Friday Follies #70 – 3 mistakes that make me go “Arghhh”

Welcome back, FF fans! The Grammar Cop hopes you had a happy and healthy holiday. My casual reading over the past couple of weeks  was very fruitful in spotting errors which popped up all over the place. Here are a few gems fit for Friday Follies, seen online.

  1. MICHAEL MOORE’S FACEBOOK PAGE: “Most local congressional offices are loathe to turn anyone away because to them you are that one vote who could vote them out of office.”
  2. RADARONLINE.COM: “…Skakel’s three years of freedom may finally be coming to an end – his murder case being reinstated by the highest Connecticut court, whom rejected the argument that initially freed him in 2013.”
  3. CNN.COM: “The Minnesota Vikings’ trip to play the Green Bay Packers got off to a rough start when their plane skid off the runway in Appleton, Wisconsin.”

The corrections:

  1. Michael Moore, the celebrated documentary filmmaker (Roger and Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, etc.) goofed in his use of the word “loathe.” That is the verb form, which means despise or hate. But it’s not what is called for here. It should be loath, which is the adjective. It means unwilling or reluctant.
  2. I almost choked on the “whom rejected.” It should be who rejected. Why? Because the word who is the subject of the verb, rejected. “Whom” is only used when it’s the object of something. (As in: The person whom I thanked was bashful.)
  3. This is an easy one. The writer apparently mistook “skid” for “slid.” Yes, the past tense of “slide” is slid. But the past tense of “skid” is skidded. The dictionary tells the tale.

I’m loath to leave you, but I must slide to my next activity… which will be consuming a strawberry frozen yogurt bar. I hope it doesn’t skid off its stick.

6 thoughts on “Friday Follies #70 – 3 mistakes that make me go “Arghhh”

  1. I taught grammar for many years. When I see errors like the ones you posted, I grit my teeth and want to bang my head on my desk. Errors like the ones you posted occur so many times in The Gazette. Don’t they have any proofreaders? Aarrgghhh! Annabelle

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    Liked by 1 person

    1. I taught a remedial English class at Dawson’s New School way back when. I just about packed it in when I saw the “word” ANOID in a student’s paper. NO, no one uses proofreaders anymore, apparently! I offered my services many times to The Suburban (local weekly) at rock-bottom rates, but to no avail. My entire blog category, Friday Follies, has been going strong for well over a year, and I never run out of material! Sigh.

      Like

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