I know if you're one of the Forum reporters reading this blog, you're anxious to find out if you made the spotlight. See if you can find the flubs in these sentences that were caught before they made it into The Forum.
1. He served in the army more than 40 years ago.
2. A spokesperson for the committee said experienced musicians were involved in the show.
3. About 20 vehicles were jumpstarted by mid-afternoon.
4. Pacific Sound installs home theatres and stereos.
5. "This is really a multi-purpose facility."
1. He served in the Army more than 40 years ago.
AP Stylebook states: army Capitalize when referring to U.S. forces: the U.S. Army, the Army, Army regulations. Do not use the abbreviation USA. Use lowercase for the forces of other nations: the French army. This approach has been adopted for consistency, because many foreign nations do not use army as the proper name.
2. A spokesman/spokeswoman for the committee said experienced musicians were involved in the show.
AP Stylebook states: spokesman, spokeswoman But not spokesperson. Use a representative if you do not know the sex of the individual.
3. About 20 vehicles were jump-started by midafternoon.
AP Stylebook states: mid- No hyphen unless a capitalized word follows: mid-America, midsemester, mid-Atlantic, midterm. But use a hyphen when mid- precedes a figure: mid-30s.
4. Pacific Sound installs home theaters and stereos.
AP Stylebook states: theater Use this spelling unless the proper name is Theatre: Shubert Theatre.
5. "This is really a multipurpose facility."
AP Stylebook states: multi- The rules in prefixes apply, but in general, no hyphen. Some examples: multicolored, multimillion, multilateral, multimillionaire.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
From breast-feeding to halfway houses
Fine the flubs in these sentences that were caught before they made their way into The Forum.
1. She won the award for her tireless efforts promoting breastfeeding.
2. The new headquarters will use 17,000-square-feet in an existing building.
3. Engineering fees are estimated to run about $423,000.
4. He has spent 6-plus months in a half-way house.
5. She was surprised nobody had launched a coop locally.
1. She won the award for her tireless efforts promoting breast-feeding.
AP Stylebook states: breast-feed, breast-feeding, breast-fed
"Estimated" and "to run about" are redundant.
4. He has spent six-plus months in a halfway house.
5. She was surprised nobody had launched a co-op locally.
1. She won the award for her tireless efforts promoting breastfeeding.
2. The new headquarters will use 17,000-square-feet in an existing building.
3. Engineering fees are estimated to run about $423,000.
4. He has spent 6-plus months in a half-way house.
5. She was surprised nobody had launched a coop locally.
1. She won the award for her tireless efforts promoting breast-feeding.
AP Stylebook states: breast-feed, breast-feeding, breast-fed
2. The new headquarters will use 17,000 square feet in an existing building.
3. Engineering fees are estimated to be $423,000."Estimated" and "to run about" are redundant.
4. He has spent six-plus months in a halfway house.
5. She was surprised nobody had launched a co-op locally.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Millions and billions...and other flubs
See if you can find the flubs in these five sentences that were found by copy editors before they appeared in the Forum.
1. Americans should watch for disagreements between Congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration.
2. The intent is to honor the contributions of long-time local leaders in shaping and serving the Chamber, community and region.
3. Another multi-million dollar sports facility appears to be on the horizon for southwest Fargo.
4. A Fargo financial advisor faces new charges after the execution of a search warrant at his business.
5. The United States has the potential to create more than four million jobs in coming decades.
1. Americans should watch for disagreements between congressional Democrats and the Obama administration.
2. The intent is to honor the contributions of longtime local leaders in shaping and serving the chamber, community and region.
3. Another multimillion-dollar sports facility appears to be on the horizon for southwest Fargo.
4. A Fargo financial adviser faces new charges after the execution of a search warrant at his business.
AP Stylebook says: adviser Not advisor.
5. The United States has the potential to create more than 4 million jobs in coming decades.
AP Stylebook says: millions, billions Use figures with million or billion in all except casual uses: I’d like to make a billion dollars. But: The nation has 1 million citizens. I need $7 billion.
