ASSORTED GOOFS & GAFFES

Time to take another look at public misuses of language. I won’t poke fun at private examples, but media, businesses, and others whose words are crafted for the public are fair game.

We’ll start with the Indianapolis Star, which is a constant source of typographical errors (especially online). Few are as amusing as the one that crept into a June essay about the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. A caption spotlighting a particular hound referred to it as a “pure bread” dog. Not sure whether that was a reference to diet or muscle structure.

In late July, Fox 59 news in Indianapolis aired a story about prostitution, but the graphics behind the talking head referred to something called “prostituion.”

While driving through a quaint southern Indiana town, I happened to pass a small fried chicken restaurant that was advertising a special price on a 5-piece order of “bone chicken.” I’m hoping that was their attempt to distinguish the special from an order of boneless chicken, but I’ve never heard of a “bone chicken.”

And finally, while perusing the menu of a nice restaurant, I saw that one of the side dishes I could order was “backed potato.” I find those so much more satisfying than those wimpy spineless spuds.