It appears you are a lazy writer

Okay, but does how you look have any bearing on how you do your job? From "6 actions that will devastate your career" on Yahoo! Canada Finance on April 7, 2011.

An exciting? Yes. An fun? No.

The word fun doesn't start with a vowel or a vowel sound. Perhaps it was originally an exciting night but exciting got changed to fun and no one noticed the resulting error. This is from a Chapters Metrotown flyer in April 2011.

Does that name ring a bell?

This is from the top of an in-store advertisement. Firstly, the author's name is Annabel Lyon. Secondly, the city's name is Coquitlam.

Please proofread you writing

When I find errors in articles about finding jobs, I wonder how the writer has kept their job. You should be your in "6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job" on Yahoo! Canada Finance on April 4, 2011.

Driver. Passenger. Same thing, right?

Umm, no. She was actually a transit passenger. From "Woman kicked off SkyTrain for lapel pin" on CBC News online on April 6, 2011. (Appears at the 24-second mark of the top-of-the-article video.)

Leave a letter, take a letter

Her name is Christy Clark. From the CBC British Columbia homepage on April 5, 2011. Then,

it's the same misspelling in the opening paragraph of the actual article ("B.C. sled dog task force report expected" on CBC News online on April 5, 2011). Later in the article,

an L got dropped from killing. Click an image to enlarge it.

Apostrophe placement problems

The customer's name is Susie Williams. If her name were Susie William, then the apostrophe placement above would be correct. But it's not, so it's not. From "Sears customers raise alarms over erratic stoves" on CBC News online on April 5, 2011.

Here's to you, Mr. Writer

The name of Vancouver's mayor is Gregor Robertson. From "City's food carts double" in 24 hours Vancouver on April 5, 2011. A page-three article that was proofread by no one. Nice.

Man, that's bad

No professional writer should write defencemen when it should be defenceman. From "One for the record book" in 24 hours Vancouver on April 5, 2011.

Three errors in two sentences

Everywhere else is reporting that Mathew's last name is Wolfe and that he was arrested at his parents' home. That means it's the home of both of his parents, whereas his parent's home means either his mom or his dad lives there, but not both of them. Also, 26-year-old requires hyphens. From "Vehicle thieves apprehended" in 24 hours Vancouver on April 5, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Speaking of signals

An error in an article's opening sentence is a signal to the readers that they should stop reading. It's should be it. From "2011’s biggest TV season finales" on MSN Canada Entertainment on April 3, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Should the question have been proofread?

There are problems in "Web poll nation" in The Vancouver Courier on March 30, 2011. Firstly, provincial is missing its O. Secondly, continued should be continue. But at least the sum of the percentages is 100.

Looking like an As-tro

The article ("B.C. couple missing on Las Vegas trip" on CBC News online on April 1, 2011) is about Albert Chretien and Rita Chretien, so one might write that the Chretiens were driving a van similar to that brown Chevy Astro, unless you work for CBC.

Foreword and Forward are not interchangeable

I have in front of me a hardcover book called The Fred Factor. It is written by Mark Sanborn and the ISBN is 9780385513517. On the cover of the book: "with a Foreword by John C. Maxwell". On the Foreword page, the title is Foreword. Yet on the Contents page, as you can see above, it's written incorrectly as Forward.