Do not go beyond two decimal places. 7.51 million people, $256 billion, 7,542,500 people, $2,565,750,000. Decimals are preferred where practical: 1.5 million. Not: 1 1/2 million.
Do not mix millions and billions in the same figure: 2.6 billion. Not: 2 billion 600 million.
Do not drop the word million or billion in the first figure of a range: He is worth from $2 million to $4 million. Not: $2 to $4 million, unless you really mean $2.
Note that a hyphen is not used to join the figures and the word million or billion, even in this type of phrase: The president submitted a $300 billion budget.
1. Americans should watch for disagreements between Congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration.
2. The intent is to honor the contributions of long-time local leaders in shaping and serving the Chamber, community and region.
3. Another multi-million dollar sports facility appears to be on the horizon for southwest Fargo.
4. A Fargo financial advisor faces new charges after the execution of a search warrant at his business.
5. The United States has the potential to create more than four million jobs in coming decades.
1. Americans should watch for disagreements between congressional Democrats and the Obama administration.
2. The intent is to honor the contributions of longtime local leaders in shaping and serving the chamber, community and region.
3. Another multimillion-dollar sports facility appears to be on the horizon for southwest Fargo.
4. A Fargo financial adviser faces new charges after the execution of a search warrant at his business.
AP Stylebook says: adviser Not advisor.
5. The United States has the potential to create more than 4 million jobs in coming decades.
AP Stylebook says: millions, billions Use figures with million or billion in all except casual uses: I’d like to make a billion dollars. But: The nation has 1 million citizens. I need $7 billion.
Do not go beyond two decimal places. 7.51 million people, $256 billion, 7,542,500 people, $2,565,750,000. Decimals are preferred where practical: 1.5 million. Not: 1 1/2 million.
Do not mix millions and billions in the same figure: 2.6 billion. Not: 2 billion 600 million.
Do not drop the word million or billion in the first figure of a range: He is worth from $2 million to $4 million. Not: $2 to $4 million, unless you really mean $2.
Note that a hyphen is not used to join the figures and the word million or billion, even in this type of phrase: The president submitted a $300 billion budget.
Monday, February 9, 2009
From home schooling to geothermal
Here are five more examples of flubs that were caught by copy editors before they made it into The Forum. See if you can find them.
1. North Dakota home schoolers deal with some of the tougher regulations.
2. Jury selection is underway.
3. The Republican's goal is to become the U.S. Senator from North Dakota.
4. She was a communications supervisor for the Minnesota State Patrol in Rochester, Minn.
5. Geo-thermal is a huge issue now.
1. North Dakota home-schoolers deal with some of the tougher regulations.
AP style is: home schooling, home-schooled, home-schooler.
2. Jury selection is under way.
3. The Republican's goal is to become the U.S. senator from North Dakota.
4. She was a communications supervisor for the Minnesota State Patrol in Rochester.
5. Geothermal is a huge issue now.
1. North Dakota home schoolers deal with some of the tougher regulations.
2. Jury selection is underway.
3. The Republican's goal is to become the U.S. Senator from North Dakota.
4. She was a communications supervisor for the Minnesota State Patrol in Rochester, Minn.
5. Geo-thermal is a huge issue now.
1. North Dakota home-schoolers deal with some of the tougher regulations.
AP style is: home schooling, home-schooled, home-schooler.
2. Jury selection is under way.
3. The Republican's goal is to become the U.S. senator from North Dakota.
4. She was a communications supervisor for the Minnesota State Patrol in Rochester.
5. Geothermal is a huge issue now.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Five sentences for you to dissect
Writing tight is always a good thing, so I'm going to list five instead of 10 examples of style flubs with each post. Don't worry about me doing this because I'm running out of examples. I've got plenty. It means it won't take you as long to go through the examples and I'll be posting more frequently.
See if you can find the flubs in these sentences that were caught before they got into The Forum.
