Every day there are mistakes on the Yahoo! front page. We all know that. But here’s a common, everyday mistake that appears twice on yahoo.com, here:
and here:
If you mean “common or ordinary,” use everyday. But if, like the writers at Yahoo!, you mean “occurring each day,” use every day.
It happens every day: Someone working at Yahoo! makes a homophonic error. This time it’s the genius writers at Yahoo! Avatars who confuse everyday (which means ordinary or commonplace) with the two-word every day:
It’s happens every day: Someone on the Yahoo! front page makes a mistake. This time it’s confusing everyday (which means “appropriate for ordinary days or routine occasions”) with every day:
It seems that nearly every day there’s some bit of fiction on Yahoo! Shine. Something that the writer just made up to incite the site’s dozens of readers. This time the lie appears on the home page and involves the USDA and its alleged ban on milk:
Of course, the USDA didn’t ban milk. But the writer doesn’t feel it necessary to be precise. Or accurate. Also on that page, you’ll find:
It’s not exactly a secret that the lingerie store is Victoria’s Secret.
You can see mistakes like this on Yahoo! Shine every day:
At this time of year, we often reflect on our lives and blessings and proclaim our gratitude for the people and things around us. For me, I’m thankful that I don’t work for a Web site like Yahoo! Shine, where the editorial standards are lower than those you’d find in a high school newspaper.
If you asked people what they’re grateful for, their answers might surprise you:
I’d be grateful for a professional writer who knows how to perform a simple spell-check. This word doesn’t have multiple Ts:
Or a writer who knows that the school is Hofstra University:
And this other school is Temple University. It’s one thing to make a mistake once in a while, but to make mistakes every day? That’s just a common, everyday occurrence on Shine. I’m thankful that I learned at an early age that you need to include little words, like an, in some sentences:
You don’t have to be a psychologist to see that this isn’t right:
You don’t have to be a grammarian to know that an apostrophe is no substitute for a quotation mark and that dinnertime is one word:
If someone suggests that you take a class in grammar, or at least learn to match a verb with its subject, you should be grateful for the advice:
What are you thankful for?
Every day, there’s a homophonic error on Yahoo!. This time, it’s on Yahoo! TV‘s “Primetime in No Time”:
Whose error is it? Probably the person who made this error in the same article:
It’s not her fault. Just because this writer uses a plural when a singular is called for, don’t blame her. It’s not her fault if she doesn’t know what to do with the title of a TV program (does it go inside quotation marks?). It’s not her fault if she thinks you can measure the volume of a lunchbox in cubed inches:
She’s just a writer for Yahoo! Shine and the writing standards aren’t exactly high.
OK, see that S at the end of Pop-Tarts? That means it’s a plural. See that lowercase A before Chocolate? That means it’s wrong. But it’s not her fault:
Little Debbie calls its cookies Oatmeal Creme Pies. They’re like ordinary, everyday cookies that some people eat every day.
The misspelled cookie and the misused everyday aren’t the writer’s fault. I blame it on her readers who seem willing to settle for substandard writing.
It’s practically an everyday occurrence: Writers use everyday when they really mean every day. Here’s a twist on the homophonic error from Yahoo! Shine:
As one word, everyday means “appropriate for ordinary days or routine occasions.” That’s what I assume the writer meant.
The best advice for the writer for Yahoo! News‘ “Who Knew?”: Learn something new every day. You might start with purchasing a dictionary:
It’s pretty obvious that than should be then in this clip from Yahoo! News‘ “The Cutline”:
But what’s wrong with the rest of that paragraph? Did you notice that the writer called the Brit paper The Guardian, but couldn’t decide if the New York paper is the Times or The Times?
It’s not every day that I see this error, but just once is too much in a reputable news source:
So, now the writer’s decided that it definitely should be The Times and the Guardian:
Which capitalization style is correct for the newspapers? I really don’t care. Really. I wouldn’t have even noticed the cap style if the writer had been consistent. And that’s the lesson: If you can’t be right at least be consistent.
