Mr. Rewrite

Fewer words = more focus on your errors

2009-05-20T07:36:00.024-07:00

This Twitter tweet makes Mr. Rewrite wish there weren't fewer dictionaries being sold these days. Here's the deal on fewer and less: Use fewer when emphasizing individual items -- that is, when dealing with a number that creates a mental image. Use less when talking about bulk quantities (e.g. wheat) or degree. In the case above, you can wrap your mind around the number of people representing

These tweets are damaged goods

2009-05-17T21:38:00.005-07:00

Glad LA's OK. Usage point: Quakes cause damage, not damages. Details: http://tinyurl.com/r9m5sd.Mr. Rewrite noticed quite a bit of carnage while checking tweets from quake-rattled Southland residents. Even the pros have trouble with damage vs. damages, however. One example: caused damages.Mr. Rewrite is all over this Twitter thing. The problem is the 140-character limit cuts you

Diseased spelling

2009-05-15T09:11:00.001-07:00

Garner’s Daily Tip: It’s MEASLES, not MEASLES. Not much media carnage: http://tinyurl.com/r4yvop.

You say matsah, Mr. Rewrite says matzo

2009-05-12T07:31:00.004-07:00

Happy Lag Ba'Omer. In a timely post, Bryan A. Garner (cue angelic chorus) reminds Mr. Rewrite that matzo is a better form than matzoh, matsah, matza, matsa and the like. The Associated Press Stylebook lacks an entry on this topic, but in those cases it defers to the Webster's New World Dictionary, which joins Mr. Garner in preferring matzo. Follow this link for those with editors who didn't get

This is just super ...

2009-01-31T14:20:00.008-07:00

As a rule, Mr. Rewrite takes no side other than standing for proper spelling, grammar and usage. This year's Super Bowl makes that a challenge, however, as Mr. Rewrite's hometown team is in the big game. In the interest of rubbing it in, he will note that he attended both the wild card and NFC championship games. Nyah, nyah.Anyway, Mr. Rewrite checked out the potential Super Bowl misspellings

And now for something completely differant

2009-01-30T16:59:00.008-07:00

Here's a highlight from a Yahoo! slideshow about the Alaska volcano that's about to blow its top. Fortunately, the air soon will be too full of dust for customers to make out the misspelling.Enjoy the handful of Google News articles offering a differant spelling than the dictionary.

Blame Canada?

2009-01-16T08:00:00.005-07:00

It took yesterday's miracle landing and rescue on the Hudson to awaken Mr. Rewrite from his slumber.One too many of those paid to know better referred to the likely culprits as Canadian geese. These geese may well be Canadian, but the formal name, as Mr. Rewrite learned painfully during his years crunching copy, is Canada geese.By Mr. Rewrite's informal tally, the broadcast media are most to

This is EXCELLENT!

2008-11-19T14:16:00.003-07:00

Here's a cake celebrating the 20th anniversary of an HONORS COLLEGE at a major U.S. university. Hey rama!

Oh c'mon, c'mon -- EMANUEL

2008-11-11T20:32:00.007-07:00

The Obama administration is shaping up to be a fun one for Mr. Rewrite. As longtime visitors know, Mr. Rewrite takes no political stands. He just loves identifying widespread media misspellings.Enter Rahm Emanuel. Or, as many in the media call him, Rahm Emmanuel. Or Rahm Emanual. Or Rham Emmanuel. Or Rham Emanuel. Or Rahm Emmanual. Or Rham Emanual. As of Tuesday night, the media, as defined by

Why honor just one veteran this week?

2008-11-09T14:50:00.006-07:00

Mr. Rewrite salutes all veterans this week. Everyone should. So why do so many of those paid to know better celebrate only one? They don't celebrate only one veteran of course. They're just being sloppy with punctuation. For the record, Tuesday is Veterans Day, plural. Mr. Rewrite will rely on the U.S. Department of Veterans (plural) Affairs for the style. The Associated Press goes with Veterans

Wire service 'trys' to write a headline

2008-11-08T09:00:00.007-07:00

Mr. Rewrite has the utmost respect for The Associated Press. And in the interest of full disclosure, he should note that he's counting on a modest pension from the venerable wire service. But he cried into this Cheerios upon seeing the above on BusinessWeek.com and on his iPod Touch via AP's Mobile News Network.Mr. Rewrite knows AP is trying hard, but it needs to pay better attention to its

No they can't -- spell Barack, that is

2008-11-06T06:13:00.006-07:00

The world is embracing the president-elect, and that's good news for Mr. Rewrite. He just loves heaping shame on the media for inattention to proper nouns.Thirty-six hours after Barack Obama clinched, more than 5,000 articles on Google News misspelled his first name as Barak. That obliterates the record set during the right to live/die battle over Terri (not Teri of Terry) Schiavo, who years

I'll have the Dan Quayle Special to go

2008-11-03T00:05:00.001-07:00

On election eve, someone in the cafeteria must think it's November 1988 again. The DQ photos are Mr. Rewrite's additions ...