1. The former taxi driver was convicted of strangling two young women to death in 1968.
2. Kraft and his wife Sari are partners in the business with Sari's parents.
3. The human brain is not fully developed until people are between the ages of 18 to 23.
4. She is the new owner of the business at 702 University Drive North.
5. Voters are asked for their Zip Code, and the tool takes them to a list where they'll find their address.
1. The former taxi driver was convicted of strangling two young women in 1968.
The definition of strangle in Webster's New World Dictionary: to kill by squeezing the throat as with the hands, a noose, etc., so as to shut off the breath. It would be redundant to write "strangle to death."
2. Kraft and his wife, Sari, are partners in the business with Sari's parents.
Setting the wife's name off with commas lets reader know for sure that Sari is Kraft's only wife.
3. The human brain is not fully developed until people are between the ages of 18 and 23.
4. She is the new owner of the business at 702 N. University Drive.
5. Voters are asked for their ZIP code, and the tool takes them to a list where they'll find their address.
AP Stylebook says: ZIP code Use all-caps ZIP for Zoning Improvement Plan, but always lowercase the word code. Run the five digits together without a comma, and do not put a comma between the state name and the ZIP code: New York, NY 10020.
See if you can find the flubs in these sentences that were caught before they got into The Forum.
1. The former taxi driver was convicted of strangling two young women to death in 1968.
2. Kraft and his wife Sari are partners in the business with Sari's parents.
3. The human brain is not fully developed until people are between the ages of 18 to 23.
4. She is the new owner of the business at 702 University Drive North.
5. Voters are asked for their Zip Code, and the tool takes them to a list where they'll find their address.
1. The former taxi driver was convicted of strangling two young women in 1968.
The definition of strangle in Webster's New World Dictionary: to kill by squeezing the throat as with the hands, a noose, etc., so as to shut off the breath. It would be redundant to write "strangle to death."
2. Kraft and his wife, Sari, are partners in the business with Sari's parents.
Setting the wife's name off with commas lets reader know for sure that Sari is Kraft's only wife.
3. The human brain is not fully developed until people are between the ages of 18 and 23.
4. She is the new owner of the business at 702 N. University Drive.
5. Voters are asked for their ZIP code, and the tool takes them to a list where they'll find their address.
AP Stylebook says: ZIP code Use all-caps ZIP for Zoning Improvement Plan, but always lowercase the word code. Run the five digits together without a comma, and do not put a comma between the state name and the ZIP code: New York, NY 10020.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
See if you can find the style mistakes
Find the flubs in these sentences that were corrected by copy editors before they made their way into The Forum.
1. The 14-year-old wants to help other New Americans in the area.
2. The Chamber's board of directors made the decision late last week.
3. The student to computer ratio in Weset Fargo is 3:1.
4. When Palin takes the stage tonight, it will be a welcome site for Dueker.
5. Crews will fill the piles with six to nine feet of geofoam.
6. He argued the case should be dismissed because his client's Constitutional rights were violated.
7. More than 400 sixth- through twelfth-graders took their violins, violas and cellos.
8. She abruptly closed her daycare in north Fargo last month.
9. The transmission line will be between 9.5 to 11.5 miles long.
10. It will extend from the wind park to the existing Otter Tail Power Company transmission line southeast of Glyndon, Minn.
1. The 14-year-old wants to help other new Americans in the area.
2. The chamber's board of directors made the decision late last week.
3. The student to computer ratio in Weset Fargo is 3-to-1.
AP Stylebook says: ratios Use figures and hyphens: the ratio was 2-to-1, a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-1 ratio. As illustrated, the word to should be omitted when the numbers precede the word ratio.
4. When Palin takes the stage tonight, it will be a welcome sight for Dueker.
5. Crews will fill the piles with 6 to 9 feet of geofoam.
6. He argued the case should be dismissed because his client's constitutional rights were violated.
AP Stylebook says: Lowercase constitutional in all uses.
