Prepositional Hypotension

"He couldn't remember the last time he had cried. He hadn't even cried on his mother's deathbed."

-- Preston & Child, Gideon's Corpse

Why/how was he on his mother's deathbed? You can only be ON your own deathbed - you are AT someone else's.

Whe're soo hapy too cee yu!

Why do professionals still allow this nonsense on their websites? This was the response I got after signing up for a 2-hour course on website-building (since I'm clearly not using my domain name); problems with "wohoo", "your" (1st reference) and "put".

Seriously. People. If your material looks like it was written by a dyslexic kindergartener, anyone reading it automatically winces at it and is less likely to use your services.

Stop it.

Copy Editing Is Crucial

Dear DailyMail.co.uk [but take note, other media outlets]

Copy editing is seen by many media organisations as a low-ranking and slightly demeaning position, and I'd really like it to be taken more seriously.

For example, the attached screenshot. Initially I had NO idea what word you were aiming for here, but does "clammed" mean "slammed"? Unless your copy editors are non-English-speakers - and at times I believe they must be - there's simply no excuse for this to get past the keeper.

Poxy HTML code

If anyone knows how to fix this issue with the apostrophes, please get in touch. New Blogger app not doing so hot, may have to go back to BlogPress.

Apostrophe's 'Should Not Be U'sed In Front Of Every 'S

Ack. All I can see is the awful randomly placed apostrophe; "words", plural, should not have one.

See The Oatmeal's excellent summary of the rules of usage.

Y'all

Why is it that the same people who invented the word "y'all", being short for "you all", insist on spelling it "ya'll", being short for...?

Reporting typos to the US government...

...makes me feel like I should be doing it from an encrypted disposable mobile or something.

Anyway, I sent this email to ICE:

Re the page, "Do I need to apply for ESTA?", the last paragraph starts with, "Is it important" (query), when I believe it should say, "It is important" (instruction).

"Note: Is it important to PRINT a copy of the document for your records. The printout is not required upon arrival into the United States, as the officers have the information electronically. Some airlines require the printout upon check-in, please check with your respective airline."