Okay, so the second paragraph (from "Vancouver disabled man loses $7,000 gear" on CBC News online on January 27, 2011) tells readers that the device was lost in the 200 block of E. King Edward Avenue. Then, two paragraphs later,
readers are told that staff went "back" to King Edward Avenue and Columbia Street. The problem is that the 200 block of E. King Edward Avenue is between Main Street and Sophia Street. Columbia Street is located at 200 W. King Edward. Click an image to enlarge it.
The spokeswoman should shoot down the first down. From "Johansson single" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 27, 2011.
News flash for 24 hours Vancouver, and especially the writer of "Rudin behind Social Network backlash" on January 26, 2011: The producer of The Social Network - you know, the freakin' subject of your article - is Scott Rudin.
While the article itself ("U.S. demands human rights expert be fired" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 26, 2011) is error-free, the highlighted text embedded inside the article featured a Mt. instead of a Mr., and a repeated the.
Uh, don't needs an apostrophe. From "Padres' new camouflage jerseys could prove to be too realistic" on Yahoo! Canada Sports on January 26, 2011. Two paragraphs later,
as a result of a writer with no eye for detail (and maybe no editor for support), digital gets an extra I.
Brett Wilson is not on Dragon Den's. In fact, there is no such show as Dragon Den's. The phrase Dragon Den's makes absolutely no sense. The show is Dragons' Den. From "CBC stars shine at Metrotown" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 26, 2011.
The writer (of "Akerman goofy in 'Hospital'" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 28, 2011) writes that he - or, rather, "they" - find the missing apostrophe gag funny: Childrens Hospital instead of Children's Hospital. Later in the very same paragraph as that confession, he misspells the show's title, which eliminates the gag altogether.
I back the idea of removing the first back; that would make the above sentence (from "66% back death penalty, poll shows" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 26, 2011) readable. Also,
the second is should be it in this sentence found a bit later in the article.
I see a word that is missing an I on the Yahoo! Canada homepage on January 30, 2011.
That's not how you spell assault. No, wait. That actually is how *you* spell assault, but the correct way is with just one U: assault. From "Denied Facebook friend request sparks bloody family feud" on Yahoo! Canada News on January 26, 2011.
It's maxiumu, of course. This has to have been done intentionally. As a joke. Right? From "Puppy killer blames drugs for attack on dog" on CBC News online on January 26, 2011. Oh! I just looked at the article now, and the error has been "corrected" to the maxiumum sentence. Click the image to enlarge it.
Ashton Kutcher (you know, the son of Bruce Willis) gets his name shortened on the MSN Canada homepage on January 25, 2011.
I collected a few errors from the Yahoo! Canada homepage the past few days and decided to combine them into one post. First up is the image above, from January 19, 2011, which features a misspelling of villain. Next up,
is a misspelling of winner from January 22. And then, also from January 22,
a misspelling of illegal. You'd think two brutal nonwords on the same day would be enough, but no,
Yahoo! then throws in a misplaced question mark - it should go after the closing quotation mark. Finally, on January 24,
the Yahoo! Canada homepage featured a misspelling of Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" song. Click an image to enlarge it.
The obvious error here is was, which no doubt is supposed to be who. But less obvious, from my point of view, is their valuables. The valuables belong to "a woman" so shouldn't it be her valuables? The other corrective option is to change tricks a woman into a date to tricks women into dates and leaving their valuables as-is. From "Date gone bad" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 24, 2011.
In the world where writers are punished according to the specifics of their errors, when this writer (of "Interview" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 24, 2011) gets the call for leaving the S off the start of starring, I'll bring the feathers.
When there are mistakes in your writing, your credibility starts to diminish. The second you should not exist in this sentence from "Negotiating the merits of a raise" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 24, 2011.
I'm no expert, but I don't think you should include all of that at the end of your cover letter. I think you should choose one of "Sincerely" or "Sincerely yours" or "Yours truly". I wonder why the first Yours was capitalized while truly wasn't. From "Use a cover letter to sell your assets" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 24, 2011.
There are two errors in this one sentence from "Hollywood's newest Olsen makes film debut with 2 movies at Sundance" on Yahoo! Canada News on January 23, 2011. The first error: the movie is actually Martha Marcy May Marlene. The second error: women should be woman. Click the image to enlarge it.
If you work somewhere that regularly publishes new writing, there is likely a style guide to help you when you are unsure of something. This writer (of "Take comfort" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 20, 2011) could have found out - from that guide or online - that the period that is outside the closing parenthesis should actually be inside the closing parenthesis.
