White House ain’t moving

The White House isn’t going anywhere, according to Yahoo! Style:

Is the White House stationary? Yes, but it’s not a source of handwritten letters. That would be White House stationery. If you have trouble remembering the difference between stationary and stationery, just remember both letter and stationery include the letters ER.

Leather goods not moving

Is there an unnecessary comma here on Yahoo! Style?

I think the writer is referring to stationary leather goods — leather goods that don’t move and just hang around. I think. Unless the writer was referring to writing paper, envelopes and other kinds of stationery. That could be.

Is a word missing?

Is this article on Yahoo! Makers missing a word? Was the writer talking about fancy stationary bikes?

Nah. She just doesn’t know the difference between stationary (which means “not moving”) and the paper you write on (which is stationery).

I sometimes forget which homophone to use. And then I remember: A lettER is written on stationERy.

Stationery on the mind

Did the writer for Yahoo! Makers have stationery on her mind when she wrote this?

Is that why she chose to use envelope (which is a form of stationery that holds bills from the electric company and birthday cards from Aunt Hazel) instead of the verb envelop? It might have been better if she thought about stationery and not stationary, which means not moving.

What’s stationary?

Here’s a headline on Yahoo! Makers that tells us exactly nothing:

First, consider whether DIY (which is short for “do it yourself”) is synonymous with homemade. It is, isn’t it? So why use both? Then there’s the adjective stationary (which means “not moving”) that lacks a noun to modify. What’s the missing word? Does this headline refer to a homemade stationary bike? Judging from the picture, I think this headline is telling us something: The writer doesn’t know the difference between not moving and writing paper (which is stationery).

If you forget which is which, try this mnemonic: Both stationery and letter contain ER.

Embossed and not moving

Confused about what to call writing paper? Is it stationary or stationery? If the writer for Yahoo! Style had thought about it, he might have come up with the correct homophone. If a company called Terrapin Stationers produces paper, then it might be called stationery:

If you can’t spell it, should you be writing about it?

Oh, com’on! You’re writing about a subject that you can’t even spell? Really? How the heck did the writer for Yahoo! DIY not know that stationery is writing paper and stationary is a something standing still?

Don’t move!

I’m so glad they’ve finally made seed-paper that doesn’t move. According to an article on Yahoo! Shine, we tree-huggers will no longer have to chase after that eco-friendly  paper, since it’s now stationary and ain’t goin’ nowhere:

If you’re looking for other stationary items and you’re in Portland, Maine, check out this store:

Yahoo! Travel reports that it sells stationary items, but doesn’t elaborate on what those non-moving items are. Since the store also sells cards, you might look for stationery while you’re there.

That’s the way I like my supplies: standing still

I’ve found that if I go to get supplies, and they’re moving around, forcing me to chase them all over the stockroom, I get really, really frustrated. That’s why I like stationary supplies. And I’m not the only one. There are others who prefer stationary supplies, according to Yahoo! Movies:

Now if I wanted notebooks, writing paper, envelopes, and so forth, I’d go to a stationery store where I’d expect all that stuff to remain stationary on the shelves.

It’s not just the availability of “stationary supplies” in this article that is problematic for me. It’s the lack of agreement between a subject (availability) and its verb (which should be is):

Oh, and the misspelling. That’s problematic for me. And the refusal of the writer to use a spell-checker, which would have found the misspelling. That’s problematic, too.

Know won wood right sew pourly

These eras halve two bee scene too bee believed.

Due ewe no the difference between bite and byte? The writer four Yahoo! News doesn’t:

Eye think an editor is kneaded to rain inn the gaffs on Yahoo! Sports‘ “Prep Rally”:

and on Yahoo! omg!:

This whirred on Yahoo! Shine has a hole different meaning from the write whirred:

and sew does this won: