Welcome back from the Grammar Cop! This week’s batch o’ boo-boos could have easily been caught by any decent proofreader with her wits about her… but they didn’t want to hire me. Go figure. 😀

1. PBS.ORG (You wouldn’t expect this distinguished public broadcasting institution to make a spelling mistake, but – go figure, again.): “…immediately after the president’s collapse, Mrs. Wilson discretely phoned down to the White House chief usher…”
2. MONTREALGAZETTE.COM: “And she said the officers also engaged in social profiling because they appear to have mistook her for a homeless person…”
3. THE SUBURBAN (of course): “…for her mother to pick up the girl. Probably because there is a rule against that to. And therein lays the problem.”

Corrections? Here!

1. The correct word here should be discreetly. It means quietly, almost secretly. But the word “discretely” means separately, distinctly, as in The cakes were placed discretely in boxes of various sizes. Although who the heck would ever say that?
2. Oh, please! To have mistaken her. Case closed.
3. First of all, I’m going to try to ignore the word “to” which should have been too, because maybe it was a typo. I don’t really believe that, but I want to get to the part that really irritates me! That’s the wrong word, “lays.” No, no no! The only time we use “lay” is when a hen lays an egg. Or you lay the injured person down on a blanket. Or you lay the knife down. Okay? It’s when you lay something. The correct word here is “therein lies the problem.” The reason is that, in this phrase, the problem is lying somewhere. It’s not laying anything down, is it? Nope. It’s just too busy lying there, relaxing. It’s pooped from pointing out all these mistakes.

As is the Grammar Cop, so she will rest until next Friday. See you then! Have a great error-free week!