofread.

Avril Lavigne has sited "irreconcilable differences"

-- "Avril files for divorce (People in the news)" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 16, 2009

Cited, not sited.

Greek Canadian watches as 2010 torch is lit in his birthplace in Olympia; Greek Canadian watches as 2010 torch is lit in his birthplace in Olympia

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 23, 2009

Just in case you missed it. Just in case you missed it.

Migant arrested

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 22, 2009

Migrant.

Andy Pettite

-- ESPN Streak for the Cash on October 24, 2009

The self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports is unable to decide how many Ts are in Andy's last name. Four is the answer.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

the Fortin balked; There is currently no snow and the ground.

The article - "Victoria mayor reneges on snow-shovelling bet" on Yahoo! Canada News on October 22, 2009 - is about Dean Fortin. Why the the in front of Fortin's last name? Maybe the text originally read as the mayor balked, then was changed and the was overlooked.

Later in the article and is in place of on. That is not a simple typo. Click the images to enlarge them.

Iron Workers Memorial Bridge; Ironworker's Memorial Bridge

"TransLink is Metro Vancouver’s regional transportation authority ... responsible for regional transit, cycling and commuting options." (Source) One commuting option is the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, not Iron Workers Memorial Bridge as seen in a list on TransLink's Bridges and Tunnels page. (But at least Lions Gate Bridge is correct!)

The same page's main text has the bridge's spelling correct, but its larger heading is incorrect.

Just below the page's main text is the section Lower Mainland Traffic Cameras. Here we see that Iron Workers Memorial Bridge still lingers, and now apostrophes have been inserted in four incorrect instances.

Lion's Gate Bridge or the Ironworker's Memorial Bridge

-- "Olympic security to patrol bridges" on CBC News online on October 15, 2009

CBC, neither Lions Gate Bridge nor Ironworkers Memorial Bridge has an apostrophe in its name.

victim's identities

Another error on the Vancouver 24 hours homepage. His victim's identities? I don't think it's possible to rob a victim of more than one identity.

Yup, right after the article's opening paragraph - which repeats the homepage's paragraph, error included - we see that there were four victims. Therefore, the man killed to profit from his victims' identities. Editor? Proofreader? What?

jump science; matabolism

The screen capture above is from the Vancouver 24 hours homepage on October 14. I've heard of junk science but jump science has me hopping with curiosity.

After clicking to see the article, I now also wonder what matabolism is, and if it's related to someone's metabolism.

Oh, so jump science is merely junk science when written by a junk writer.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Acubalance Wellbess Centre; Granvile Island Brewing; Blue Olive Photgraphy; Anderw Seymour

On September 24, 2009, weekly newspaper The Georgia Straight released its Best of Vancouver edition. The subsequent edition, released October 1, featured a photo of all (most?) of the category winners. However, some of the winning companies had their names misspelled. For starters, Wellbess should be Wellness.

Next, Granville Island Brewing gets mistreated half the time,

while Blue Olive Photography gets mistreated both times.

Acubalance Wellness Centre is still misspelled.

And last but not least, the company's name is correct, but not General Manager Andrew Seymour's name.

they had been buried without being unidentified

-- "Bangladesh police say man confesses to killing 11 women while questioned about another crime" on Yahoo! Canada News on October 12, 2009

I've never heard of anyone being unidentified. So I take it the victims had been identified and were buried with their fingerprints and teeth intact. What else could be concluded?

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Critically-panned comedy; Popular Irish boyband singer dies on holiday at age 33Maine couple wins N. American wife-carrying championship

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 11, 2009

The hyphen in critically-panned should be removed immediately (it should not have been there in the first place), and it appears Yahoo! has combined two headlines into one nonsensical jumble. Clicking anywhere on the text will take you to an article about the victorious Maine couple.

Suprising places

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 11, 2009

It shouldn't come as a su(r)prise to regular Detected Errors readers to see another Yahoo! error posted here. At least the correct two-R spelling is there half the time. Click the image to enlarge it.

Windows Web Security have detected Trojans and ready to remove them.

-- Windows Security Alert on October 11, 2009

I hope that Windows employs someone whose job it is to browse recent internet postings about Windows. Then maybe the next time this message appears on my screen it will be correctly written as Windows Web Security has detected Trojans and is ready to remove them.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

ALCS

-- ESPN Streak for the Cash on October 9, 2009

The Twins and Yankees are playing in the ALDS (American League Division Series), not the ALCS (American League Championship Series); the winner of the former will advance to the latter to play either the Red Sox (c'mon, BoSox!) or the Angels. Shouldn't the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports know that?

Susan Anton

-- "Rooftop Yaletown restaurant rejected by Vancouver council" on CBC News online on November 19, 2008

Her first name is actually Suzanne.

the sites best-selling piece; the very kitsch Three Wolves Moon short

-- "Viral Good: Ironic Reviews Boost Tee Shirt Sales" on Yahoo! Canada Tech on October 8, 2009

The Amazon page has the item listed as "The Mountain Men's Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve Tee". The writer above decided to change Wolf to Wolves, and make it seem that the item is a pair of shorts. In the first paragraph, the sites needs a possessive apostrophe before the second S.

Dzieknski

-- "Lawyer says repeat tragedy unlikely" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 9, 2009

The brutal murder of Robert Dziekanski by the RCMP should be remembered forever, though it'd be nice if his last name was not misspelled by the media.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

became an viral video

-- "Susan Boyle to take stab at Rolling Stones, Monkees with new recording" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 8, 2009

Viral does not begin with a vowel sound, so drop the N from an.

acting like a gentlemen

-- "Katy and Russell go public" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 8, 2009

Change gentlemen to gentleman to match both the singular a and the singular notorious womanizer.

break-an-enter

-- "Cops on lookout for arsonist" in Vancouver 24 hours on October 8, 2009

D word in D middle of break-an-enter is missing a D at the end of D word.

can't imagine anything more gruesome then sitting around yelling and arguing about hockey

-- "Hockey pools take tenacity" in The Georgia Straight on October 1, 2009

Some would say that writing takes tenacity, but that's only if one cares about writing properly. Most writers with even a tiny bit of self-respect would consider a then for than error to be gruesome.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

a desert crepe

-- Cafe Bonjour advertisement in Seattle Weekly on September 30, 2009

There's nothing quote like a precipitation-free area of land after dinner. But seriously, folks, do you think the crepe gets served bone dry with absolutely nothing on it? And is the beverage actually a mirage?

(Among the cowering populace, look for Mike White and an unbilled comedy A-lister, the latter in a welcome, extended cameo).

-- "Zombieland" in Seattle Weekly on September 30, 2009

(If the entire sentence is contained within the parentheses, then the period should go directly before the closing parenthesis.)

Have you ever had problems with your mail being stolen? Just once, and it wasn't a problem.

-- "Now poll" in The Now on October 2, 2009

I've got problems with that second answer. "I have had problems once, but it wasn't a problem." Are you saying that you've had your mail stolen once and it wasn't a problem? That's not what the question is asking. The question is asking if you've ever had problems, so by saying "just once" you are saying "yes, I've had problems". Maybe it wasn't a problem because your life is just one problem after another and so it fit right in?

sentented to jail

-- Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 7, 2009

There ought to be some way that writers can check the spelling of their words before it's published for public viewing. It wouldn't catch all errors, but it would catch the nonwords like sentented, which I'll assume is supposed to be sentenced.