7. More than 400 sixth- through 12th-graders took their violins, violas and cellos.
8. She abruptly closed her day care in north Fargo last month.
9. The transmission line will be between 9.5 and 11.5 milies long.
10. It will extend from the wind park to the existing Otter Tail Power Co. transmission line southeast of Glyndon, Minn.
1. The 14-year-old wants to help other New Americans in the area.
2. The Chamber's board of directors made the decision late last week.
3. The student to computer ratio in Weset Fargo is 3:1.
4. When Palin takes the stage tonight, it will be a welcome site for Dueker.
5. Crews will fill the piles with six to nine feet of geofoam.
6. He argued the case should be dismissed because his client's Constitutional rights were violated.
7. More than 400 sixth- through twelfth-graders took their violins, violas and cellos.
8. She abruptly closed her daycare in north Fargo last month.
9. The transmission line will be between 9.5 to 11.5 miles long.
10. It will extend from the wind park to the existing Otter Tail Power Company transmission line southeast of Glyndon, Minn.
1. The 14-year-old wants to help other new Americans in the area.
2. The chamber's board of directors made the decision late last week.
3. The student to computer ratio in Weset Fargo is 3-to-1.
AP Stylebook says: ratios Use figures and hyphens: the ratio was 2-to-1, a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-1 ratio. As illustrated, the word to should be omitted when the numbers precede the word ratio.
4. When Palin takes the stage tonight, it will be a welcome sight for Dueker.
5. Crews will fill the piles with 6 to 9 feet of geofoam.
6. He argued the case should be dismissed because his client's constitutional rights were violated.
AP Stylebook says: Lowercase constitutional in all uses.
7. More than 400 sixth- through 12th-graders took their violins, violas and cellos.
8. She abruptly closed her day care in north Fargo last month.
9. The transmission line will be between 9.5 and 11.5 milies long.
10. It will extend from the wind park to the existing Otter Tail Power Co. transmission line southeast of Glyndon, Minn.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Electing to take a quiz
It's Election Day, so I hope you elect to take this short quiz to see if you can find the flubs in these sentences that were caught by copy editors before they made it into The Forum.
1. There is the anxiety over money and questions of self worth.
2. DuWayne Engness lives at the corner of Sheyenne Street and 40th Ave. S. in West Fargo.
3. Authorities placed vehicles at strategic spots in case the animal decided to move further into town.
4. "I think childcare is part of the infrastructure of our state and our communities."
5. The 14-year-old wants to help other New Americans in the area.
1. There is the anxiety over money and questions of self-worth.
AP Stylebook states: self- Always hyphenate: self-assured, self-government, self-defense.
2. DuWayne Engness lives at the corner of Sheyenne Street and 40th Avenue South in West Fargo.
3. Authorities placed vehicles at strategic spots in case the animal decided to move farther into town.
AP Stylebook states: farther, further Farther refers to physical distance: He walked farther into the woods. Further refers to an extension of time or degree: She will look further into the mystery.
4. "I think child care is part of the infrastructure of our state and our communities."
5. The 14-year-old wants to help other new Americans in the area.
1. There is the anxiety over money and questions of self worth.
2. DuWayne Engness lives at the corner of Sheyenne Street and 40th Ave. S. in West Fargo.
3. Authorities placed vehicles at strategic spots in case the animal decided to move further into town.
4. "I think childcare is part of the infrastructure of our state and our communities."
5. The 14-year-old wants to help other New Americans in the area.
1. There is the anxiety over money and questions of self-worth.
AP Stylebook states: self- Always hyphenate: self-assured, self-government, self-defense.
2. DuWayne Engness lives at the corner of Sheyenne Street and 40th Avenue South in West Fargo.
3. Authorities placed vehicles at strategic spots in case the animal decided to move farther into town.
AP Stylebook states: farther, further Farther refers to physical distance: He walked farther into the woods. Further refers to an extension of time or degree: She will look further into the mystery.
4. "I think child care is part of the infrastructure of our state and our communities."
5. The 14-year-old wants to help other new Americans in the area.
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