This calls for capital punishment

Someone could use a little civics lesson over at the Yahoo! front page:

The U. S. Congress is often referred to as Capitol Hill, which is the location of the U.S. Capitol (the building housing Congress) in the U.S. capital (which is Washington).

Didn’t anyone notice this?

Didn’t anyone with knowledge of the English language or American government notice this video’s title on Yahoo! News‘ “The Lookout”?

Nope. Apparently no one at Yahoo! knows that the building is the Capitol; it’s located on Capitol Hill in the nation’s capital.

Rockin’ the Capitol

Did the Capitol sustain damaged during the president’s inauguration? According to Yahoo! Shine, lots of people and their attire rocked the building:

Unless the writer meant that they rocked Washington. That would be the capital. A capitol is a building.

What do you mean by that?

The writer for Yahoo! News‘ “The Ticket” leaves readers confused with a capital error:

If you mean the building where the U.S. Congress meets, then it’s the Capitol. If you mean Washington, DC, then it’s the nation’s capital.

Capital punishment is called for

There is no punishment harsh enough for the professional writer who created this embarrassment on the Yahoo! front page:

A capitol is a building or building complex where a legislative body meets. That’s its only meaning. (If you’re referring to the building holding the U.S. Congress, then it’s the Capitol and it’s on Capitol Hill.) For all other meanings, including the city that is the seat of a government, it’s capital. There are capital letters, capital equipment, capital gains, and capital punishment.

Aw. They’re going to miss the whole thing!

Boy, are those guys from Yahoo! News gonna be in trouble! They’re sitting in the Capitol — you know, the building where the U.S. Congress meets — while all the action in the capital is happenin’ at the Washington Hilton. What jerks.

I bet the Capitol is pretty deserted on a Saturday night, what with all the folks over at the dinner. But ya gotta give those guys credit; they’re tweeting from an empty building about an event that’s happening about 4 miles away:

Maybe next year they’ll have enough time to have an editor check their headlines before they post them. I’m thinking someone who knows the difference between a capitol (which is a building) and a capital (which means the seat of government).

A media building?

That must be a pretty big building. According to Yahoo! News‘ “The Cutline,” some New Yorkers work in the world’s media capitol, otherwise known as a building:

A capitol is a building where a legislature meets. That’s it. That’s the only meaning of capitol. The word the writer was looking for is capital.

Capital crimes

It’s a capital crime against the language on Yahoo! News‘ “The Ticket” by a reporter who confuses a capitol (which is a building) and a capital (which is the city it sits in):

Don’t go whining that it’s just a typo. Once might be a typo. Twice? It’s the result of carelessness or ignorance:

In South Carolina the capitol is in Columbia, the state capital.

Imagine if it were government-controlled

Imagine if use of the English language were government-controlled. Imagine if reporters for so-called news sites like Yahoo! News‘ “The Cutline” were required to know the difference between a building (like a capitol) and a city (like, oh, say, maybe a capital). Then we wouldn’t see crap like this:

Imagine if a reporter whose beat is the media were actually required to know something about the media. He’d only have to be remotely familiar with Gannett to know this is a misspelling:

Imagine if Internet giants like Yahoo!, which publishes original “news” articles, actually cared enough about its readers to employ competent writers and editors. Imagine.

First you’d have to get to the capital

I don’t know where the Libyan capitol is, but I presume it’s in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. So, the revolt that the Yahoo! front page reports is closing in on the capitol must already be in the capital:

Unless, of course, the writer doesn’t know that capitol refers only to a building and capital refers to a city or town that is the seat of government.