We exist because the world of professional writing/editing, particularly the online world, is either shamefully understaffed or worse, underqualified. We do not exist to snark on the grammar of amateur individuals. However, if you get paid to write or revise writing for a living, you're fair game. Let the hunting begin!
The writing and editing staffmembers at Forbes.com are responsible for something truly special in their recent article, "American Autos Worth Saving and Writing Off." They have written a sentence so mind-bendingly bizarre that it almost defies comment -- not in a shocking, We Are (Almost) Speechless kind of way (which category was created in response to egregious errors from sources whose very natures require impeccable proofreading standards, like dictionaries). Rather, this sentence is so spectacularly flawed that it is difficult to know where to start. See for yourself:
Unfortunately, Chrysler--nor Ford or GM for that matter--have the luxury of such missteps and are now fighting for survival.
We have here a situation where there are words missing, multiple subject/verb disagreements, and questionable construction. We would add emphasis to highlight the problematic elements, but we don't know where to start. Something tragic must have happened to the editor. Something tragic certainly happened to the sentence.
For this stunning stumble, we are awarding Forbes.com a Phoning It In with Distinction, an Oops! Is My Lazy Showing?, and the following Drunken Proofreading rating:
The audio recording was accompanied by visuals including a picture of Obama wearing a yamaka. (emphasis ours)
We suggest that, in the future, Reuters editors consider reading with their eyes rather than their ears. When reading with one's ears, yamaka could easily seem to be the appropriate word for this sentence. However, an editor's eyes would reveal (it is to be hoped) the difference between Yamaka, the sixth of seven texts in the collection of sacred Sanskrit writings known as the Pali Abhidhamma Pitaka, and yarmulke, the skullcap worn by Jewish males, mainly those of the Conservative and Orthodox variety, during prayer or religious study. As Jon Stewart has humorously observed, it's not a Jew beanie; we suppose that "holy Sanskrit text" also numbers among the things a yarmulke is, most decidedly, not.
For this auditory erratum, Reuters is awarded an Oops! Is My Lazy Showing?, a Phoning It In, and the following Drunken Proofreading rating:
*** (three stars) - I needed a shot just to look myself in the mirror this morning.
"Attending surgeon Sonya Noor said there were no initial signs of brain damage, which is a fear whenever the coratid artery is clamped."
Some readers might be tripped up by what they perceive to be a spelling error; however, we at The Grammar Wall of Shame can only stand in wonder at the marvels of modern medical-metaphysical mastery, wherein doctors can perform elaborate surgeries on body parts that do not exist. We're not sure which degree program prepares eager young minds for such feats, but it sounds...challenging. Is challenging the word we're looking for?
For this error, the AP is awarded a C for Creative Spelling and the following Drunken Proofreading rating:
*** (three stars) - I needed a shot just to look myself in the mirror this morning.
Here's a special video edition of What's Wrong with this Picture, brought to you by Mexicana Airlines. This commercial was shown on Saturday, October 27, 2007, on Fox Sports West in the mid-afternoon time slot.
**3:25 p.m. Note - we are currently experiencing technical difficulties with the video. Please be patient. We have been informed by YouTube that some monkeys are working on the problem.**
**3:49 p.m. Problem fixed! We believe. Thank you, monkeys.**
**Saturday, November 17, 2007, Update: Apparently YouTube was highly offended by Mexicana's error and has pulled the video content from its site. We say apparently because they did not offer us any explanation at all, so we are forced to draw our own conclusions. They do not seem to have the same sense of humor about these things that we do.**
Here's a still photo too, just for laughs:
Resisting the urge to rant and rave about all the problems in the world a simple spell-check can prevent, we have spent some time trying to dream up how this special spelling error occurred. Here are some of our ideas:
- "Fligth" is a new term created by Mexicana's promotions department to reward passengers taking their eighth flight this year. It is pronounced flyd-th (like heighth).
- The commercial is in actuality a secret message being sent from Max to 99 in conjunction with the search for the Tequila Mockingbird.
- Those crafty ad folks at Mexicana were trying to garner a spot on The Grammar Wall of Shame in the misguided belief that all publicity is good publicity. (To clarify, this belief is misguided only because they fail to realize that a spot on The Grammar Wall of Shame is actually equivalent to no publicity at all.)
While any of these options is a possibility, this spelling screw-up is most likely the result of an astonishing lack of effort and initiative on the part of a member or members of the professional writing world. Thus, you witness the birth of a new designation for this type of error: Phoning It In. In addition to being the first recipient of this designation, Mexicana Airlines has earned a C for Creative Spelling, an Oops! Is My Lazy Showing, and the following Drunken Proofreading rating:
**** (four stars) - Yesh, I take thish waterbottle everywhere I go. It'sh water. No, you can't have any.
We exist because the world of professional writing/editing, particularly the online world, is either shamefully understaffed or worse, underqualified. We do not exist to snark on the grammar of amateur individuals. However, if you get paid to write or revise writing for a living, you're fair game. Let the hunting begin!
