Tag Archives: typos

Too much of a good thing

November 9, 2009 – 8:00 am

washpost4Steven Pearlstein’s column in the Nov. 6 Economy & Business pages incorrectly referred to “uncomfortably high employment.” It should have read “uncomfortably high unemployment.” Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged , | Comments

Lose the word, lose the meaning

November 4, 2009 – 8:00 am

latimesNonprofit’s wealthy owners: An article in Monday’s Section A about a nonprofit company, Social Vocational Services, run by a Palos Verdes couple included a garbled sentence that should have read, “In 1999, the Dawsons arranged to sell SVS to ResCare Inc., a for-profit company headquartered in Kentucky.” (The garble said “not sure you kno” in place of “ResCare.”) Link

And:

Feces in cattle feed: In some editions of Saturday’s Business section, an article about a campaign to ban chicken feces in cattle feed mistakenly omitted the word “banned” in the following sentence: “California allows the practice with one exception: Poultry litter is banned in feed for lactating dairy cows.” Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

One police chief, double the American

November 2, 2009 – 8:00 am

latimesPolice chief selection: A story in Friday’s Section A about the risks for L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in selecting a new police chief described Willie Williams as the city’s “first American American police chief.” It should have said African American. Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

Boxer loses, bursts into teats

September 30, 2009 – 8:00 am

reutersAn unfortunate typo from a Reuters story about a heavyweight boxing match (note the final sentence in this screengrab):

teats

Reuters’ Good, Bad and Ugly blog made note of this.

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Wire service | Also tagged | Comments

Other way around

September 29, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianEditing changes left a piece saying that the role of the TV show Guiding Light in US culture “cannot be underplayed”, when what it meant was that it could not be overplayed or overstated (Credits roll on the longest-running soap, 21 September, page 3, G2). Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

We teaches kids to read and write

September 25, 2009 – 8:00 am

mtlgazetteThe Gazette of Montreal takes part in an annual campaign called Raise-A-Reader. It helps raise money for literacy programs. Unfortunately, a front page headline yesterday about the campaign did little to help the cause:

gazettereadererrorcrop

Here it is as it appeared on the front page below the fold (click for larger):

gazettereadererror

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged , , | Comments

Put your wallets away

September 18, 2009 – 8:00 am

newsday1Due to an editing error, a letter about American flags by Tom Carbone of East Meadow, published Tuesday, mistakenly suggested that people should “buy now.” The sentence should have read, “But now, more than ever, we need to show our pride and support for our flag.”

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

You really should get that looked at

September 18, 2009 – 8:00 am

reutersNote the highlighted text:

drugcough

As was noted on Reuters’ Good, Bad, and Ugly blog, they meant “persistent dry cough.”

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Wire service | Also tagged , | Comments

Support the roops

September 16, 2009 – 12:56 pm

A headline typo from AP:

usroops

Original here.

Thanks, Morgan!

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Wire service | Also tagged , | Comments

How soon we forget (how to count)

September 16, 2009 – 8:00 am

Here’s the front page of the September 11, 2009 edition of the Pleasanton Weekly in California:

2009_09_11section1

Thanks, Grace!

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged , | Comments

Cavalry, not calvary

August 24, 2009 – 8:00 am

times-picayWord misspelled: In some Thursday editions, a headline above a group of photos showing members of the National Association of Buffalo Soldier and Troopers Motorcycle Clubs said "The calvary has arrived." It should have said "cavalry." Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

Experiential, not experimental

August 20, 2009 – 8:00 am

washpost4An Aug. 16 Travel item incorrectly described the focus of the new magazine Afar. Its theme is experiential, not experimental, travel. Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

Canadian prime minister embarrassed by typo

August 19, 2009 – 8:00 am

Every one once in a while I come across a notable typo that’s not related to journalism. This is one of those times. From a report in the Globe And Mail:

An unfortunate blunder by the Prime Minister’s Office has residents of Nunavut alternately chuckling and cringing.

A news release sent out Monday outlined Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s itinerary as he began a five-day tour of the North.

The release repeatedly spelled the capital of Nunavut as Iqualuit – rather than Iqaluit.

The extra “u” makes a world of difference in the Inuktitut language.

Iqaluit, properly spelled, means “many fish.”

