Reporter Needs Dictionary

[SeriouslySearching]

I understand this should be in the crime section, but this was too funny. I was reading a serious article and burst out laughing when I got to this little tid bit:

Officers say it all started when they responded to a call on N.W. 28th street this morning, but when they got inside the house they were startled by what they found.

"One of the officers saw an individual jump into a green SUV and flea the scene the officers gave chase while other officers realized we had two gun shot victims," said Steve McCool, OKC Police Department.

http://www.ksbitv.com/news/24368539.html (Bolded by me)

Was he scratching himself at the time? LOL

 

[Taximom]

LOL, SS. I see this more often and it's scary. What are they teaching in our schools?!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I know!! Aren't most reporters for large newspapers supposed to have a four year college degree at minimum? How are these people passing English classes? I think I learned this difference in the third grade! Flea and Flee. Not words you normally see confused, are they?

One of my biggest pet peeves: the improper use of the words LOSE and LOOSE. Marbles might run loose in your skull if you lose a few.

 

[SteveHuff]

This sort of thing has been chafing my butt for years, now. One of the worst offenders I've seen recently is a dude named Rocco Parascandola, who has been writing for New York Newsday. Spelled the name of a knife attack victim FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS in one published article.

Print journalism in smaller outfits is just not a well-paid gig. They get what they get: kids just out of journalism school who are more interested in getting the scoop that puts them in the next job up the ladder rather than learning their way around the English language and honing a craft.

One of my biggest pet peeves: affect & effect. If you start looking for people who screw those up, you will see it EVERYWHERE.

Steve

 

[Pandora]

If you start checking, you'll discover that many schools no longer teach spelling. It is a combination of issues that have created this "no spell" nation.
1) Schools feel that since computers are so widely used w/ spell check programs that spelling is no longer necessary. (There is a poem I use w/ my classes and school boards called "Spellchequer." Nearly every word is incorrectly spelled or used, yet every word gets past the spelling programs.)
2) Schools have bought into the lie that some kids are "just bad spellers." I totally disagree with this! The fact is, short of a major learning disability, everyone can learn to spell. The problem is not everyone learns the same way and teachers like to give spelling vocabulary lists on Monday and test on Friday. This works for visual learners but no one else.

(Stepping slowly off the soapbox--please don't shoot!)

 

[golfmom]

One of my biggest pet peeves: affect & effect. If you start looking for people who screw those up, you will see it EVERYWHERE.

Steve

These are the ones that make me cringe:

there/their/they're
alot
do to/due to
bored/board

 

[angelmom]

I agree.

affect/effect and insure/ensure totally change the meaning of the sentence.

And "irregardless" is like nails on a chalkboard. My husband says it now just to annoy me. To top it of, in the dumbification of our country, it is now in some dictionaries as an appropriate usage of "regardless," so he claims it is a real word.

:nono::nono::nono::nono:

 

[Kiki]

If you start checking, you'll discover that many schools no longer teach spelling. It is a combination of issues that have created this "no spell" nation.
1) Schools feel that since computers are so widely used w/ spell check programs that spelling is no longer necessary. (There is a poem I use w/ my classes and school boards called "Spellchequer." Nearly every word is incorrectly spelled or used, yet every word gets past the spelling programs.)
2) Schools have bought into the lie that some kids are "just bad spellers." I totally disagree with this! The fact is, short of a major learning disability, everyone can learn to spell. The problem is not everyone learns the same way and teachers like to give spelling vocabulary lists on Monday and test on Friday. This works for visual learners but no one else.

(Stepping slowly off the soapbox--please don't shoot!)

Well said, Pandora. :clap: :clap: :clap: We have a similar problem in Australia. Students' spelling and mathematics skills are certainly not what they used to be. I've noticed such a difference now compared to when I was at school. And I'm an old woman of 28. :grandma: :wink:

 

[SeriouslySearching]

If you start checking, you'll discover that many schools no longer teach spelling. It is a combination of issues that have created this "no spell" nation.
1) Schools feel that since computers are so widely used w/ spell check programs that spelling is no longer necessary. (There is a poem I use w/ my classes and school boards called "Spellchequer." Nearly every word is incorrectly spelled or used, yet every word gets past the spelling programs.)
2) Schools have bought into the lie that some kids are "just bad spellers." I totally disagree with this! The fact is, short of a major learning disability, everyone can learn to spell. The problem is not everyone learns the same way and teachers like to give spelling vocabulary lists on Monday and test on Friday. This works for visual learners but no one else.

(Stepping slowly off the soapbox--please don't shoot!)

(Pushing you back up on the soapbox and covering you if anyone tries to shoot) Bravo! We need more teachers who care about a generation lost on the basics of the English Language! Spelling comes first! :clap::clap::clap:

Do children read anything besides text messages and ims anymore? My DD always had a book in her hand from the time she learned to read.

