The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ($INX) and the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) fell as much as 4% before losses were trimmed to around 3%. Stocks in Asian and Europe also slumped.

Correct me if I’m wrong (no really, I want you to), but “Asian” is an adjective just like the words “European” and “American” would be. “Europe” in the second sentence, on the other hand, is a proper noun. It would appear that “Asian” was meant to be “Asia”, also a proper noun.


There are two ways this sentence could be corrected:

Stocks in Asia and Europe also slumped.

Or:

Asian and European stocks also slumped.

Neither sentence is necessarily better or worse than the other, but unlike the published sentence, both of these are grammatically correct.


Hey, it ain’t bragging if it’s true! (At least that’s what my teammates said about this.)


You could say that the writer should have known better or that the proofreader should have caught it, but the truth is, shit happens.


Sometimes you can stop it and sometimes you just have to suck up your mistakes and keep on keepin’ on.


Luckily we can all sleep sounder tonight knowing there’s people like me on the front lines of the Grammar Wars.

Much thanks to the BBC for bringing us this important news, but may I offer a soft critique? Hire another proofreader. The few that you have missed some key things in this article.

The three things that I found were the placement of abbreviations, lack of consistency in comma usage and simple grammar. I’ll outline the errors in that order.

The International Monetary Fund is mentioned twice before the abbreviation, IMF, is given. It is common practice in any kind of writing, whether it be thesis, book or online news article, to give the abbreviation immediately after the term first occurs so the writer can then use the abbreviation throughout the rest of the article instead of having to retype the entire term (this might be more important in print media as space per article is very limited).

There are two instances when the author of this article could have used a serial comma (placing a comma after every item in a list) or not. The author used a serial comma the first time, but not the second. Using one over the other is not necessarily right or wrong, but having a lack of consistency in your usage is definitely not professional. Serial comma usage:

The measures include rises in sales taxes, a cut in holiday bonuses paid to civil servants, and a pensions freeze.

No serial comma usage:

Rises in taxes on fuel, cigarettes and alcohol

The last item I noted was a simple grammatical blip; a matter of the word “a” versus the word “an”. In the following case, “An” would be the correct word to use.

A increase in sales tax from 19% to 21%

Good luck to the Greeks in sorting out what is both best for the people and for the future of the country.

True to form, I found an error in this copy. It’s not a typo this time but a matter of a comma that could have been employed to make this sentence read a little easier.

Attorneys for both the 32-year-old St. Paul man as well as the victims’ families say they’re encouraged by the evidence that the problems went beyond models that originally were recalled.

I would have added a comma after “families” like this:

Attorneys for both the 32-year-old St. Paul man as well as the victims’ families, say they’re encouraged by the evidence that the problems went beyond models that originally were recalled.

That’s all.

Much had been made about of Plushenko’s transition scores, the mark given for the steps connecting the elements, as well as his other component scores — think the old artistic marks.

Had much been made “about Plushenko’s transition scores” or “of Plushenko’s transition scores”? You’ve got to choose one or the other…unless of course you don’t want to have a perfect sentence. Your choice.

In the last year alone saw her home go into foreclosure and watched a number of legal proceedings against her and her business wend their way through Idaho’s courts.

You can get the meaning of this sentence as it is, but it could read a lot smoother. Try this instead:
“The last year alone saw her home go into foreclosure…” Or: “In the last year alone, she saw her home go into foreclosure and watched a number of legal proceedings…”

You get the idea. It seems that the author of this piece had two sentences in her head at the same time and attempted (unsuccessfully) to combine them. You can read the article here.

As a copywriter and editor, it’s my job to find all manner or grammatical errors and smite them wherever they be. What makes my job a lot easier is if there are none to begin with. Such occurrences are worthy of praise. Kudos to you AP. Nicely done!

Simply eliminating this insidious substnace from your diet, may help you achieve lifelong vibrant health.

I love that alliterative phrase, “insidious substance”. The misspelling of substance I could do without though.

To learn more about my body, I recently underwent an elimination diet wherein gluten was eliminated for about three weeks. On the day that I reintroduced it, I found that I had to pee urgently and often. I suppose that means I have a mild-severe reaction to gluten. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Last month, an Argentinean court narrowly blocked what would been the continent’s first gay marriage.

The word “have”. It should be between “would” and “been”. What can I say? It’s a gift. Read the pithy article here.