Sunday, October 31, 2010

Pick one, eh

Preferably the correct one, which is Rachael. After a post from a couple of days ago, and now this post, it seems that Yahoo! takes pride in spelling someone's name two different ways in close proximity. And misspelling the article's subject's name in the headline? Not cool. From "Rachel Leigh Cook 'Up In Arms' Over Photo Editing" on Yahoo! Canada Shine on October 31, 2010. Click the image to enlarge it.

Something is amiss in Washington

Ah, it's a missing G on the Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 30, 2010.

Friday, October 29, 2010

This boggles my mind

How can a professional writer have two different spellings of the same name so close together? From "Nuns stand to profit from auction of rare Honus Wagner card" on Yahoo! Canada Sports on October 27, 2010.

... and vice versa

Regarding if this was you, yes it is, the writer of this article ("Dating again a minefield" in today's 24 hours Vancouver) should have realized that either was should be is or is should be was. And that period at the end of the sentence should actually be at the end of the sentence and not outside the closing parenthesis.

Proofreading an ad in its entirety

There shouldn't be an apostrophe in its in this Virgin Radio advertisement from today's 24 hours Vancouver. Click the image to enlarge it.

It's big Rob Zombie news!

The news has gotta be big - huge, even - because why else would today's 24 hours Vancouver run the same story twice? Above is from page 21, and below is from page 32. Click an image to enlarge it.

A roving A

The single-letter word a should be removed from the above sentence found in "Gunmen arrested in Vancouver park: police" on CBC News online on October 28, 2010. Also,

the only hyphen that belongs above is the one in firearms-related. Please jettison the other one.

An extra-scary sentence

There is no space in joystick (except when written incorrectly). I don't know what bottons are, because it's a nonword everywhere I look it up. The writer (of "Hi-tech Halloween" in yesterday's 24 hours Vancouver) might have meant to write buttons. Also, there should be a hyphen in extra-scary touch.

Mind your Fs

I can't take my mind off how many errors appear in this newspaper every day. From "To book or to e-book" in 24 hours Vancouver on October 28, 2010.

David Arquette and two Coxes

First David Arquette separated from his wife, Courteney Cox, and now Yahoo! reports that he has split from someone named Courtney Cox. It's exclusive news that I spotted on the Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 27, 2010.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Brrr and brrr, it's getting colder

There is no such street as Burrand in Vancouver. There is, however, a Burrard Street located at the development site. From "New Vancouver towers proposed" on CBC News online on October 26, 2010.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Please exit the newsroom

I'm make an educated guess that the person quoted actually said exciting and dramatic. From "New skyscrapers planned" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Colleges can tour?

Or did the writer (of "Firemen hot stuff at VGH" in today's 24 hours Vancouver) mean colleagues? Either way, collegues is not a word. Doesn't the writer have any colleagues or editors who can correct his errors before they're published?

Not now but right now

The two nows cancel each other out, which means that, uh, he'll be impossible to move later? From "Souray sidelined" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

she's feels at home

Maybe the writer had thoughts of writing she's feeling at home before changing feeling to feel but failing to make the required change of she's to she. From "Don't call her a designer" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

The writer pled guilty

.. to charges of language cruelty. Plead should be either pled or pleaded in "Banned from pets" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Comical writing

I think it's funny that the writer - and the editor, if applicable - didn't spot the doubling up of Carla. From "Style icon becomes comicbook hero" in today's 24 hours Vancouver. Click the image to enlarge it.

24 hours is like a box of chocolates

See should be sees and the word of should be between release and the, in the above sentence from "Time-travel trilogy changed Fox’s world" in today's 24 hours Vancouver. Then,

Forrest Gump is short an R.

I see a writing crime or two

Russell's last name is short an I - it's Williams - and there ought to be an S after the apostrophe. From the Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 25, 2010.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The worst sentence ever?

In other words, MSN Canada is asking if I'd buy soda if Coke's slogan was "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave?" First of all, I'd find it strange that Coke has its main competitor's name in its slogan. Second of all, I'd find it strange that the slogan, while not obviously a question, is in fact a question due to the question mark's presence inside the closing quotation mark. Third of all, yes, I would buy soda - probably root beer. From the MSN Canada homepage on October 21, 2010.

Maybe the word bikes is missing

The word the writer wanted (assuming they try to write error-free articles) was stationery. From "Eight quick tips for de-cluttering your life" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

CBC: Make this article reader-friendly

The writer appears to have given up on this sentence (from "Vancouver school closures spark concern" on CBC News online on October 26, 2010) with the misspelled earthquake and no punctuation signifying the end of the sentence. Then,

the writer misspells part of the school's name. It's Carleton. The article was apparently updated since I captured these errors (Last Updated: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 | 9:35 AM PT), yet the errors all remain. Click an image to enlarge it.