Chuck Norris approves of Mr. Rewrite's return

2008-10-31T21:09:00.006-07:00

For a panel he's running, Mr. Rewrite put together this delightful video tribute to the non-mainstream media's role in the 2008 campaign. Pass it around. Maybe it will go viral. Or maybe he'll get a cease-and-desist letter. Have fun while it lasts.

Welcome to the race, Sarah (not Sara) Palin!

2008-09-26T14:40:00.008-07:00

Mr. Rewrite has ended his long period of mourning over Hillary Clinton's slide down the Most Misspelled Names in the News rankings.The cure: Sarah Palin.The media, at least the media as defined by Google News, are managing Palin's first name about as well as a lactose intolerant handles a Peanut Buster Parfait at the DQ. Hundreds of articles -- 608 as of Friday afternoon -- misspell her first

Mr. Rewrite's production mirrors financial markets

2008-09-23T09:31:00.012-07:00

Wow. Has it really been a month since Mr. Rewrite last posted? This teaching thing is working out to be an extinction-level event for the blog, much as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, etc., etc., have created an extinction-level event for Mr. Rewrite's 401k. On a positive note, Mr. Rewrite has picked out a lovely spot beneath a bridge to pitch a tent if things continue apace. And he's more committed

At least it wasn't a $1,000 toilet seat

2008-08-20T20:52:00.005-07:00

As Mr. Rewrite will remind his students in a few days, always check proper nouns. Too bad folks at the Pentagon didn't follow Mr. Rewrite's rule. According to The Freelance-Star of Fredericksburg, Va., those charged with defending our freedom commissioned a soon-to-be-unveiled monument that misspells the name of Shanksville, Pa.Chiseled into granite:"On September 11, 2001, acts of terrorism took

Mr. Rewrite never tows the line

2008-08-16T13:53:00.007-07:00

Sorry, gang. Mr. Rewrite pretty much forgot about the blog for a couple of weeks, mostly thanks to a misguided decision to judge a newspaper contest that was -- and still is -- much larger than he'd imagined. Great journalism, but his eyes and brain have glazed.Anyway, he'll ease back into blogging (he'll get to you, TF in TX and RW) by noting his amusement at seeing an article referring to

An Olympic tip: Hurtle toward the hurdles

2008-08-04T08:13:00.003-07:00

Thomas L. Friedman had Mr. Rewrite until the closing sentence of Sunday's column:The climate is always changing, sometimes very abruptly, so the last thing that mankind should be doing is adding its own forcing actions — like pumping unprecedented amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Because you never know — you never know — what will tip the balance and send us hurdling into another

Mr. Rewrite's plea: Don't be a blockhead

2008-08-02T01:11:00.002-07:00

A guest columnist tells Mr. Rewrite that the conservative block in the state Legislature went to great lengths to do something the writer considers an injustice.This writer should block out some time with a dictionary. Block has quite a few definitions, but not one fits here.The writer should have used bloc, which applies to coalitions of people, groups or nations seeking the same goal. The

Don't you bring that gloomy attitude here

2008-08-02T00:43:00.002-07:00

Mr. Rewrite just posted this at Signs Gone Wrong.He's puzzled for months over this sign at his grocery store. He assumes it meant to say mopeds. Otherwise, Mr. Rewrite might be risking arrest because he's moped around there plenty.

At worst, this is very embarrassing

2008-08-01T01:26:00.002-07:00

There are worse mistakes, but this clunker had Mr. Rewrite crying in his Cheerios. "At worse," an editorial told him, a public official would receive a written reprimand for an alleged ethics violation.The idiom, of course, is at worst.Mr. Rewrite's dictionary of idioms says at worst or at the worst mean under the worst possible conditions or in the least favorable view.He thought this was an

Oh what a tangled web ...

2008-07-29T02:17:00.005-07:00

An article says Mr. Rewrite's hometown has set up a website to help homeowners facing foreclosure.This is a tangled subject, but perhaps it would help for Mr. Rewrite to wade in on web vs. Web.First, the easy call: That online realm where Mr. Rewrite spends too much time is the World Wide Web or Web, capital W with both. All of Mr. Rewrite's usage guides say this. While you're at it, capitalize

Here's a capital idea from Mr. Rewrite

2008-07-27T15:20:00.012-07:00

Sorry to go away for so long. Learning Flash and Final Cut Express at Mr. Rewrite's advanced age has proven extremely taxing, and feeding content to his infernal spin-off blogs is more work than he'd expected. Anyway, today's post is an excuse to create another animated GIF. Here's the lesson: The Arizona State Capitol is located in the state capital of Phoenix.Capitol applies to the building

Specific reasons to avoid various and some

2008-07-24T00:14:00.010-07:00

A cry for help! More important, a reader! These are the things that make blogging worthwhile ...Hi, Mr. Rewrite.I have a question that seems to be a perfect topic for you. What do you think about the word various in news reports (or anywhere)? It seems to me that, while not exactly redundant, it never adds any information.She had various concerns about usage.She had concerns about usage.A