How much more does it take?

If crop tops, chokers, neon everything and more trends aren’t enough to merit a plural verb, what more does it take? You’d have to ask the Yahoo! Style writer who can’t seem to match a verb to its (very plural) subject:

A series of mistakes

The series of mistake in Yahoo! News leaves me dumbfounded:

The word series is both singular and plural. If you’re referring to a single series, it’s singular and takes a singular verb like leaves.

Editor shows us exactly how not to write a headline

Here’s a tip for Yahoo! Style editors: Although New Orleans ends in an S, it is not plural, it is singular. And this is wrong:

His influence is not to be overlooked

According to a certain Yahoo! Style writer, George Michael’s influence on fashion and style are not to be overlooked:

Apparently to the writer (and her editor), though, think it’s OK to overlook grammar — like matching a subject (say, influence) with a correct verb (let’s just say it ain’t are). In its stead, the writer should have used is. And in staid‘s stead, she should have used stead.

Are those letters to legislators?

While I’m pondering what “capitol letters” are (could they be missives to representatives on Capitol Hill?), you can ponder the mystery that is a mismatched subject and verb on Yahoo! Finance:

The word capitol means only one thing: A building or buildings where legislatures meet. If you mean something else (including uppercase letters), use capital. Maybe someone at Yahoo! can explain why using incorrect words does not matter to the Internet giant.

Women and her lifetime

Will Yahoo! Style writers make the same mistakes throughout their lifetime? Will they fail to understand that a plural noun (like women) requires a plural pronoun (like their)?

Each of these is wrong

What do these sentences have in common?

• No misspelling ever appears on Yahoo!.
• Articles written by Yahoo! staffers are grammatically correct.
• Yahoo! articles are always accurate.

Each one of these sentences is wrong — just like this excerpt from Yahoo! Sports, where the writer can’t match the verb (which should be is) to the singular subject:

It’s so unclear

After reading this on yahoo.com, I can’t figure out which players were fined:

Were all WNBA players fined? It seems unlikely, but I’m hard-pressed to find any other singular noun that could be the antecedent for its. It’s more likely that the players on three teams were fined. If that’s the case, it’s clear that the writer should have referred to their players.

After reading this…

After reading this on Yahoo! Beauty, I don’t feel good:

Let’s hope that was just a typo; I’d hate to think the writer thought it was correct.

Neither was correct

It looks like the editor and writer for Yahoo! Sports gave this the stamp of approval:

Unfortunately, neither was correct. The pronoun neither is singular. Just sayin’.