Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I count a first, second, third

I'm counting errors, of course. Above there's an where and belongs (and I'll look past the apparent redundancy because maybe the quoted person is actually very hopeful about this being a tradition here), as well as a hyphen that erroneously connects so on in "German artisan in good spirit" in 24 hours Vancouver on November 29, 2010. The third error, seen below,

is a misspelling of Herwig Schaub's first name.

Arose is arose is arose

There's one arose too many in the above sentence from "Firehalls on display" in 24 hours Vancouver on November 29, 2010.

King Kong

Hong Kong looks a little different here, but why? New haircut? Lost weight? Negligent proofreading? From "A giving life (Central Park)" in The Vancouver Courier on November 26, 2010.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Writing that couoldn't be t=]much worse

This is the photo caption from "SkyTrain hero saves man with mangled leg" on CBC News online on November 27, 2010.

Yes, I've completed a frew

Serveral should be several and attached should be attach. This is from the City of Surrey online application process on November 27, 2010. Click the image to enlarge it.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Is there a decent writer next to Picasso?

The second you should be your in this sentence from "Tech gear" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Skimpy proofreading

I had thoughts that this error (seen today on the Yahoo! Canada homepage) would have caused an editor or two to blush, but the errors on Yahoo! happen so frequently that I doubt that's true. Having trouble spotting the error? It'll help if you read the actual article's first sentence: "The skimpy trunks sported by Singapore's men's water polo team at the Asian Games are causing red faces back home in the conservative city-state, with many embarrassed by their design."

Are you sure?

I took this photo while staying at Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa in Whistler, B.C., a week and a half ago. There was a sandwich board poolside that featured the correct spelling of absolutely, but I saw three other attempts at the word in the vicinity of the pool and hot tubs and all of them had the spelling seen in the picture.

What the L

Editors missed the missing L in the second Williams. From the front page - yes, the front page - of today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Reader(s), prepare to read an error

It'd make more sense if the article was directed at more than one gentleman, in which case it woudl be gentlemen. From "Gentleman, prepare to pick up your jaws" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Face the facts

Is the article about one lineman who faces charges, or about two or more linemen who face charges? I suppose the headline has done it's job of making you read the article, if only to find out which way the headline is screwed. From "Eskimo lineman face charges" in yesterday's 24 hours Vancouver.

Don't forget the apostrophe

Especially in a headline contraction. From "Dont limit yourself to a set of colours, expand" in yesterday's 24 hours Vancouver.

Screwed by a forfeit

It's a misspelled Scuderia in the photo caption for "Road race nets sports cars" in yesterday's 24 hours Vancouver.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

That's a dishonour

A should be An in "Eby honoured" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Stay there and proofread

The an should be and in "Flying solo for Christmas" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Total fluidity is the goal


On Monday Kris Letang had two goals last season (according to his profile on Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey on November 23, 2010), but a day later he had three goals a season ago. The newer total is, in fact, the correct total.

The Boathouse should hire me to proofread it's website

Above is dominant text from The Boathouse Restaurant homepage on November 23, 2010. Plus,

the same error is found on the restaurant's about page. Click an image to enlarge it.

Next stop: the previous stop again

On page nine in today's 24 hours Vancouver readers could take a brief world tour for some international news. Then readers could turn the page and go on another world tour on page 11:

Oh, hold on a sec - it's the same world tour, just with an added stop to see a cute baby panda. Hey, the entire paper is a whopping 34 pages; the writers and editors need to fill all that space with something. Click an image to enlarge it.

Writing that grates

The start of The Game Plan is missing from "The Rock back into action genre" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Capital punishment

Please answer me these questions two. Question the first: What's the difference between a hill and a kill? Question the second: Why didn't the writer (of "Winter days" in 24 hours Vancouver on November 22, 2010) capitalize park?

The Italian city

The author of this article ("Dog day afternoon comes to the library" in The Vancouver Courier on November 12, 2010) doggedly pursued Cesar Millan (two Ls) for an interview prior to recent local appearances, to the point of frustration. Maybe this is her way of getting back at him.

5+7=11(?)

If December 5th of this year is a Sunday (which it is), then how can December 11th also be a Sunday? Oh, that's right - it's not. From a Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir advertisement in The Vancouver Courier on November 12, 2010.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Two out of three ain't good

On the left, a picture of Emma Watson. On the right, the surprise could be the missing R. From the Yahoo! Canada homepage on November 19, 2010. Click the image to enlarge it.

A poet by any other name

I know of Edgar Allan Poe and T.S. Eliot, but I've never heard of the poets the writer uses as examples. From "Mental illness often a gift" in 24 hours Vancouver on November 19, 2010. Click the image to enlarge it.

