Perspective from the 19th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write. I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.
As a person who likes words, it is surprising to me how often quality journalists make mistakes in word usage.
No doubt I make mistakes, too.
One reason is that I don’t have an editor to review and approve what I write. I just write and sometimes fall victim to writing too fast. Or, I am just not smart enough to avoid mistakes.
Still, I find myself drawn to write about words, so I open the Department of Words Matter, one of five departments I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit.
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: “Two Palestinian gunmen were slain in the attack, days before Israeli elections that have centered around the prime minister’s handling of security issues.”
It is not possible for something to be “centered around” something else. The phrase should be this: Centered on.
IN GENERAL: Incorrect word usage in major newspapers usually stems from homophone confusion, malapropisms, or the high-speed pressure of a modern newsroom. Over time, major publications like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian have issued high-profile corrections for printing completely wrong words that subtly — or hilariously — changed the meaning of their reporting.
HERE ARE A FEW NOTABLE REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES:
1. Anecdote vs. Antidote
- The Publication: The Los Angeles Times
- The Error: A reporter mistakenly wrote that a medical patient was given an “anecdote” to counteract a poison.
- The Correction: The paper had to issue a clarification noting that the patient was actually given an antidote (a remedy to counteract poison), rather than an anecdote (a short, amusing story).
2. Throws vs. Throes
- The Publication: Multiple major media outlets
- The Error: Publications frequently print that a country, political party, or economy is in the “throws of a crisis.”
- The Correction: “Throw” is a verb meaning to propel something through the air. The correct term is throes, a noun referring to intense struggles, pain, or spasms (e.g., “in the throes of a crisis”).
3. Plumbers vs. Janitors
- The Publication: The New York Times
- The Error: In a pop-culture reference regarding the iconic video game characters Mario and Luigi, a writer referred to them as “janitors.”
- The Correction: The Times issued a humorous formal correction pointing out that the brothers are, of course, plumbers.
4. Ruckus vs. Raucous
- The Publication: Common in various regional and national news publications.
- The Error: Using “ruckus” as a descriptive modifier for loud behavior (e.g., “a ruckus crowd”).
- The Correction: Editors frequently catch reporters confusing these two noisy words. A ruckus is a noun meaning a disturbance or uproar. The word to describe a loud, rowdy crowd is the adjective raucous.
Beyond these citations, another common mistake irritates me: It is when nouns don’t agree with verbs, as in:
- Singular subject with a plural verb:
- Incorrect: The dog bark at the mailman.
- Correct: The dog barks at the mailman.
- Incorrect: She eat breakfast every day.
- Correct: She eats breakfast every day.
- Plural subject with a singular verb:
- Incorrect: The dogs barks at the mailman.
- Correct: The dogs bark at the mailman.
- Incorrect: Cats is very cute.
- Correct: Cats are very cute.
- Confusing the true subject:
- Incorrect: A combination of these factors… have focused attention. (The verb incorrectly matches “factors” instead of the singular head noun “combination”.)
- Correct: A combination of these factors… has focused attention.
- Compound subjects with “or”/”nor” mismatching:
- Incorrect: The boy or his friends runs every day. (The verb should match the closer subject “friends”.)
- Correct: The boy or his friends run every day.
In my time as a lobbyist, I often saw my associates write such a sentence such as this: The legislative committee said it was time to conclude their work.
Of course, it should be its work.
The modifier should agree with the noun, as in “The Committee did it’s work.”
In conclusion, I choose to cite a sentence written by none other than NY Times columnist Frank Bruni who often cites cases when wrong words are used – and he usually uses words deftly.
This is a sentence he wrote: “A series of developments have put the 11th Congressional District — in a largely rural patch of western North Carolina — into play.”
Note the word “have” italics. It should have been “has,” thus modifying the early words in the sentence, “A series.” Don’t tell Bruni that I cite his mistake.
Now, two final points: First, I attribute some of what I have written to my friend, Mr. Google; and, second, aren’t you glad you know all this?
