Word Nerd: B is for Blooper
Every article that appears in Traditional Home has been read by at least five people, sometimes more, and yet we still make errors — and flagellate ourselves for them. One of our most memorable bloopers in the six years I’ve been here was the episode of the infamous Burmese mountain dogs. As several of our canine-fancying readers gently chided us, it should have been Bernese mountain dogs.
As you can see from these handsome pooches, pictured with their owners Robin and Forest Dorn in our April 2004 story, “Mile-High Style,” dogs with such heavy coats would broil in Burma.
Another error that snuck through was a reference to the rein of a king, rather than reign; as a then copyeditor, I should have said neigh to that. (Hold your horses — I know it’s nay.)
A while back, we copyeditors also missed the misspelling of chinoiserie (it had an extra n). Heck, I’m proud of myself for even knowing what it is, much less spelling it correctly. It’s one of those words like chryrsanthemum that turns up in jokes about the words St. Peter makes you spell before you can get into heaven.
Our copy chief, Cynthia Mitchell, has laid down the law about antique dealers, which should be antiques dealers, to make it clear that the dealers themselves are not antique. Not necessarily, anyway.
Have you noticed as you peregrinate the Net — reading and writing at warp speed — that blogs, responses to articles, and hasty emails provide many a wonderful blooper to behold? As technology journalist Mitch Ratcliffe observed, “Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns.”
The other day I thoroughly embarrassed myself by describing a church service in which the singing was “Acapulco” — I swear I hadn’t gone even one round with Jose Cuervo. At least I didn’t put it in writing! Here are a few examples of mistakes in usage:
That, sir, is a mute point.
Americans lead too sedimentary a lifestyle. (True enough in my case — everything has settled in the bottom).
She had a trite and true method of getting out stains.
I want your candied opinion. (No sugarcoating.)
After two hours in the bar, he was a tad bit tipsy.
It’s a juggle out there. (This was in reference to Internet dating, so it made a warped kind of sense.)
Everyone was listening with wrapped attention.
That’s a truly bazaar way to look at things. (Not unless you’re shopping.)
People are making Obama into a scrapegoat.
A look at their menu will wet your appetite. (Especially if it’s a martini menu.)
He was the gentleman who shot the deceased.
I will be at your beacon call. (Two if by sea.)
They became insufferable friends. (Lucky they found each other.)
We were in close proximity to the Grand Canyon.
Her demeanor was calm, cool, and collective. (A numismatist, perhaps?)
This is the actual truth.
He had such a veracious appetite that he ate a whole rotisserie chicken. (In actual truth?)
Staci told a great antidote. (But her time would have been better spent calling Poison Control.)
The menu had Italian wedding soup, the soup du jour of the day.
She tried to extract revenge. (Death by vanilla.)
He was so self-diluted that he really thought he would win the election in a landslide. (Guess he was all wet.)
Readers, if you have any bloopers to share, I’d love to see them.
Categories: Home | Tags: bloopers, copyediting, mistakes, USAGE, vocabulary, WORDS
3 Comments
3 Responses to “Word Nerd: B is for Blooper”
February 11, 2011 at 11:44 am, by Kristofer Viejo
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