1-star writing

Actually, the Desperate Housewives star's name is Eva Longoria Parker, sans hyphen. And did you notice how I put the apostrophe in front of the final S in star's? That's because Tony Parker got married only to Eva (and not to Eva plus any of her castmates), and obviously Eva is just one person. From 24 hour Weekend table of contents in 24 hours Vancouver on November 19, 2010.

This is too much

In one edition of 24 hours Vancouver, there are two to/too errors. The last post was a too that should have been a to, and now we have a to that should be a too, from "The Event full of mistakes, but show can still be saved" in yesterday's paper.

I care. Do you care too?

Too should be to in this sentence from "Eighty cats, 79 too many for one home" in 24 hours Vancouver on November 19, 2010.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Receive in error

This is the current poll question on MSN Canada Tech & Gadgets. See the sidebar here.

Taking a stab at Carole

The writer (of "Mayor Watts back to business in Surrey" in 24 hours Vancouver on November 16, 2010) tried to write Carole Taylor, but came up an E short.

Try to go to Indio

It's a misspelling of Indigo in "Russell Peters at Surrey bookstore" in 24 hours Vancouver on November 16, 2010.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Proper spelling is a nuisance

Apparently Yahoo! writers feel like taking the time to proofread is a major nuisance. Even a computer's spell check would have caught this error, seen on the Yahoo! Canada homepage on November 15, 2010. The spelling is correct in the article.

A divorce between Yahoo! and writer

If any proofreading of this article ("New dad Steve Nash announces divorce" on Yahoo! Canada News on November 13, 2010) was attempted, then the proofreader didn't make it very far. Above is the article's first sentence and the first the should be that. Click the image to enlarge it.

This misspelling has been targeted

It's yet another misspelling - resulting in yet another nonword - on the Yahoo! Canada homepage. This one appeared on November 11, 2010.

Yahoo! writers band together

I was confused after reading the above on the Yahoo! Canada homepage on November 10, 2010. Was I not understanding something or had a Yahoo! writer committed another error? After clicking to the article, the latter was proven true.

Why Yahoo! fascinates me

There are often misspellings (which often result in nonwords, as above) on the Yahoo! Canada homepage. This misspelling of fascinates appeared on November 10, 2010.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Can punctuation be 'too hard'?

For some people it might be, and it seems that those people work as writers for the Yahoo! Canada homepage. The question mark in the above question - seen on November 11, 2010 - should go after the closing quotation mark, as it does in the article's headline: Can a university be 'too Asian'?

An eye for an I

Since nobody at Yahoo! could see this misspelling of soldiers, the result was a nonword that a computer's spell check would've caught. From the Yahoo! Canada homepage on November 6, 2010. Click the image to enlarge it.

Creative use of an apostrophe

Creative but wrong. More than one student spread the message, so the apostrophe should go after the final S in students. From "Students back U-Pass in full force" on 24 hours Vancouver online on November 5, 2010.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Adding commas and words

The comma and one of the back-to-back thats need to be removed from this sentence found in "Dealing with lovesick teens" in 24 hours Vancouver on November 9, 2010.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Required proofreading is no longer required

The writer has clearly shown that he is able to put an accent on the final E in resume, but then suddenly leaves it off. Be consistent - do it for all of them, or leave it off all of them. Also, the required skills that are required for the position? Seriously? Only use required once. Twice is redundant. From "Experience essential" in today's 24 hours Vancouver. Click the image to enlarge it.

That's the way the potato chips

I have no idea what and the storefront of destroyed means. A little help? From "Cookie crumbles" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

Kindergartners in disguise

Maybe, maybe not, but I'll tell you what I am concerned about: that there are kindergartners - who don't know when to use a and when to use an - disguised as writers at the offices of 24 hours Vancouver. The above poll question is currently featured on the paper's homepage. [Edit: It's now January 14, 2011, and this poll question is still featured prominently on the paper's homepage. The error, of course, remains.]

I'm super! Thanks for asking!

I always get a kick when errors appear in an education-related article. In this case, it's a misspelling that results in a nonword - superintendant should be superintendent - that somehow wasn't caught by either a spell check or a proofreader. From "What's wrong with this shirt?" in today's 24 hours Vancouver. Click the image to enlarge it.

Making a camel case of LeBron

Yesterday the Yahoo! Canada homepage featured the correct spelling of LeBron's first name once, but twice was too much to handle. The name LeBron is an example of camel case, which I learned about on Terribly Write. Click the image to enlarge it.

Writing that's far from sharp

By the far this most of any Hawk - what a mess. To fix it, this needs to be jettisoned, and the needs to be moved to after far. From Patrick Sharp's profile on Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey on November 5, 2010.

Yahoo! staffer doesn't write English

There needs to be an apostrophe in doesn't to make it a contraction of does not. From the Yahoo! Canada homepage on November 5, 2010. I watched that interview on David Letterman and thought it was fantastic.