Mistakes & Mishaps Archives - Page 4 of 8

FOOLS ABOUT SCHOOLS

January 29, 2014 by Scott Flood

We’ll continue our ongoing series of typos, wrong words, misspellings, and other goofs with a look at three embarrassing mistakes by media professionals who were covering education issues. There’s a particular sense of unease when mistakes creep into education coverage (or, for that matter, when materials created by schools contain mistakes).

Eagle-eyed typo spotter Steve Gutermuth shared one from the Johnson County Daily Journal. The January 19 headline for an online story on local results of Indiana’s school evaluation system read “After grades drop, school puts pencil to pape.” We’ll assume that will improve its grad.

YOU’RE NOT A LAWYER (UNLESS YOU’RE A LAWYER)

December 18, 2013 by Scott Flood

We live in a nation that simultaneously idolizes, fears, and holds contempt for members of the legal profession, depending upon how we and they are situated at any particular moment. One odd side effect of that relationship is a desire to imitate attorneys in an effort to make ourselves appear to be smarter.

You’ll see it when executives try to draft legal-style language or when ad writers try to pen their own small print. You’ll also see it when people borrow elements of contracts, such as that odd habit of spelling out numbers and then showing the numerical value in parentheses, which I notice thirty-one (31) times in the average day.

PURDUE IS NO “ORIDINARY” SCHOOL

December 5, 2013 by Scott Flood

As the parent of a Purdue grad, I just received a letter from the university’s president, Mitch Daniels. Given the time of year, and the fact that Mitch and I are not regular correspondents, I assumed that the enclosure would be a pitch for money. And it was.

But after looking at the envelope, I hope that President Daniels chooses to invest some of the money Purdue will get from other recipients to fund some remedial education. That’s because the headline printed on the envelope noted that this was “no oridinary time” for the university.

OH, THAT SNEAKY SIRIUS-XM FINE PRINT

November 27, 2013 by Scott Flood

When I bought my car, it came with a trial subscription to satellite radio. Neat product, but I don’t drive enough to justify the alternative to my trusty iPod.

As my trial nears the end, I’m getting letters from SiriusXM, letting me know that the trial is ending and offering subscriptions. I remembered the annual cost being around $200, so when the latest letter included the annual option with a price of $159.39, I thought that wasn’t too bad, and considered subscribing.

SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT WITH A PIZZA WHEEL

October 2, 2013 by Scott Flood

Sometimes, companies are so focused on addressing a perceived shortfall or problem that they miss more important messages, or even send the wrong message to their stakeholders.

The newest commercial for Domino’s Pizza floored me because it’s a perfect example. Domino’s has been running a series of spots in which they admit that they haven’t been perfect in the past, but golly, they’re working on getting better. Most of the spots have been okay.

ASSORTED GOOFS & GAFFES

August 28, 2013 by Scott Flood

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.

ACCURACY IN VISUALS MATTERS, TOO

April 24, 2013 by Scott Flood

It’s important for copy to be accurate, but it’s every bit as important for the visuals that accompany the copy to be equally accurate. Visuals either lend credibility to the messages being presented, or they detract from it. That’s especially true when they’re related to some kind of technical message.

I saw proof of this when an ad agency I worked for was preparing a major presentation to a new air cargo company client. One element of the presentation was a paint scheme for the company’s airplanes, and the art director assigned to the task had come up with a beauty. The only problem was that his drawing applied the design to a plane that didn’t exist. He had created the outline of it using a nose from this plane, a tail from that one, engines from a third, and so forth.

THE TAGLINE CONUNDRUM

April 10, 2013 by Scott Flood

I stunned a client recently by telling them that I didn’t think they needed a tagline. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s a brief phrase that is supposed to crystallize what makes your business unique, different, or interesting. It’s similar to a slogan, and the best taglines tend to be on the clever side. Some even use wordplay.

There’s a belief out there that every business must have a tagline, and I’m not sure why. I suspect one of the reasons is the success that Nike had with “Just do it.” On many occasions, companies have asked me to develop taglines that will be just as impactful and memorable as Nike’s. Usually, I’ll politely turn down the work.

GRAMMAR IS WITHOUT RULES

January 30, 2013 by Scott Flood

Did that headline stop you? Of course grammar is full of rules, isn’t it? Your seventh-grade English teacher tried her best to drum all those rules into your head. You remember all that red ink on your brilliant essays.

Hate to burst your bubble, but there is no set of definitive grammar rules. When Moses lugged those tablets back down the mountain, he didn’t carry a copy of the Chicago Manual or the AP Stylebook with him. I wish that had been the case, because it would have been a lot easier on those of us who write for a living.

ARE THEY DEFIANT? DEFINITELY!

January 16, 2013 by Scott Flood

One of the most commonly misspelled words these days — particularly in the social media universe — is definite and its related forms.

Folks who mean to tell you that their agreement is definite will instead write that they are defiant. To demonstrate their agreement with the political stance you’ve expressed in your post, they’ll comment “Defiantly!” And since their trust spellchecker won’t tell them otherwise, they’ll assume they’re correct.