Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.
Yes, that’s part of an e-mail circulating the globe, indicating that poor spelling usually doesn’t interfere with our ability to communicate. Get most of it right, and people will understand.
Still, as many of you frequently point out, it’s the little language mistakes that cast doubt on the accuracy of everything else in the newspaper.
Here’s a test, composed of items sent in by you. Without looking ahead to the answers, figure out what needs to be changed in each item. See how well you would do as a newspaper editor.
1. If it wasn’t for the determination of an Akron mother, the bodies of the two missing New Hampshire children may never have been discovered in a wooded area of Hudson off Interstate 80.
2. The future of Roe v. Wade rests with a Supreme Court soon have to another new member.
3. About 50 residents braved chilly weather Wednesday night to light the candles in downtown Akron to remember the 2,000 U.S. troops who have died in the Iraq war.
4. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is giving berth to a new blimp.
5. Pope Benedict XVI went to the Room of Tears — which earned its nickname because many new pontiffs get choked up there, realizing the enormity of their mission.
6. Headline: Simon’s Suite is where fun’s at
7. More than 400,000 Hurricane Katrina victims are living in hotels at a cost of up to $100 a night, reports the Washington Post. Taxpayer dollars are picking up the approximate $40 million daily tab.
8. Photo caption: Cleveland plice officers take cover on the Case Western Reserve University campus during a shooting rampage and hostage situation May 9, 2003.
9. Henderson avoided jail time Monday when he pleaded guilty to a lessor charge stemming from an arrest in July when he brought a gun to JFK Airport.
10. Headline: Blimp workers flex some serious muscle; Lighter than air? Just try moving a dirigible
OK, now for the answers:
1. Change the third word from wasn’t to weren’t. From Pat Hardwick of Stow: “Correct me if I’m wrong, does your resident grammarian agree with me that the sentence should use the subjunctive? If it wasn’t made me wince.”
2. Transpose the words have and to. When Sam Drager of Copley Township called to point it out, I’ll confess it took me three times to see the mistake. Why? In the same way we auto-correct spelling, our minds often auto-edit transposed words.
3. This one is debatable. Edna Buergler of Cuyahoga Falls called to point out that the word troop is defined as a group of soldiers, usually 6 or more. That’s true, though some reference books allow the use of troops when referring to large numbers.
4. Berth versus birth. Janet Young of Akron wrote, “That’s right up there with past stories about ‘bridal’ trails at Stan Hywet.” This one actually was a play on words, with berth being a place to dock the blimp. Whether the substitution of giving berth for giving birth worked is arguable. It was intentional, however.
5. From Mark Ebner of Barberton: “As the mission of the Pope is not one of outrageous evil (the meaning of enormity), I would say that the word you would have wanted to use there is enormousness.” He’s right. The Beacon Journal has used enormity incorrectly more than a dozen times in the past year.
6. Avoid ending a sentence or, in this case, a headline, with a preposition. Barbara Meeker of Kent pointed this out, saying, “When the use of correct grammar in our country is on a downhill slide, I think the Beacon Journal should be a beacon of good grammar.”
7. Calling it an “all-too-common error by newspapers,” Ron Winters of Hudson wrote, “This is using and reporting statistics without stopping to ask if they make sense.” Winters suggested that not every man, woman and child had a separate room. “I’m more inclined to believe the Oct. 12 NBC report of 596,000 victims occupying 193,000 rooms for a daily cost of $11 million and an average room cost of $59.”
8. Many of us pronounce the word plice, but that’s not how it’s spelled. Hudson High School sophomore Eric Lin wrote: “The mistake is clear and in bold…. It is not common for the Beacon Journal to make this kind of mistake, but for the better of the newspaper, more careful editing may be necessary.”
9. Change lessor to lesser. When she wrote to point out the mistake, Eileen Herbert of Cuyahoga Falls admitted, “We English majors can’t help it!”
10. Dirigible should not be used in place of blimp, says Jackson C. Carruthers of Canal Fulton, who added, “I believe the writer made a terminology error.” According to Carruthers, dirigibles have a rigid frame, and blimps do not. Although dictionaries differ on the exact definition of dirigible, I applaud this sharp-eyed editing from the 9-year-old editor in chief of the family newspaper, The Acrobat Post. And that’s not a typo; Carruthers really is 9.
So, did you spot all the errors? If you did, then I bestow upon you the honorary title of “editor for a day.”
Mrrey Cimrhtsas!