Steve, I have even been guilty of that one from time to time. LOL I do know the difference. :iamashamed0005: My grandmother, the English teacher, has probably rolled over a few times at my mistakes.

 

[GlitchWizard]

Was he scratching himself at the time? LOL

Gnawing on his arm, most likely!

My daughter and I have a terrible habit of correcting poor grammar and spelling of others - it doesn't make us popular, at all.

My biggest issue is the use of the NON WORD "ho." I corrected the spelling on the bathroom walls as a kid - and now it's everywhere! I told my daughter, if she ever needs to refer to a woman as a *advertiser censored*, it better be spelled correctly and in the proper context. (And... not be referring to me!)

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Hahahahaha~ I am guilty of correcting spelling here when I quote someone. (I wonder if they notice?!)

I even feel a twinge of guilt (stemming from my grandmother's teachings) when I use "tho" or other shortcut "words". I try to avoid using "ho" at all. It cheapens the *advertiser censored* so much.

 

[GlitchWizard]

Hahahahaha~ I am guilty of correcting spelling here when I quote someone. (I wonder if they notice?!)

I even feel a twinge of guilt (stemming from my grandmother's teachings) when I use "tho" or other shortcut "words". I try to avoid using "ho" at all. It cheapens the *advertiser censored* so much.

No kidding. Who wants a cheap *advertiser censored*?

My kid was on the schoolbus one day when a boy was talking about what a "hoe" his girlfriend was. The bus came to a screeching halt when she loudly exclaimed "Your girlfriend is NOT a gardening implement, YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS A *advertiser censored*!"

...I promise you, my daughter was ONLY thinking grammar, not the impact of the words she used... which is why it was so hilarious.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

These are the ones that make me cringe:

there/their/they're
alot
do to/due to
bored/board

Yes!!

Add to the list:

here/hear
bare/bear

 

[SeriouslySearching]

No kidding. Who wants a cheap *advertiser censored*?

My kid was on the schoolbus one day when a boy was talking about what a "hoe" his girlfriend was. The bus came to a screeching halt when she loudly exclaimed "Your girlfriend is NOT a gardening implement, YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS A *advertiser censored*!"

...I promise you, my daughter was ONLY thinking grammar, not the impact of the words she used... which is why it was so hilarious.

Hahahahahaha~ Excellent!! :clap:

 

[Dark Knight]

These are the ones that make me cringe:

there/their/they're
alot
do to/due to
bored/board

To that list I'll add:

may be/maybe

And the loose/lose one makes me nuts, too, lol.

 

[ConfusedPopsicle]

Haha that is funny. I have a friend that went to The University of Washington. Their rival is WSU, and WSU's mascot is a cougar. He has an article written by a graduate of WSU, cougar is spelled 'couger" throughout the whole thing. He loves that article lol! One that bothers me is " should of, could of " etc. I never say anything though because I understand WHY that mistake is made, and I make mistakes all the time!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

We had an English teacher in middle school. She was almost 120 years old with gray hair. Her favorite thing was to make us repeat daily: am, are, is, was, were, shall be...until we were blue in the face. (It is 3rd grade English!) I used to laugh every time and it made her so mad she would literally pull on her hair! Good times!

At least, she taught us how to spell along the way. I was sad when she finally passed. (I heard she was nearing 150 years old. LOL)

 

[Bargle]

Some spelling/grammar errors that get my goat. The first pair is my 'signature' on another site.
There's no 'a' in definitely. In 'separate', it's two 'e's and two 'a's, not three 'e's and one 'a'.
'Could of been'. It's 'could have been'. 'Been' is not something you can be 'of'.
'One in the same.' It's 'one and the same'. 'The same' is not something you can be inside of.

That's enough for now. I don't want to get too wound up.

 

[KatK]

LOL, SS. I see this more often and it's scary. What are they teaching in our schools?!

Part of it is getting rid of phonics/insisting the words be spelled correctly, and allowing them to sound them out and write them as they sound. Another part of it is spell check hamstringing them. I can tell those who are lazy twocents:IMO:twocents:) and rely on spell check to clean up their posts, instead of their own eyes and mind.

 

[KatK]

<snip>My biggest issue is the use of the NON WORD "ho." I corrected the spelling on the bathroom walls as a kid - and now it's everywhere! I told my daughter, if she ever needs to refer to a woman as a *advertiser censored*, it better be spelled correctly and in the proper context. (And... not be referring to me!)

:waitasec: I'm thinking the term "ho" came about due to a regional accent. Some places, when they say "*advertiser censored*" it sounds like ho.
</snip>