Terribly Write http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com Terrible Writing on the Web. And Writing Terribly Well for the Web Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:59:18 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ en hourly 1 http://www.gravatar.com/blavatar/7830fc9c5d5a3ca9c8d51edf1e2ccc8b?s=96&d=http://s.wordpress.com/i/buttonw-com.png Terribly Write http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com A peek at the peak of errors could pique your ire http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/a-peek-at-the-peak-of-errors-could-pique-your-ire/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/a-peek-at-the-peak-of-errors-could-pique-your-ire/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:43:28 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22471 ]]>

A quick peek at the peak of all homophonic errors on Yahoo! Shine could pique your editorial ire:

Posted in Confused Words, peek/peak/pique Tagged: Commonly confused words, funny homophone, funny homophones, funny writing errors, funny writing mistakes, homophone, homophones, peak, pique, Shine, wrong word, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Shine ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/a-peek-at-the-peak-of-errors-could-pique-your-ire/feed/ 0 Laura peak shine parenting Dysfunctional malfunctioning misfunction http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/dysfunctional-malfunctioning-misfunction/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/dysfunctional-malfunctioning-misfunction/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:23:47 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22464 ]]>

Anyone who had the misfortune to read the Yahoo! front page today couldn’t miss this mistreatment:

The word the editor should have chosen is malfunction or dysfunction, and not the hybrid and nonexistent misfunction.

Posted in Wrong words Tagged: dysfunction, malfunction, misfunction, wrong word, Yahoo!, Yahoo! front page ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/dysfunctional-malfunctioning-misfunction/feed/ 0 Laura misfunction fp So few words, so many errors http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/so-few-words-so-many-errors/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/so-few-words-so-many-errors/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:13:20 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22442 ]]>

It’s just two little words on the Yahoo! front page: ping pong. Add a hyphen and ping-pong would still be wrong. Capitalize the two Ps and Ping-Pong would still be wrong:

Why? Because Ping-Pong is a registered trademark; table tennis is the sport. It’s not the first time the Yahoo! editors have gotten it wrong.

Posted in Capitalizing, Hyphens, Misspellings, Punctuation, Wrong words Tagged: capitalization, hyphen, missing hyphen, missing punctuation, misspelling, Ping-Pong, Punctuation, punctuation errors, punctuation mistakes, trademark, trademarks, wrong word ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/so-few-words-so-many-errors/feed/ 0 Laura ping pong fp For peaty sake! Men desert women in peat bogs http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/for-peaty-sake-men-desert-women-in-peat-bogs/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/for-peaty-sake-men-desert-women-in-peat-bogs/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:31:13 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22412 ]]>

Don’t expect a man to come to the rescue of his wife if she should fall ill in a peat bog:

Thanks to Yahoo! Shine for the Laugh o’ the Day.

Posted in Cliches, Wrong words Tagged: bad cliche, bad cliches, cliche, cliche error, cliche errors, cliche mistake, cliche mistakes, Cliches, funny cliche, funny cliches, funny tyop, funny typos, funny writing errors, funny writing mistakes, Shine, typo, wrong cliche, wrong cliches, wrong word, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Shine ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/for-peaty-sake-men-desert-women-in-peat-bogs/feed/ 0 Laura heath shine hp And it’s not Chris Elliott http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/and-its-not-chris-elliott/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/and-its-not-chris-elliott/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:19:02 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22407 ]]>

The folks over at Yahoo! TV still can’t spell Chris Elliott’s name correctly:

Posted in Misspellings Tagged: Chris Elliott, misspelled celebrities, misspelling, Yahoo!, Yahoo! TV ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/and-its-not-chris-elliott/feed/ 0 Laura chris elliot tv It’s still not Elliott Gould http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/its-still-not-elliott-gould/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/its-still-not-elliott-gould/#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:23:09 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22401 ]]>

Still unable to spell Elliott Gould, Yahoo! TV features the actor on its home page:

Posted in Misspellings Tagged: Elliott Gould, misspelled celebrities, misspelling, Yahoo!, Yahoo! TV ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/its-still-not-elliott-gould/feed/ 0 Laura elliot gould tv Kicking off the F http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/kicking-off-the-f/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/kicking-off-the-f/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:39:59 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22370 ]]>

Let’s hope the editors on Yahoo! Shine will kick off a proofreading frenzy and rid the site of typos:

Posted in Wrong words Tagged: missing letter, Shine, typo, wrong word, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Shine ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/kicking-off-the-f/feed/ 0 Laura kick of shine How many millions have seen these errors? http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/how-many-millions-have-seen-these-errors/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/how-many-millions-have-seen-these-errors/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:41:39 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22377 ]]>

How many millions of people read the Yahoo! front page every day? How many of them noticed these errors?

The semicolon should be a comma (it takes the place of an and). If you adhere to Associated Press style (which Yahoo! allegedly does), you form the plural of a singular proper noun ending in S (like Williams) by adding just an apostrophe.

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: apostrophe, incorrect punctuation, possessive, Punctuation, punctuation errors, punctuation mistakes, semicolon, Williams', Yahoo!, Yahoo! front page ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/how-many-millions-have-seen-these-errors/feed/ 0 Laura punc fp 5 healthy habits to avoid http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/5-healthy-habits-to-avoid/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/5-healthy-habits-to-avoid/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:08:07 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22367 ]]>

If you’re looking for a big impact to your health, avoid these habits from Yahoo! Shine:

Posted in Wrong words Tagged: Shine, typo, wrong word, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Shine ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/5-healthy-habits-to-avoid/feed/ 0 Laura bit impact shine hp Kristen Stewart is everywhere. So how to explain this? http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/kristen-stewart-is-everywhere-so-how-to-explain-this/ http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/kristen-stewart-is-everywhere-so-how-to-explain-this/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:13:10 +0000 Laura http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/?p=22362 ]]>

With the premiere of “New Moon,” Kristen Stewart’s name is everywhere—newspapers, magazines, TV, even the Web. So how come the writer of this teaser on Yahoo! Shine can’t spell her name?

Posted in Misspellings Tagged: Kristen Stewart, misspelled celebrities, misspelling, Shine, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Shine ]]> http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/kristen-stewart-is-everywhere-so-how-to-explain-this/feed/ 0 Laura kristin stewart shine