tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post5316768443995079909..comments2024-03-29T06:29:02.182-04:00Comments on You Don't Say: LeafinessJohn McIntyrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-85662611475537016952009-09-22T14:48:16.681-04:002009-09-22T14:48:16.681-04:00You correctly point out the implications with &quo...You correctly point out the implications with "leafy," but what about the other side of the economic spectrum. I see "inner city" in print all the time and it really bothers me. Wouldn't any place inside the city limits be the "inner city"? Of course not. It's a euphemism loaded with racial overtones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-68807192092953171502009-09-18T13:33:52.702-04:002009-09-18T13:33:52.702-04:00Since there have been fewer and fewer copy editors...Since there have been fewer and fewer copy editors at places like, say, The Sun, in the past several months, the editors at the top set the tone and the quality of the copy reflects on them first. (But don't believe it is just happening at The Sun.) I think it is fair to say that the top editor and the seconds-in-command keep people employed who think like they do. All those mistakes are a reflection of them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-22094911744675888402009-09-18T13:06:55.809-04:002009-09-18T13:06:55.809-04:00True. But then what was their excuse when they mad...True. But then what was their excuse when they made the same mistakes 20 years ago?Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04184620339050794043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-77170402346185216622009-09-17T23:04:22.645-04:002009-09-17T23:04:22.645-04:00I think that it is probably a mistake to be dracon...I think that it is probably a mistake to be draconian about mistakes from newspapers' overmatched copy desks. It isn't the copy editors who have determined that errors of fact, grammar, and usage are no longer significant enough to warrant attention.John McIntyrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-57005943885607222762009-09-17T19:29:58.572-04:002009-09-17T19:29:58.572-04:00Oops, "care" should be "cares"...Oops, "care" should be "cares" in that last message.Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04184620339050794043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-73735467115040221312009-09-17T18:33:38.880-04:002009-09-17T18:33:38.880-04:00"Heals." Sheesh. If I were the CCE, I wo..."Heals." Sheesh. If I were the CCE, I would suspend that copy editor and slot for a week without pay. If they did it again, I would consider firing them. The same thing for anyone who confuses lie and lay.<br /><br />Unfortunately, no one but a few dedicated, diehard copy editors care about superior work anymore. The newsroom workers care only about pleasing the boss, and the boss cares only about cutting costs.<br /><br />Thus we are seeing more lose/loose errors, more rein/reign errors, more forward/foreword errors, more its/it's errors ... pathetic and saddening.Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04184620339050794043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-33373672747201256022009-09-16T20:55:22.654-04:002009-09-16T20:55:22.654-04:00Leafy? Glen Arm Road mistaken for Glen Arm, Maryla...Leafy? Glen Arm Road mistaken for Glen Arm, Maryland? That'd be an out-of-towner gaff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-66358278395103819762009-09-16T11:37:21.033-04:002009-09-16T11:37:21.033-04:00Congratulations to your wife for making you the be...Congratulations to your wife for making you the best-laid...traceychennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-827813609627141672009-09-16T11:07:30.566-04:002009-09-16T11:07:30.566-04:00John,
I've been reading your blog for a month ...John,<br />I've been reading your blog for a month and it has become one of my favorites. Thanks.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-76862007228551256512009-09-16T10:28:29.143-04:002009-09-16T10:28:29.143-04:00The "31-mile" figure, I hear from The Su...The "31-mile" figure, I hear from <i>The Sun</i>'s newsroom, refers to the distance from Assateague to Ocean City. Perhaps the article might have better referred to "the state's 31-mile Atlantic coastline," given that Maryland has a lot more coastline than that. <br /><br />It is doubtful that anyone was referring to a map published in <i>The Sun</i> in the late 1980s, which, because someone left off one of the flaps necessary for color reproduction, omitted the Chesapeake Bay.John McIntyrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-47592548502623619392009-09-16T10:24:10.509-04:002009-09-16T10:24:10.509-04:00Re Sun headline: Must be a visual thing.
Current ...Re Sun headline: Must be a visual thing.<br /><br />Current Sun newsroom managers: Heel thyselves.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-52388530899400802512009-09-16T09:42:42.909-04:002009-09-16T09:42:42.909-04:00@John, re: 31-mile coastline
Perhaps that is post...@John, re: 31-mile coastline<br /><br />Perhaps that is post significant global warming? <br /><br />That City Paper headline made my day. You should tape it to the wall in your room.David Hobbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13303290880581288834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-60037003056307708762009-09-16T09:40:59.219-04:002009-09-16T09:40:59.219-04:00The coastline error is an example, John, of the ph...The coastline error is an example, John, of the phenomenon I call "Out-of-Towner-Speak." The local TV newscasters who've just arrived are the most guilty of it, but that might be because we hear them say these things out loud; print journalists are just as liable to err in other areas. Examples: Calling Towson "Toe-son," calling Ellicott City "Elli-kott" instead of rhyming it with "delicate," and dropping the article from the name of our large estuary, "THE Chesapeake Bay." Any other examples jump out at you?Anonymous the Eldernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-58983375513779289302009-09-16T09:07:22.739-04:002009-09-16T09:07:22.739-04:00"Urban" is often used as a code word sim..."Urban" is often used as a code word similar to "gritty." It can also have racial implications. See "urban schools," "urban neighborhoods," "urban residents."Jim Sweeneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-43051310249152601592009-09-16T08:02:37.592-04:002009-09-16T08:02:37.592-04:00Sorry, Faldone! Missed your earlier one....Sorry, Faldone! Missed your earlier one....fevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16044273434866184659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-69409450627672248622009-09-16T08:01:52.125-04:002009-09-16T08:01:52.125-04:00The best-laid off staffers gang aft into public re...The best-laid off staffers gang aft into public relations.fevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16044273434866184659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-16239837376899765422009-09-16T07:11:18.748-04:002009-09-16T07:11:18.748-04:00The Best Laid Off-Sun Staffers gang aft agley.The Best Laid Off-Sun Staffers gang aft agley.Faldonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873736640907864834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-74473813025029356852009-09-16T07:05:20.597-04:002009-09-16T07:05:20.597-04:00Congratulations, John, on being a Best-of-Baltimor...Congratulations, John, on being a Best-of-Baltimore! But we didn't need the City Paper to tell us that. <br /><br />Perhaps the hapless Sun headline-writer meant to say: <b>Vote comes on, heals [the nation] of ACORN scandals</b>.Rolighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14879914140646961301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-41432662151002335882009-09-16T07:03:47.770-04:002009-09-16T07:03:47.770-04:00It's going to be another one of those days. Pi...It's going to be another one of those days. Picking up this morning's <i>Sun</i>, I see in the second paragraph of the lead story on Page One a reference to Maryland's "31-mile coastline."John McIntyrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.com