A writer scuffles with the editor

Scuffle should be scuffles in this photo caption from "Rypien comes clean on attack" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

It's not Will

A writer for the Yahoo! Canada homepage today managed to get John's last name correct 50% of the time. It's Farrell.

I'd prefer the correct spelling

A simple spell check would have caught the nonword perferred on the Yahoo! Canada homepage today.

Monday, October 25, 2010

The words not to use in you resume

Honestly, 24 hours Vancouver - how does this keep happening in your paper? The above is a headline - a headline! - from today's edition.

Fastest growing company; Worst run industry; Most competitve nations

A list of three items (from the Yahoo! Canada homepage today) features three missing hyphens - in Fastest-growing, Worst-run, and Most-competitve - and a missing I in what should be competitive.

However, Authors Bill Jensen and Josh Klein

The word authors should not be capitalized. From "Productivity at the Workplace" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

If your not familiar

If you're not familiar with the difference between your and you're, then maybe a career in writing is not for you. From "Facebook to stop showing you photos of your ex" on Yahoo! Canada News on October 24, 2010.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Katy Perry's extravagent wedding plans

This headline (from the Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 22, 2010) makes me wonder if Yahoo! has any extravagant proofreading plans. Even a simple spell check would have caught that nonword.

Did Canadian shun 'Glee?'

I don't know. But I do know that the writer of the above (from the Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 24, 2010) shunned Glee by including a question mark in the title. You see, the title is not actually a question and therefore does not actually have a question mark, so the question mark should go after the closing quotation mark. Any questions?

Alfresson

It's a misspelled Alfredsson on the National Hockey League homepage on October 22, 2010.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Jeffey Klassen; Khan; He said Friday he was not consider himself drunk.; jan. 21

The two sentences/paragraphs above (from "Police officer says he did not assault Khan" on CBC News online on October 22, 2010) is how this error-riddled article begins. First there's the misspelled Jeffrey, and then - maybe in an attempt to avoid misspelling another person's first name - victim Kahn's first name is missing. It's Firoz and its only presence is in the article's photo caption. Then,

there is this dog's breakfast of a sentence. Finally,

jan. is an abbreviation of a month, and months are always capitalized, so Jan. it ought to be.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Stabucks

R you serious? This misspelling of Starbucks is courtesy of the Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 22, 2010.

As hard as it is to imagine - the power duo, who many foodies know from their days at Joe Fortes (GPK's sister restaurant) - managed to improve; lets

The above sentence (from "Improving on perfection" in 24 hours Vancouver on October 22, 2010) would be improved if the first em-dash and the first comma were swapped. Then,

lets needs an apostrophe to make it let's (which is a contraction of let us, as in let us make a night of it).

MAINTANENCE

Other than the changed expiry date, this is the same ad that I posted two and a half months ago. The word maintenance is correct in the smaller text, but not in the larger eye-catching text. From a Richmond Subaru advertisement in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Mily Cyrus

Someone writing for the Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 20, 2010, couldn't get Miley's name right.

Coquitlam native

Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1958. His family moved to Surrey, BC, in 1966, before settling in Port Coquitlam, BC, in 1968. (See this Wikipedia article.) How does someone get "Coquitlam native" from that? Note that Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam are two different cities, which is something CBC apparently doesn't know. From "Coupland gets Fox gig" in yesterday's 24 hours Vancouver.

and it currently recovering

The writer of the above is not currently proofreading. From "Kitten shot with pellet gun" in 24 hours Vancouver on October 21, 2010.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Rangers led the series 2-1 heading into the ALCS series.

Can anyone make sense of this sentence from "Front burner" in 24 hours Vancouver on October 20, 2010: "The Rangers led the series 2-1 heading into the ALCS series."? Also, by writing ALCS series, the writer is essentially writing American League Championship Series series. It's a redundancy similar to PIN number and ATM machine.

Allison told 24 hours

Someone needs to tell this writer (of "Stolen bike more than a ride" in 24 hours Vancouver on October 20, 2010) that newspapers - including the one he writes for - are supposed to be italicized.

Alicia Keys' has a baby

I don't know why that apostrophe is on the Yahoo! Canada homepage on October 16, 2010. I wonder if anyone at Yahoo! has an explanation.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

until we know its safe

All I'm asking is for proper spelling and punctuation when reading newspaper articles. In "Wi-Fi safety in question" in today's 24 hours Vancouver the writer should have put an apostrophe in it's.