This is the news?

It’s not news to readers of  Yahoo! News that the writers and editors frequently make mistakes, including these that appeared at the same time on the same page:

news stars wars

That is supposed to be “Star Wars,” of course. And the Barbie Dreamhouse is trademarked:

news dreamhouse

And so is Ping-Pong:

news ping pong

The common noun for the sport is “table tennis.”

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:

reds 1

Maybe the writer needs some assistance in the proofreading department:

reds 2

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

reds 3

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

Where was your head when you wrote that?

I don’t want to even think about where the writer’s head was when he wrote this headline for Yahoo! Sports‘ “Big League Stew”:

heads

The expression is “head over heels” and it means “to roll, as in a somersault.”

Isn’t that stealing?

Looking for a slightly used shirt? A well-worn pair of  trousers? If you’re not to proud to steal, you can get it free by raiding a closet. And Yahoo! Shopping suggests you raid your father’s closet:

raid his closet shop

Of course, if you merely want to see the kinds of clothing he prefers, you could just peek in his closet.

Someone needs a botany lesson

It’s back to the third grade for a writer for the yahoo.com:

fp trees and plants

Someone could use a lesson in botany, if only to learn that trees are, in fact, plants.

Do you make this kind of mistakes?

This is the kind of mistake you don’t see often. In fact, I’ve never seen it before:

fp this kind of women

You can always depend on the writers and editors of the Yahoo! front page to come up with new and inventive expressions that are grammatically incorrect.

Why would you read any more?

This is the first paragraph of an article from Yahoo! News‘ “The Lookout”:

news bo lip

Why would anyone bother to read any more?

A most unique error

If something is unique, can it be more unique or even the most unique? Not according to most authorities. So, when the brainiacs who write for the Yahoo! front page called Joakim Noah “one of the world’s most unique athletes,” were they simply engaging in a little playful hyperbole?

fp most unique

You might be able to consider “most unique” acceptable, but can you accept that Mr. Noah’s sister is alleged to be an even more unique athlete? Because she’s not an athlete, she’s a model.

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!:

tuille omg

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

tuille omg 2

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

Ms. Knightley is actually wearing a tulle skirt:

tuille omg 3

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:

hunter sports pr 1

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

hunter sports pr 2

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:

hunter sports pr 3

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

hunter sports pr 4

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

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