Did You Really Mean That?

I’m officially on vacation until 2009, so why not put together a few posts meant strictly for entertainment purposes? This is one.

If you haven’t heard me lament at least once about proofreading being dead, you’re new here, aren’t you? It’s one particular drum I beat often, and thanks to the lack of said proofreading – and in some cases, editorial oversight – the world leaves me plenty of examples that back up my theory. Here are a few from all over. Mind you, these are excellent sources, excellent writers, and we all make mistakes, but they shouldn’t make it into print.

An article on top-selling cars for 2008 – “Another 431,725 buyers drove off Chevrolet lots in a Silverado.” Mind you, that’s a lot of people in one truck. With that kind of hauling capacity, perhaps Chevy should be bailed out after all!

In a bird guide – “Juvenal.” It’s odd enough that I’m reading a bird guide. Odder yet that the writers weren’t using the standard “immature.” Even odder that they labeled a young bird after the Roman poet and satirist.

In a news story – “If it turns out that the heart came from an animal, it would not be the first time that someone has left animal parts at the car wash” Besides all the bizarre things wrong with that sentence, there’s no end to it without punctuation. Or maybe that’s what the writer intended? I guarantee I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

Another new story – “But they are saying that no struggle preceded the murder and that the man with small ears may have known the person or people who snuffed him out.” Snuffed him out? In a news story? Are you serious? And is it just me, or do you read “man with small ears” and immediately think of Curious George’s man in the yellow hat?

What have you seen?