It's an ad about a vacuum (note the correct spelling) and I wrote that it sucks - I'm hilarious! From a Richmond Subaru advertisement in 24 hours Vancouver on January 19, 2011.
It took me two reads of the first paragraph to understand what the writer was trying to say. On first read I thought everyone in the court room was 17 years old (note the absence of hyphens). On second read, after also reading the next two paragraphs, I realized that everyone in the court room was 17 years older (note, again, the absence of hyphens). But wait, the victim is also in the court room but is not 17 years older. Is it because she was given some eternal-youth potion and will forever remain 25? No, it's because she is in a coffin in a cemetery. So then the except the victim bit isn't true because she's not actually in the courtroom. What an utterly ridiculous first paragraph. From "No 'faint hope' for murdered grad student" on Canoe online on January 21, 2011.
There are just three sentences in "It's Official: Jesse James & Kat Von D Engaged" on MSN Canada Entertainment on January 20, 2011. The image above (click it to enlarge it) shows one of them, complete with two spelling errors: start should be star, and beast should be best.
I'm actually surprised, considering how much has been written recently about Gabrielle Giffords (note that her last name contains an S), that this is the first time I've seen this error attached to her name. It's from the Yahoo! Canada homepage on January 19, 2011. After clicking to the article ("Husband: I initially believed incorrect reports on Rep. Giffords' death, was 'devastating'" on Yahoo! Canada News on January 19, 2011),
I saw that the fourth paragraph begins with The astronaunt. Oh, Yahoo!, that is such a you thing to do.
If the writer (of "Drake inspired by Winnie the Pooh" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 20, 2011) had taken the time to proofread, then maybe us would have been changed to use. Click the image to enlarge it.
The first the should be they in this sentence from "Cops seek to quash inquiry" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 21, 2011. If you want to read the entire article online, you can - twice. The entire article, except for the first paragraph, is doubled up but disguised as one long article.
The incorrect title above - the movie is No Strings Attached - is from the 24H Weekend cover page in 24 hours Vancouver on January 21, 2011. Then, on page 16,
the text (in "Romantic disaster" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 21, 2011) should read Kline as Kutcher's developmentally arrested parent. See the difference?
You may write, but a professional writer should know that the question mark in the image above (from the MSN Canada homepage on January 18, 2011) is supposed to go outside the closing quotation mark, because the movie's title doesn't include a question mark (and if it did, two question marks would be needed - one inside the closing quotation mark, and one outside).
There's no way that the tryst with the nightclub dancer could have happened, as there is no such thing as an 17-year-old. If the writer (of the photo caption for "Sex life under the microscope" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 18, 2011) had written a 17-year-old nightclub dancer, then I'd be a believer.
If your job is to write, it's important to produce writing that is free from errors. This article ("Tips to save your kiss" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 18, 2011) shows you what not to do. The second sentence is nonsense, and I see two possible solutions: 1) add What before I'm, or 2) remove is. Then,
more nonsense. I don't know if I even can me use my tongue. What about you? Are you able to you use your tongue?
The period that appears at the end of the text above (from "Gervais hurtful?" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 18, 2011) should go inside the closing parenthesis, because the entire sentence is contained within the parentheses. Also,
tune should be tuned.
Either a writer for Yahoo! doesn't know how to use apostrophes or Venus Williams has legally changed her first name to include an apostrophe at the end of it. It's the former: there shouldn't be an apostrophe in the text in the above image because Venus is merely being identified. Compare: Serena's sports very short dress. It's wrong, right? From the Yahoo! Canada homepage on January 17, 2011.
There's one the too many in the above sentence. "Exclusive ICBC refuses info" on 24 hours Vancouver online on January 17, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
Is there room at Yahoo! for an editor? From the Yahoo! Canada homepage on January 16, 2011.
It's obselete twice and obsolete just once on the Yahoo! Canada homepage today, so the correct spelling has got to be obselete, right? Wrong. You know, Yahoo!'s writers really need to consult a dictionary more often - or at least employ a spell check, which can't catch all errors but would have caught these ones. Click the image to enlarge it.
Mike Vernon retired in 2002, so the word former should precede Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Vernon. From "Home from ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ still on market" on Yahoo! Canada News on January 13, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
... you'll reduce the chances of publishing extra words, like what happened here to the writer of "Flash mob spreads Marley love" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 12, 2011. Also, shouldn't there be a hyphen in run-up?
Rachel should actually be written as Rachelle in "Dhavernas makes her mark" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 12, 2011. Then, two paragraphs later,
the writer manages to misspell Passchendaele. I guess she's still learning journalism basics despite already being a *cough cough* professional.
