The Times, December 12, 2021
A late but very strong entry to the Worst Intro of the Year contest. What on earth has Dorothy Parker to do with sanitation operatives in New York? Nothing. This is contrived, irrelevant and looks like showing off. If I had been doing it I might have tried something on the lines of:
Christmas has come early for 100 binmen in New York. They have received overtime payments of $100,000 each after coping with staff shortages and heavy snow.
The Times, November 20, 2021
This should be one of the first words a sub learns to spell (it is Gurkha). I find it incredible that standards are so low at the Times that this has got into the paper. In my day this would quite rightly have been a sacking offence. If a sub can’t spell there is not a lot of point in doing the job.
A crocodile leapt out of the water at a wildlife park in Darwin and sunk its teeth into a low flying drone.
BBC News Online, October 2, 2021
Two errors for the price of one.
Usually animals should be ‘it’ rather than ‘he’ or ‘she’, but this one gives both – you must be consistent.
The past tense of ‘sink’ is ‘sank’. ‘Sunk’ is the past participle (used with forms of ‘have’) and the passive voice.
Mail Online, September 27, 2021
Regular readers know that I regard Mail Online as a too soft a target to bother with – the surprise is when they get it right – but this one made me howl aloud.
The Times, September 25, 2021
How can anyone think that ‘split with’ makes sense? Would you put ‘Raducanu separates with coach’ or ‘Michael is divorced with Pamela’? The BBC website showed the same ignorance:
‘With’ implies ‘together’ while ‘from’ implies distance.
The Times, July 8, 2021
I literally gasped when I saw this shocking piece of ignorance. This is the Times! Whoever let this through or changed it from the correct version should be sacked.
It is essential to know the rules about ‘lie’ and ‘lay’ because if you get it wrong it is as good as having ‘Plonker’ written on your forehead.
This is from Style Matters:
lay: This is the past tense of the verb ‘to lie’ as in ‘I lay on the ground yesterday’ and is also the transitive verb (transitive means it must take an object; it cannot stand alone) ‘to lay’ as in ‘the hen lays eggs’ or ‘I am going to lay the table’. The past tense of ‘to lay’ is ‘laid’. Of course, as everyone knows, ‘lay’ and ‘laid’ are also colloquial sexual expressions and great care must be taken to avoid an inadvertent double meaning. However the chief offence is using ‘lay’ instead of ‘lie’, as in ‘I’m going to lay down’, ‘She is laying on the bed’ or ‘The lion lays in wait for its prey’, or using ‘laid’ instead of ‘lay’, as in ‘He laid on his bed’. To complete the confusion there is the verb ‘to lie’ or tell an untruth. This one is comparatively simple, however.
A brief tour round the tenses:
to lie (as in recline)
present: I lie on the bed, he lies on the bed/I am lying on the bed
past: I lay on the bed, he lay on the ground
participle (with a form of have) I/he/we have/has/had lain on the bed
Note that the word ‘laid’ does not exist in this verb.
to lay (as in to put or place, followed by an object)
present: I lay the table, the hen lays eggs/I am laying the table
past: I laid the table, the hen laid eggs
participle: I/she have/has/had laid the table
Note: this is the only polite use for the word ‘laid’.
to lie (as in to tell an untruth)
present: I lie, he lies/he is lying
past: I/he lied
participle: I/he have/has/had lied
BBC News Online, May 5, 2021
Can you believe that there is at least one person at the national broadcaster who cannot spell Prince Philip (two if they bother to have someone checking work)? This is how you spell Phillip Schofield, who presumably is better known to the young people at the corporation.
BBC News Online, April 15, 2021
Why use the right word when you can add a syllable? ‘Donors’ is the word wanted here. I am amazed to find ‘donators’ given as an alternative in some dictionaries. As far as I am concerned there is no such word.
BBC News Online, March 27, 2021
This would be ok in America, but in British English, a draft is a preliminary piece of work or a money order. The spelling wanted here is draught.
The latest food recall comes from supermarket giant Tesco who is recalling one of their cheeses.
Daily Express, January 16, 2021
I’ve just come across this object lesson in not mixing singular and plural. It can be hard to decide whether a firm or group of some sort is singular or plural but you need to make a choice and stick to it. I can only presume that the numbskull who wrote this does not understand the difference.
It is not necessary to prefix Tesco with ‘supermarket giant’. I am confident that anyone who can read will know that Tesco is not a firm of accountants.
As an example of the sort of rubbish that is now considered acceptable journalism, here is the full story as it appeared online, complete with repetitions and veering into a different topic. As a bonus, it contains information that it is unsafe to eat food items containing pieces of metal.
Food recalls are issued when a discovery is made or there are safety issues surrounding a product that might endanger the consumer. The latest food recall comes from supermarket giant Tesco who is recalling one of their cheeses.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has shared the details on the food item which is being recalled.
It states: “Tesco is recalling Tesco Finest Taleggio 200g because it contains Listeria monocytogenes.”
The use by date which customers need to check for is January 25, 2021.
All batch codes are affected and consumers are being warned not to eat this product.
Some people are extremely vulnerable to Listeria infections, including those over 65 years of age, pregnant women and their unborn babies as well as babies less than one month old.
People with weakened immune systems are also more at risk of the infection.
The FSA added: “Symptoms caused by this organism can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea.”
What should customers do if they have this item in their fridge?
Some people are extremely vulnerable to Listeria infections, including those over 65 years of age, pregnant women and their unborn babies as well as babies less than one month old.
People with weakened immune systems are also more at risk of the infection.
The FSA added: “Symptoms caused by this organism can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea.”
What should customers do if they have this item in their fridge?
“However, fish sauce is not labelled as an ingredient on tesco.com.
“As a result, this product is temporarily unavailable.
“All products purchased in-store have the correct labelling, so this issue only affects tesco.com.”
Tesco are working with their supplier to understand which batch was last affected and once this is established, the product will be available to purchase online again.
What should customers do if they have this product?
The supermarket advises those who don’t eat fish to check the ingredients listed on the packaging.
“These are correct and will list fish sauce, if it is present,” Tesco said.
Food recalls from other retailers are also in place.
Sainsbury’s is recalling its Plant Pioneers 6 Caramelised Onion Shroomdogs because they may contain pieces of metal.
The presence of metal makes this product unsafe to eat and while the use by date affected is between January 6 and January 7, customers should check if they have this product in their freezer.
No other products from the brand are affected.