Good to see you again, Friday Folliestas! This week the Grammar Cop brings you another trio of terrible boo-boos. And she is sorry she couldn’t find a synonym for “boo-boo” starting with a “t.” Ah well, such is life.
- THE SUBURBAN (Hey, I gave it a week off!): “…a lot of dough, depending on who you hire, the size of…”
- MONTREAL GAZETTE: “It was about feeling everything, wherever that lead.”
- MONTREAL GAZETTE: a BIG blooper in an ad! See below for the reveal.
And now for the corrections.
- It should be “depending on whom you hire.” Whom is the object of the verb, hire.
- The past tense of “lead” is led, not “lead.” I understand the writer figured that since the past tense of “read” is spelled the same as the present, then the same should go for “lead.” But it doesn’t. Why not? This is one of the great mysteries of English. 😉 The Grammar Cop always thought it’s because of the different origins of the two words, but actually these do look very similar. According to my dictionary, “lead” is from the Middle English leden, from Old English lǣdan; see leit- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots. “Read” is from Middle English reden, from Old English rǣdan, to advise; see ar- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots. But anyway, the past tense of “lead” is still led!
- Okay, this is a whopper of a typo. Normally the Grammar Cop doesn’t indulge in typos, because then she’d be busy here all week. But since this is a REPEATED typo, the same misspelled word about two inches apart, it deserves to be featured here in Friday Follies! This was in an ad in the Gazette’s November 19th issue… the big, fat, weekend edition. I’m emphasizing this, because all the more reason, one would think, not to let mistakes like this go by! The offences took place in 20-point type, Arial bold (or similar), and were emblazoned below tempting pictures of nice, snazzy cars:
2014 CARMY 2014 CARMY
…followed by their specs and prices. (Insert eye roll emoji.) And not one person noticed this before it went to print?
I’m now going to lie down and REALX!
Crossed Eyes and Dotted Tees 
LOL, I guess not! It used to bother me to read lead for led and other egregious offenses, but now I make so many mistakes myself. My brain thinks I am typing “write” and when I read it later, it’s mysteriously changed to “right.” And I’m not talkin’ spellcheck.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, yes, I sometimes do that too. But if I were doing a full-page ad for a newspaper, somehow I’d like to think I wouldn’t! On the other hand, a Carmy sounds kinda cute, no? 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Years ago when I had to hire someone in a secretarial/bookkeeping position I finally had to resort to giving a test. It was one where, for example, there would be four addresses and you would have to choose which one had an error in it. You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t see errors.
Carmy sounds like a sweet ride.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Entertaining and instructional, as usual! Thanks, Ellie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your appreciation is so appreciated! 😄 Thank you, Anne!
LikeLike
It’s amazing how many mistakes one can find! I am looking forward to next Friday’s post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, yay! (I’ve found one already and it’s one I always find *so* annoying! 😀 )
LikeLiked by 1 person
ha-ha You could probably have one for every day of the week! I have a post about spell-check in my Sept. archive that I think you will like 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Will check it out after supper! (My tummy’s complaining!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
OMG! I couldn’t even figure out what Terrain was supposed to be!! LOL!! Too funny!! Oh, BTW, I notice you like fairy tales. Your writing is terrific, and your illustrations just exquisite, truly. I wrote a couple of such little tales myself. Search for “A Fairy Tale” and also “An R-Rated Fairy Tale” in search box on my home page next just under my alphabet jpg.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I really enjoyed your fairy tales as well!
LikeLike
Oops I think I wrote Thanks in the wrong spot. Oh well… 😁
LikeLike
Thanks!!
LikeLike