From the Grammar Police
Modifiers misplacing to modify place!
Dr. Baruch Kahana
Those poor buried scientists!
The boyfriend didn’t plant a closet. And hidden is redundant. And let’s do a little active writing. Try: “Woman finds device boyfriend hid in closet.”
ABC News didn’t call the politicians haters. Its journalist did. And the Department of Justice wasn’t denounced. The prosecutor was.
Here you are, in the middle of issuing a statement, and a TV star dies in a car crash. (NOTE: WE do not make light of this young man’s death, just the grammar.)
This reads that Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred now is eligible for the Hall of Fame. Easy fix: “…and for the first time, Rose will be eligible…”
Here’s what this says: First police warned the protesters to leave. Then, in the same breath, they said they arrested 98 people. What a difference a comma makes: “After warning the protestors to leave, police said, they arrested 98 people…”
What a mess. Try this: “We lost by 14 to a team that went 2-10 last year.”
And we go to the video archives for Segment 92: Ignorance and apathy.
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!