End the reign of error!

It’s not unusual to make a teensy, weensy mistake when you’re writing. A simple typo, like typing it instead of is, is the kind of error most readers can overlook. But there are some mistakes that readers can’t overlook and can’t forgive. One of those is misspelling the name of your subject and doing it in a headline. That’s what the writer did on Yahoo! Sports‘ “Prep Rally” when writing about a team from McDonogh School:

If only there were a way the writer could see the name of the high school — like a photo of the team wearing jerseys with the school’s name. Wait, wait! This article is accompanied by a photo and this time the writer actually spelled McDonogh correctly. Unfortunately, he misspelled Baltimore — but it’s not his fault. He didn’t have a picture of Baltimore in front of him:

But that’s just a typo, which any good proofreader would have spotted. But this is just an out-and-out error:

Perhaps it’s time the writer handed the reins over to a real editor or proofreader — one who knows that a monarch reigns and a horse is controlled with reins.

Give up the reins

If you make mistakes like those made by the author of Yahoo! Sports‘ “Puck Daddy,” you should consider letting someone take the reins and edit your work:

If you don’t know that a monarch reigns and a horse is controlled by reins, you need a little editorial support.

If you’re writing an article about Glen Gulutzan, the editor might let you know if you misspell his name:

And if that editor knows that whom is the objective case of who (and is therefore correct as the object of a preposition), hand over the reins. Just be sure that the editor knows that when a subject is joined by or, the verb (which should be is) agrees with the noun closer to it:

Reign of error

This 2-sentence excerpt comprises some common mistakes you’ll see on Yahoo! Movies:

There’s the misuse of comprised of, which should be comprises or consists of or something similar. Then there’s the use of twenty-six, which isn’t a mistake if that’s the house style. But, most style guides recommend using digits for numbers that are 10 or above. What’s not a matter of house style? The use of a semicolon, which should be a comma.

When it comes to language, style and punctuation, it appears that the writer had free rein.

Rein in your errors

What with the London Olympics and the pictures of the royal family all over the media, maybe the writer for Yahoo! Shine was thinking of the queen’s reign when she wrote this:

Or maybe the writer is just careless. Or ignorant.

Rein her in!

There’s this article on Yahoo! Shine and it has lots and lots of errors. No surprise there. But I just couldn’t bring myself to write about all of them, so I’ve chosen my favorite sentence:

If this writer starts acting too butch, you rein her in.  OK, I’m kidding about the “butch” part; if she starts acting like she’s a competent writer, please disabuse her of the notion.

Where errors reign

Homophonic errors reign every day. Today, there’s one on the Yahoo! News blog “The Envoy”:

Is there a way to rein in errors like this?

Someone please take the reins from this writer. Please

And take away the writer’s keyboard, too.

Even if the writer for the Yahoo! front page used the correct word, reins, this would still be a ridiculous statement. Mr. Emanuel may have won the election, but he won’t take the reins in Chicago until he is sworn in, which will happen in May.

How to be the queen of your budget

For advice on how to be the queen (or king) of your budget, see this article on Yahoo! Shine:

I’m not sure if the position involves purchasing a crown and scepter, which could get rather pricey and make it difficult if you’re trying to rein in your budget.

The king of ecological disasters

The containment cap on the Gulf oil well is the new king of heavy flows. Makes no sense to me, but someone at Yahoo! News blog thought it was a reasonable assessment:

Or maybe the writer just meant rein in?

When did her tongue take the reigns?

This would have been hilarious even if the writer had used the correct homophone, reins:

I just can’t wrap my tongue around that. Thanks for the laugh, Yahoo! Shine.