Spelled with an extra “u,” the Nunavut language commissioner’s office says the word translates as a derogatory reference to “people with unwiped bums.”

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Government, Press Releases | Also tagged | Comments

Devil, not devilled

August 10, 2009 – 8:00 am

southlandtimes1The new burger joint to open in Invercargill is called Devil Burger, not Devilled Burgers. We are sorry for the mistake.

 

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

Mailer quit Village Voice in part due to errors

August 6, 2009 – 1:51 pm

voice_logoGawker looked through the new, digitized archives of the Village Voice and turned up a gem of an excerpt. John Cook found what he describes as a "hilarious 1956 farewell column from Norman Mailer after he got fed up with all the typos Voice editors were inserting into his copy…"

Here, via Gawker, is an image of the relevant passage:

mailer

 

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged , | Comments

The more you know

July 27, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianA for-and-against piece (Topless – or not?, 23 July, page 10, G2) mentioned the French tradition of going topless. Taking a light-hearted stab at Latin, it went on to voice the suspicion that this "cultural more" conveniently allowed French practitioners to look sophisticated and simultaneously acquire an all-over tan. A reader notes that the nominative singular of mores (custom/habits) is actually mos – though it would never be used in this context: "I’m not sure what the solution is for [the sentence in question], but it’s certainly not a matter of the more the merrier." Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

Sanitiser, not scientist

July 21, 2009 – 8:00 am

southlandtimes1The word sanitiser was inadvertently changed to scientist yesterday when a page 1 story was being edited. We’re sorry for the confusion.

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

This is the correction you could be saving by switching to Geico

July 8, 2009 – 8:00 am

latimesMichael Douglas: In a June 20 Op-Ed on Michael Douglas’ lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute, the name of his character in "Wall Street" was misspelled. It is Gordon Gekko, not Gordon Gecko. Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged , | Comments

How to make a pastor curse your paper

July 3, 2009 – 8:00 am

I can’t vouch for when this appeared in the Argus Observer, but it appears to be a legit scan of a correction:

bigelow

Thanks, David and Criggo.com!

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged , , | Comments

Hooray for gender inequality

June 22, 2009 – 8:00 am

newscientistWe mistakenly suggested that greater gender inequality increases the instance of female mathematicians in a country. Of course that should have been gender equality (6 June, p 7).

Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Magazines | Also tagged | Comments

Hosed

June 16, 2009 – 8:00 am

AN EARLIER VERSION OF THIS STORY INCORRECTLY DESCRIBED BUFFINGTON’S SPECIAL SUPPORT HOSE AS "MERCURY-LINED." THE HOSE ARE MERCURY-GAUGED, MEANING THAT BAROMETRIC MERCURY IS USED TO MEASURE THE COMPRESSION OF THE HOSE.  THEY ARE NOT MERCURY-LINED WHICH WOULD, OF COURSE, MAKE THEM POISONOUS.  I REGRET THE ERROR. — SR Link

 

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Online | Also tagged , | Comments

Genital, not genetic

June 8, 2009 – 8:00 am

economistIn our review of “Ruined”, Lynn Nottage’s play, “Political charge” (May 23rd), the phrase “violent genital mutilation” was written as “violent genetic mutilation”. Our apologies.

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Magazines | Also tagged | Comments

A case of the nots

June 2, 2009 – 8:00 am

24torontoIn Thursday’s 24 hours, Coun. Alex Cullen was quoted as saying the costs of the transit tunnel were “now being lowballed.” The quote should have read “not being lowballed.” 24 hours regrets the error.

The word “not” was inadvertently omitted from a photo caption accompanying a story about dairy farming on Page A1 in Thursday’s Journal Star. The caption should have read: “Despite a dairy industry buyout, Vern Jantzen is not ready to stop dairy farming.”

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged , | Comments

Equality, not equity

June 2, 2009 – 8:00 am

npr2We incorrectly referred to a gay rights group as “Equity Illinois.” It is actually called “Equality Illinois.” Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Radio | Also tagged | Comments

No love for the crew

May 20, 2009 – 8:00 am

latimes‘Bright Star’: In an article in Monday’s Calendar about director Jane Campion and her film “Bright Star,” a descriptive clause was misplaced. “A person with a lively mind and a fine sense of humor” was intended to apply to Campion, not to a camera crew member.

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments