Friday, May 29, 2009

Another batch of flubs

Have fun with these five sentences. See if you can find the flubs that were caught before they made it into The Forum.

1. Moorhead police responded to 1015 36th Street South at 10:13 p.m. Thursday night.

2. Everyone who attended the press conference wore buttons promoting the referendum.

3. Commission Chair Jerry Waller said Overbo was up front about his arrest.

4. The Jensens bought out Prairie Public in the late 1980's.

5. Precipitation totals were at the top five percent of historical averages.

1. Moorhead police responded to 1015 36th St. S. at 10:13 p.m. Thursday.
AP Stylebook states: Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd. and St. only with a numbered address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Spell them out and capitalize when part of a formal street name without a number: Pennsylvania Avenue. Lowercase and spell out when used alone or with more than one street name: Massachusetts and Pennsylvania avenues.
All similar words (alley, drive, road, terrace, etc.) always are spelled out. Capitalize them when part of a formal name without a number; lowercase when used alone or with two or more names.
Abbreviate compass points used to indicate directional ends of a street or quadrants of a city in a numbered address: 222 E. 42nd St., 562 W. 43rd St., 600 K St. NW. Do not abbreviate if the number is omitted: East 42nd Street, West 43rd Street, K Street Northwest. No periods in quadrant abbreviations – NW, SE – unless customary locally.
It's redundant to write 10:13 p.m. Thursday night.

2. Everyone who attended the news conference wore buttons promoting the referendum.
AP Stylebook states: press conference News conference is preferred.

3. Commission Chairman Jerry Waller said Overbo was upfront about his arrest.

4. The Jensens bought out Prairie Public in the late 1980s.
AP Stylebook states: years Use figures, without commas: 1975. When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with a comma: Feb. 14, 1987, is the target date. Use an s without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries: the 1890s, the 1800s.

5. Precipitation totals were at the top 5 percent of historical averages.
AP Stylebook states: percent One word. It takes a singular verb when standing alone or when a singular word follows an of construction: The teacher said 60 percent was a failing grade. He said 50 percent of the membership was there.
It takes a plural verb when a plural word follows an of construction: He said 50 percent of the members were there.
Use figures for percent and percentages: 1 percent, 2.5 percent (use decimals, not fractions), 10 percent, 4 percentage points.
For a range, 12 to 15 percent, or between 12 and 15 percent.
For amounts less than 1 percent, precede the decimal with a zero: The cost of living rose 0.6 percent.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

If you've got the time, I've got the flubs

See if you can find the flubs in these five sentences that were caught before they appeared in The Forum.

1. The committee is seeking public comment at 7 p.m. tonight.

2. He suggested the city consider moving the Second Ward polling site.

3. Five people work at the company full-time.

4. City Commissioners voted 5-0 Monday to waive the fees.

5. Back yards are lakes; front yards are ponds.

1. The committee is seeking public comment at 7 tonight.
AP Stylebook states: times Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes: 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m.
Avoid such redundancies as 10 a.m. this morning, 10 p.m. tonight or 10 p.m. Monday night. Use 10 a.m. or 10 p.m. Monday, etc., as required by the norms in time element.

2. He suggested the city consider moving the 2nd Ward polling site.
AP Stylebook states: political divisions Use Arabic figures and capitalize the accompanying word when used with the figures: 1st Ward, 10th Ward, 3rd Precinct, 22nd Precinct, the ward, the precinct.

3. Five people work at the company full time.
AP Stylebook states:full time, full-time Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier: He works full time. She has a full-time job.

4. City commissioners voted 5-0 Monday to waive the fees.

5. Back yards are lakes; front yards are ponds.
AP Stylebook states: backyard One word in all uses.
The same goes for frontyard.

Friday, May 15, 2009

A stunning development

Two posts in one week? You're lucky!

These five sentences have flubs that were caught before they made it into The Forum. See if you can find them.

1. The West Fargo School Board held their first open forum Wednesday night.

2. Falcon Research Group is a non-profit organization in Bow., Wash.

3. Lambeth is a long-time birder and retired University of North Dakota professor.

4. Alien broke ground on its 50,000 square-foot plant in October, 2005.

5. Paul Young's basement is ruined, victimized by six feet of water that poured in when Red River flood waters inundated Oakport Township.

