The Grammar Cop has found three bad boo-boos this week: one online, and two from print media.

1. SALON.COM – in a reprint of an AlterNet article: “Women, on the other hand, were more likely to deflate the number of partner’s they’ve bedded.” Never mind the content! Pay attention to the egregious error, “partner’s”! A simple plural was needed here, so it should’ve been partners.
2. THE SUBURBAN: “It was reigned in because it had already been justly rewarded…” As I’ve said time and again, the phrase is reined in… as in reining in a horse. It has absolutely nothing to do with the royal family, as in “long may he reign.” This isn’t the first time I’ve seen the incorrect “reign” substituting for the desired rein in the editorial of this paper, no less! Editor? Proofreader? Neither seems to exist at The Suburban. What a shame.
3. MONTREAL GAZETTE: In an article featured in the business pages, we have this mess – I will quote the whole sentence: “So Apple had to come out swinging at WWDC, convincing more than 5,000 attendees (and millions of viewers watching at home) that they continue using and writing applications for its devices.” The verb form for “continue” in the bolded section is wrong. I see two quick ways to fix it. The first is: that they should continue using and writing applications…”  The second could be: to continue using and writing applications…” I’m partial to the second, for its brevity.

Brevity, after all, is the soul of wit. Thank you, William Shakespeare!