Tuesday, December 27, 2011

24 hours Vancouverrors

A few errors to share from 24 hours Vancouver earlier this month. On the newspaper's front page on December 9, someone got creative with (and I would hope disciplined for) the spelling of becoming. Then,

in "Timbits more famous than Canucks: Poll" in the same day's paper, there should not have been a hyphen in physcially challenging, and the show is Survivor. Then,

I saw this bit on SNL and can tell you with absolute certainty that Alec Baldwin's character said, "Alec Baldwin is an American treasure". From "Baldwin jokes about flight on SNL" online on December 11. Then,

was anyone at 24 hours Vancouver embarrassed at the nonword that appeared in this headline on December 14? Then,

women should have been woman in "VPD searches for links to mom slaying" on December 16. Finally,

confidant should have been confident in "A bizarre tradition is better than no tradition" on December 22. Click an image to enlarge it.

Representing CBC quality

From the photo caption at the top of the article ("Federal NDP leadership hopefuls face off at B.C. forum" on CBC News online on December 11, 2011), delagates should be delegates.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Do who?

The word you is missing from this question from "Web poll nation" in The Vancouver Courier on December 2, 2011. Can you figure out where it should go?

CBC British Columbia homepagerrors

A few errors to share from the CBC British Columbia homepage during the second half of November 2011. On November 18 an R was missing from Armstrong, and the second comma and the second period in Armstrong, B.C., got swapped. Then,

on November 22, it might soon could become made (and still makes) my mind do loop-de-loops. Then,

on November 25, got their first snow overnight Thursday morning doesn't make much sense, especially when also talking about the effect it had on Friday morning's commute. I think the morning after Thursday should have been uninvited. Click an image to enlarge it.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

A type of lava

One type of lava is aa. You may ask yourself, 'Why is that relevant?' Well, maybe the writer of this article ("Clothing found in Nevada could belong to missing B.C. man" on CBC News online on December 6, 2011) had volcanic eruptions on his mind. First there's the opening sentence, where the second a should be of, and then,

five sentences later, the second a in a a DNA test should not be present. One wrong a plus another wrong a equals aa. The article had already been updated at least once when I detected these errors, yet both errors - including that obvious one just three words in - went undetected at CBC. Click an image to enlarge it.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Yahooooooooooo! November 2011

It's time once again for a monthly roundup of errors from the Yahoo! Canada homepage. This time we look at the blunders that were made during November 2011. First up, on November 5, the word in had no right to be included. Then,

November 8 saw a misspelling of Michelle and Jim Bob's last name. It's too bad the writer didn't simply copy and paste the headline from the actual article (which features the correct spelling of Duggar). Then,

there was a certain news item on November 9 that Yahoo! really wanted you to see. Later that same day,

what does it mean to be umarried? Did Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie get married in a U-Haul truck? Then,

there was a ridiculous hear/here homophonic error on November 19. Then,

on November 24 Yahoo! proved that they could use another (or a first) proofreader of any age. Maybe even a 51-year-old. The article's headline is also wrong. Then,

fisherman should have been fishermen on November 25. Then,

on November 26 the word to didn't go far enough - it should have been too. Then,

on November 28, the guy's name is Russell Williams, not Russell William. Why didn't the Yahoo! writer just copy and paste the exact correct headline? After all, the rest of it is identical. Then,

on November 29, there should not have been any hyphens in 41 years old. And finally,

this thoughtless misspelling of thoughtful was seen on November 30. The story of the gift is fantastic. Click an image to enlarge it.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

I see an error errors

The other does not belong. From "Vancouver hospital parking fees defended by administrators" on CBC News online on November 29, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Two A or not two A?

Doug's last name first appears as Vaughan (in "NBC apologizes to Bachmann for Fallon show intro song" on Yahoo! Canada News on November 25, 2011) before

dropping an A three paragraphs later. Which one is the correct spelling? I have no idea. Click an image to enlarge it.

Wrong twice in two different ways

I would like to hear the writer's reason for including just one hyphen in 81-year-old before leaving both hyphens out of 75-year-old. From "Seniors' drug operation busted in Prince George" on CBC News online on November 25, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Take more care, eh

This is the largest part of a full-page advertisement (for PlayNow.com of British Columbia Lottery Corporation) that was placed in front of the front page of 24 hours Vancouver on November 25, 2011. Someone gave away an A. Then,

a few pages into that day's paper (in "It's snow time for local ski mountains") it's should have been its. Click an image to enlarge it.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Condensed badness

This article ("The F stands for fighting" in Metronews Vancouver on November 21, 2011) starts out on the wrong foot with a homophonic error: they're should be their. Then, everyday should be separated into every day both times. Then, The Washington Post should either be written in italics or feature quotation marks. Finally, is the bandmate's name Sky Blu or Sky Blue? It can't be both.

Blue is my favorite colour

In Canada, centimetres is the correct spelling. In any country, always avoid using the -er and -re spellings in the same article (and especially just three words apart). From "Storm cancels BC Ferries main routes" on CBC News online on November 24, 2011.

Question time!