1. The West Fargo School Board held its first open forum Wednesday night.

2. Falcon Research Group is a nonprofit organization in Bow., Wash.
AP Stylebook states: non- The rules of prefixes apply, but in general no hyphen when forming a compound that does not have special meaning and can be understood if not is used before the base word. Use a hyphen, however, before proper nouns or in awkward combinations, such as non-nuclear.

3. Lambeth is a longtime birder and retired University of North Dakota professor.
AP Stylebook states: long time, longtime They have known each other a long time. They are longtime partners.

4. Alien broke ground on its 50,000-square-foot plant in October 2005.

5. Paul Young's basement is ruined, victimized by 6 feet of water that poured in when Red River floodwaters inundated Oakport Township.
AP Stylebook states: dimensions Use figures and spell out inches, feet, yards, etc., to indicate depth, height, length and width. Hyphenate adjectival forms before nouns.
EXAMPLES: He is 5 feet 6 inches tall, the 5-foot-6-inch man, the 5-foot man, the basketball team signed a 7-footer.
The car is 17 feet long, 6 feet wide and 5 feet high. The rug is 9 feet by 12 feet, the 9-by-12 rug.
The storm left 5 inches of snow.
The building has 6,000 square feet of floor space.

Floodwaters is one word in the AP Stylebook.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Finding flubs is a full-time job

We're back with another batch of sentences with flubs that were caught before they made it into The Forum. See if you can find them.

1. The 4.3-acre parcel is at the corner of 7th Avenue and 15th Street North.

2. FEMA [first reference] will cover 75 percent of flood damages.

3. The popular 401k retirement plan is becoming less attractive for many American workers.

4. "We get emails quite often with suggestions."

5. Five people work at the business full-time.

1. The 4.3-acre parcel is at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 15th Street North.

2. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will cover 75 percent of flood damage.
AP Stylebook states: Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA is acceptable on second reference.
AP Stylebook states: damage, damages Damage is destruction: Authorities said damage from the storm would total more than $1 billion.
Damages are awarded by a court as compensation for injury, loss, etc.: The woman received $25,000 in damages.

3. The popular 401(k) retirement plan is becoming less attractive for many American workers.

4. "We get e-mails quite often with suggestions."
AP Stylebook states: e-mail Acceptable in all references for electronic mail. Many e-mail or Internet addresses use symbols such as the at symbol (@), or the tilde (~) that cannot be transmitted correctly by some computers. When needed, spell them out and provide an explanatory editor's note.
(Also e-book, e-commerce, e-business.)

5. Five people work at the business full time.
AP Stylebook states: full time, full-time Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier: He works full time. She has a full-time job.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

On to West Nile virus

After a bit of an absence, I hope to start posting more regularly now that the flood season has ended.

See if you can find the flubs that were caught before they made it into The Forum:

1. The new tax credit is an incredible deal for first-time home buyers.

2. R.D. Offutt Company took first place out of 15 teams.

3. It started out small and has grown into a week-long event.

4. The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined prosecutors failed to prove Bala had committed any crimes.

5. The species of mosquito responsible for West Nile Virus favors warmer weather.

1. The new tax credit is an incredible deal for first-time homebuyers.

2. R.D. Offutt Co. took first place out of 15 teams.
AP Stylebook states: company, companies Use Co. or Cos. when a business uses either word at the end of its proper name: Ford Motor Co., American Broadcasting Cos.
If company or companies appears alone in second reference, spell the word out.
The forms for possessives: Ford Motor Co.'s profits, American Broadcasting Cos.' profits.

3. It started out small and has grown into a weeklong event.
AP Stylebook states: daylong, weeklong, yearlong, hourlong, monthlong, and on and on.

4. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined prosecutors failed to prove Bala had committed any crimes.
AP Stylebook states: U.S. Court of Appeals On first reference to the full name, use U.S. Court of Appeals or a full name: 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals without a circuit number is a misnomer and should not be used.

5. The species of mosquito responsible for West Nile virus favors warmer weather.