Happy Friday, FF fans. The Grammar Cop has been very busy dredging up some slimy slip-ups in the dreaded Bad-English Swamp. Without further ado:

1. MONTREAL TIMES (another pitiful weekly that refuses to pay a proofreader): “The comics who were interviewed for the book agree that although performing an endless schedule of shows at the Playboy Clubs were physically exhausting, the benefits far outweighed…” (I’m cutting the sentence off here – mercifully – since it drones on and on, stumbling to a stop somewhere far, far away…)
2. THE SUBURBAN: “But as social media continues to spread the rumours about the…”
3. MONTREAL TIMES (yet again): (In one of the worst-written book reviews I’ve ever had the misfortune to wade through) “…to have the book published without her consent, which many people close to Lee said she didn’t want it published in the first place.”

And now the corrections:

1. The problem is the word “were” in “were physically exhausting.” It should be was. Why? Because the subject of that verb is the word “performing.” It was the “performing” that was exhausting, not the shows. If you read the sentence again you’ll see what I mean.
2. Once again, say it with me now: Media is a PLURAL word. (The singular is medium.) The sentence should read: But as social media continue to spread the rumours… Try it. You’ll sound nicely educated. 😉
3. The sentence needs major surgery, in my humble opinion. (The part I quoted is only about a third of it.) However, you can put a Band-Aid on it by changing “which” to even though.

I saw 13 other errors in this last terrible piece of writing, by the way, so it will provide the Grammar Cop with good pickings from the Slip-up Swamp for weeks to come! Always look on the bright side, I say! 😀