What was the ring made of?

Just what kind of engagement ring was it? What made the genius writer at the Yahoo! front page think that it might float away?

This is the only kind of ring I can think of that might float:

But it’s a really cheesy engagement ring.

Something’s afoot and it’s not good

It’s not the worst typo a writer can make, but it’s an easy one to spot if you’re writing about Ray Halbritter:

Maybe the writer needs some assistance in the proofreading department:

And editor who knows that either is singular and it’s is the contraction for it has would certainly help:

But something is afoot at Yahoo! Sports‘ “Prep Rally”: There’s no proofreader or editor at hand.

When right is wrong

See that guy on the left in this picture from Yahoo! Shine? That’s Gordon Ramsay.

See the photo caption under the picture? That’s wrong.

You should have stayed in school

If I were a staid, buttoned-up type, I would tell this Yahoo! Shine writer, “Dear, please go back to school and learn a little more about writing in actual English.” Perhaps she would learn the difference between the homophones staid (which means “characterized by sedate dignity”) and stayed (which is the past tense of stay). But I’m just not that type. Instead, I’d like to tell her that this sucks:

Would that be the 1920s?

Keeping up with the times and spotting fashion trends? That’s not exactly what the editors at Yahoo! Shine are doing right now. They’re nearly a century late with advice on how to dress for work in the 1920s:

That’s pretty much the dumbest use of an apostrophe that I’ve ever seen. The apostrophe indicates the omission of a letter (or two) or a digit (or two). In this case, I’m guessing the only thing missing here is the writer’s knowledge of punctuation.

Tired of writing in English?

Sometimes, when I’m writing photo captions for Yahoo! News‘ “The Lookout” I get really, really bored. So just for fun I’ll start writing in English and then switch to la française. N’est-ce pas drôle?

How did Keira Knightley sit down in that?

It’s really difficult to imagine how a bride would be able to sit down at her own reception wearing a tuille skirt. But Keira Knightley tried, according to Yahoo! omg!:

A tuille, also called a tasset, is a steel plate used in medieval armor for protecting the thigh:

(You can purchase “Conqueror’s Tassets” on Etsy for $395, plus shipping.)

Ms. Knightley is actually wearing a tulle skirt:

Would that be Scrabble?

Now you can own a Kobe Bryant Scrabble jersey. Either a game-word jersey or a game-worn jersey. I can’t figure out which the writer for Yahoo! Sports’ “Prep Rally” means:

Couldn’t the writer take the time to proofread this headline? I guess that’s asking too much of someone who thinks mom should be capitalized (not when it’s preceded by his) and that spring is a proper noun (it isn’t).

(Credit goes here for headline writer)

Just a reminder: Also check your writing before and after you publish it online. You don’t want to look like the fool responsible for this gaffe on Yahoo! News’ “The Sideshow”:

Can you still call yourself a writer?

How many words can you misuse or abuse and still call yourself a writer? If you’re the writer for Yahoo! Sports’ “Prep Rally,” the answer is quite a few — at least four in a single article.

It’s clear that the writer doesn’t know when to use it’s (which is a contraction of “it is” or “it has”) instead of the possessive pronoun its:

And he can’t tell the difference between represented and representative:

Is he the only writer who doesn’t know taxes are levied and charges are leveled? I’m just wonderin’ ’cause I’ve never seen a mistake like this:

Can you call yourself a writer if you pound out an expression like this?

Anyone have a clue what that’s supposed to mean?