In June 2024, we talked about lines that cause you stop and say, “That doesn’t make sense!” And, “If I saw the goof instantly, why didn’t the writers/editors? In fact, how many editors missed this?” We asked those questions then. And we’re still asking.
“My basic priority is law and order, reducing crime, and making our residents extremely proud…” (submitted by Dr. Baruch Kahana.)
Sounds like more than one priority, dontcha think? And your priorities are presumed to be your basic ones. So say “my priorities are.”“This remarkable journey…from a completely irrelevant basketball program to one now on the national conscious…”
National consciousness. (We also have seen writers use conscience for conscious, and vice versa!) Also, completely irrelevant is redundant. Irrelevant is an absolute. You can’t be a little irrelevant.“Bear in mind that all women are not cheaters.”
We covered this back in September 2021. This says not a single woman is a cheater. Oh, that it were so. Sadly, some women are cheaters. So this should be, “not all women are cheaters.”Teacher’s aid arrested.” (Submitted by Keith Nelson.)
Teacher’s aide.“…she tried to tap the breaks, telling him that she wanted to be friends.”
Give me a break. You tap brakes.“…with a lot of good ideas and more than a little daring-do.”
“Derring-do” refers to acting courageously and goes all the way back to Chaucer. (Note: The “My Little Pony” folks have created the character “Daring do.” Thanks, guys. Thanks a lot.)“Farmers and cows work as a team to bring you the freshest milk.”
Cows are not working with farmers as a team.“(Feminine hygiene product) has up to zero leaks.”
This is a two-fer. It’s grammatically incorrect; you would want to say the product has “as little as zero leaks.” But wait! there’s more! Any product has as little as zero leaks. Think about it.“After being preserved as evidence for the shooter's trial, crews are set to tear down the three-story building by pieces starting Friday.”
Our friend old, the modifier misplaced. The crews were not preserved as evidence.“As a proud owner of (product), we want to make sure you have the use & care information necessary to keep your product in optimal shape.“
See #9. You’re the proud owner, not them.“Suspect arrested in shooting, robbery attempt.”
You need to write in chronological order. The first thing that happened was the robbery attempt.“Trump talked about executing people at multiple meetings.”
”Umm, I won’t be at today’s meeting. I have a..a..I have to take my goldfish to the vet. Yeah. That’s it.”"He stopped in the middle of the pulpit, pulled the gun out and it just jammed," Germany recalled, before covering his face with his hands and trying to take cover.
In this story about a failed shooting in a church, you could read this not one, not two, but three different ways! Did Pastor Germany, while talking to the reporter, cover his face with his hands and try to take cover? Is he recalling to the reporter that he took cover during the incident? Or that the shooter did that? We’ve read this several times and we’re still not sure.
Next time: Orange socks.
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