There are four words ending with -ing in the above sentence - can you determine which one should end instead with -ed? From "Parachuting hijacker's cash in B.C., sleuth says" on CBC News online on November 24, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Peek into a dictionary

In this context, peak should be peek. From the subject line of an email from Total Rewards of Caesars Entertainment on November 23, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

An error

Most people - and all professional writers - would recognize that an necropsy should be a necropsy. From "Second giraffe dies at B.C. zoo" on CBC News online on November 20, 2011.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Your error is now here !!

While walking through Whistler Village on November 12, 2011, I saw this sign in the window of Whistler Bungee. Photos should not have an apostrophe. Click the image to enlarge it.

Resorts may be open but critical eyes aren't

The plural of the singular resort is not resort - it's resorts. That's from the second sentence in "West coast ski season opens early" on CBC News online on November 18, 2011. Then,

three paragraphs later there is a misspelling of centimetres. Click an image to enlarge it.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Hard to read

The company is BC Ferries. There are no initials, and it is plural. From "BC Ferry hits dock in Nanaimo" on CBC News online on November 18, 2011. Then,

this is a disastrous start to a sentence. Most is missing its S, and I see that the I and C in vehicles have swapped places. Click an image to enlarge it.

Factual extras

The first error in this article ("1st snow hits parts of Metro Vancouver" on CBC News on November 18, 2011) is that the 99 B-line buses are not trolleys. None of them ever have been. As an aside, when I captured these errors, the first word of the headline was First, not 1st. Making that change seems trivial - does anyone know if there's any important reason why that change would take place? It may seem like a trivial question, but I'm genuinely curious. Then,

there is one and too many here. Though I like the look of and and and when you include the end of island. It's like an echo. Island and and and and...

Several reasons

I think one of the reasons the student is there is to learn the difference between your and you're. I'm going to make an educated guess that the captions in the video are done by NBC Philadelphia, because there's no indication on the NBC Philadelphia article's page ("VIDEO: Teacher Unloads on Special Needs Student" on NBC Philadelphia on November 17, 2011) that the video was done by anybody else.

What a coincidence

Coincidentally, the writer of this article ("Vancouver airport plane crash co-pilot dies" on CBC News online on November 17, 2011) was just 13 years old when s/he decided to forever ignore the rules of correct hyphen usage. Click the image to enlarge it.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Assassinate the proofreader

This misspelling of Assassin's Creed was on the MSN Canada homepage on November 15, 2011.

Hejduk is team caption

It's a nonword in a headline! It'd been a while since I last checked the pages of 24 hours Vancouver, but it appears the folks there are still at it. What's "it"? Shoddy journalism, or at least crappy proofreading. From "Hejduk named Avs' captian" on November 15, 2011.

When is an error not an error?

When is an error not an error? When it's a finger. More on that in a moment. The first error in this article ("Ashton Kutcher Hands Over Twitter Account to Management" on Yahoo! Canada OMG! on November 10, 2011) is the extra over. The first over, immediately preceding the quote, should be removed. Then,

the article ends with this monstrosity of a sentence. There is no reason for the colon to be there, but that's nothing compared to what the writer claims was pointed at Kutcher's face. An error? An error?! How can an error be pointed at someone's face? Okay, okay, so they meant arrow. That's a typing error, but whatever, right? Wrong, the photo that Kutcher tweeted is included at the top of the article and here it is:

That's no arrow, folks. That's a finger. A friggin' finger. Click an image to enlarge it.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Yahoooooooooooooooo! October 2011

Whoa. Is it already November 18? Yes it is, and I am finally posting the errors I detected on the Yahoo! Canada homepage during October 2011. Let's make like a bunny and hop to it. First up, someone wrote written wrong on October 7. Next,

also on October 7, the apostrophe was in the correct place in Evan Rachel Wood's name at the top, but was in the incorrect place on the right. Click here for proof that it wasn't a link to pics of Tiger's hair. Then,

on October 8 the word the should not have been included and easy-to-use needed hyphens. Then,

later that same day, the word is was out of place. Then,

October 11 saw several errors. Why was there a period after the N and not a period after the Z? Then,

perhaps the writer got confused with the close proximity of death ("death is near!"), but heath should be health. Then,

the last error on October 11 was this redundancy that I saw on October 11. Both links went to the same story. Next up,

on October 15, I had an inkling of what this jumble of words meant, but to be sure I clicked to the article. When I did,

I found out that a Vancouver restaurant is a joke. I would have thought the standing-while-peeing ban was the joke, but that's not what the above headline claims. And,

it's also not what this paragraph from the article claims. Weird. Moving on,

on October 17 there was news about Tim Hortons. What I get from the above is that some Tim Hortons employees are telling the soup that it looks really good. And they're digging the soup's new shirt. The article featured the correct word: complement. Then,

on October 22, someone didn't know that Steve's last name was Jobs, not Job. Then,

on October 25 someone was an I short in spelling religious. Then,

on October 28 there was another problem involving an apostrophe and Steve's last name. Then,

on October 29 there was this. I think the best fix is to insert a hyphen to make it killed in on-set explosion scene. Finally,

on Halloween, there were several errors. First, I think this should start as The singer's attempt. Then,

there was a hilarious misspelling of abandoned. And,

last but not least, there was a swapping of the first two vowels in what should be customer. Click an image to enlarge it.