KUEditing - It's all about thinking

July 18, 2015 dbward

Sure enough, the ad says ‘dong kennel’

I’ll handle this typo delicately. No, wait. “Handle” probably isn’t a good verb to use under the circumstances. What I mean is that I’ll use a light touch when …

July 8, 2015 dbward

New campus building comes straight from ‘Star Wars’

Every time I walk by the construction site for the new School of Business building at KU, I get the feeling I’ve seen this structure somewhere before. Sometimes, I think

April 5, 2015 dbward

Specious vs. spacious and the case of the plausible rooms

The world of real estate often requires a guidebook to make sense of its vocabulary. For instance, a “fixer-upper” means a house you’ll spend the rest of your life repairing.

November 15, 2014 dbward

Heading to the southwest Midwest by way of confusion

An Associated Press story this week contained the odd description “southwestern Midwest.” I say “odd” because the Midwest itself lacks a firm description. In an unscientific poll in the spring,

October 13, 2014 dbward

When this happens, about all you can do is flush

Poor Denise. Poor dependable, compassionate, positive, respectful Denise. She agreed to have her picture appear in this ad. She was such a good sport. Someone who wasn’t as dependable handled

July 3, 2014 dbward

Sow vs. sew and the case of the explosive underwear

A story in today’s Times contains this bit of curious phrasing. As I read, I imagined this misguided chap bent over in an airport restroom in Amsterdam, his drawers at

June 24, 2014 dbward

An incumbent recumbent, riding toward re-election

Elections often draw unusual write-in candidates. Strike that. Elections always draw unusual candidates, but the write-ins are sometimes the most unusual. Strike that again. Elections always draw unusual candidates, but

March 24, 2014 dbward

In Vegas, anything goes – except kissing behind the hotels

I took a wrong turn in Las Vegas last week (go ahead and laugh if you must) and ended up in this scenic locale between two casinos. I stopped and

March 5, 2014 dbward

Watch those chicken cliches. The piper is back with a reset button.

Sen. John McCain plunged into the ugly world of mixed metaphorical clichés this week as he ranted about Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. Speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday,

February 13, 2014 dbward

I may be infected, but I’m still not clicking

A website I visited this morning served up this gem of an ad. The poor guy in the pictures looks like he has rabies, though he may have just eaten

January 30, 2014 dbward

Next time you wash your hair, grab this bottle of lice

This ad from the Sunday coupons wasn’t aimed at me. I know that for two reasons: I’ve never worn a white tux. I’m not a fan of lice. It did

January 2, 2014 dbward

A philosophy of writing (and life) for the new year

Lisa McLendon and I created this little gem after classes ended in December. It’s a philosophy of life for writers and editors, but also just a philosophy of life. We

December 5, 2013 dbward

64,700 holiday clichés later …

This started out as a snarky little post about holiday clichés. My local newspaper published the “’Tis the season” headline below this week, making me sigh as I read. Really?

October 31, 2013 dbward

No fish were killed in the making of this jacket. I promise.

I’ve never thought of caviar and wool in the same category, at least until I saw this ad in The New York Times. Even after seeing the ad, I’m not

October 8, 2013 dbward

Rock-paper-scissors and caption writing at the NYT

The basic rules of caption writing are pretty straightforward: 1. Tell readers who is in a picture and what they are doing. 2. Provide a bit of context that draws

September 27, 2013 dbward

For sale: Something new and cheap, but don’t ask what it is

It’s easy to get so caught up in the minutiae of writing and editing that you miss something that should have slapped you in the face. Spelling? Check. Grammar? Check.

September 15, 2013 dbward

Put a bag over your head and sleep away your troubles. Wait. What?

One usually doesn’t put a bag over one’s head in polite company. There are exceptions. If you were a fan of the dreadful Aints of New Orleans, you wore a

September 10, 2013 dbward

Another year, another redundancy

In a fit of redundancy, CVS announced this week that it was celebrating its “50-Year Anniversary.” Actually, the ad in which it made the announcement didn’t use the hyphen, but

September 6, 2013 dbward

A quixotic search for the Toynbee tiles of Philadelphia

My son Isaac was the first to spot one. e burst with excitement as he told his brother Ethan and me about seeing a Toynbee tile on a street not

September 4, 2013 dbward

Answer: Leave out in headlines

OK, so maybe leaving out words in headlines won’t motivate all students to learn, though it does motivate at least some of them. I’ve certainly found that true when I

August 30, 2013 dbward

Say what you mean, but learn to verb the web

The school year started this week with the usual rush of frenetic energy and confusion. That set the stage perfectly for some of the things I was reading and hearing.

August 21, 2013 dbward

Horde vs. hoard and the fading of a grammatical fantasy

I once hoped that the A&E series Hoarders would help people use hoard and horde correctly. That was a fantasy, perhaps, but I thought that seeing the name of the

August 18, 2013 dbward

When ‘gad’ is involved, an extra space makes a difference

As the web has seeped into everyday consciousness, run-together words have become a sign of modernity. Take TechCrunch, TinEye, LiveHive, TagMyDoc and TileMill just to name a few. I’ve grown

August 6, 2013 dbward

Confirmation bias sweeps in with a bad Cockney accent

A line from the book “Midnight Riot” brought a chuckle as I listened while on a walk. The book, by Ben Aaronovitch, follows the exploits of a young London copper

July 23, 2013 dbward

Help! The web ads are eating my brain!

I’m feeling assaulted by ads on web pages today. I know of only one option: fight back. So here goes.

June 20, 2013 dbward

Next time the escalator stops, think genericide

The term “genericide” popped out from a story I read this week about trademark protection. It’s an odd, specialized word, and yet it fits its meaning perfectly. As Andrew Torrance

June 16, 2013 dbward

A hackneyed metaphor flies out of bounds

Good metaphors focus attention on important aspects of a topic, improve understanding and allow readers to see a subject in a new light. Bad metaphors, on the other hand, cheapen

June 12, 2013 dbward

Can the Navy survive without its caps?

Deciding that a shift key isn’t such a bad thing after all, the U.S. Navy has decided it will no longer require official communications solely in capital letters, the Wall

June 2, 2013 dbward

When a blog isn’t a blog, and how I got burned by assumptions

Just when I thought I knew what a word meant, I find myself lost in confusion. Or maybe at the turn of the century.

May 23, 2013 dbward

Dear Yahoo: If you’d like us to read, clear away the clutter

I don’t usually follow news on Yahoo. In the early days of the web, I used Yahoo as my home page, appreciating the ability to aggregate information. I grew weary

May 15, 2013 dbward

An editor’s advice for graduates, 2013

Every so often, the dean asks faculty members to pass along words of advice for graduates (and for anyone else who cares to listen). I did that last in 2010. If you are graduating this year and don’t want to spoil the excitement at Saturday’s ceremony, stop here. Otherwise …

April 28, 2013 dbward

A misused word that brings out the Tolkien in me

If you see a big guy with wild eyes and wild hair running down a street near you screaming, “It’s a lectern, not a podium! It’s a lectern, not a

April 15, 2013 dbward

An ad with three — that’s right, three! — lessons in one

From the world of online deals comes this marvel: the world’s smallest iPad case. That’s right, folks. This case is so small that it shrinks your iPad to the size

April 1, 2013 dbward

Legislature votes to ban words ‘moderate’ and ‘education’

TOPEKA – In a move expected to reverberate across the United States, the Kansas House voted today to ban the words “moderate,” “tax” and “education” from any dictionary sold in

March 15, 2013 dbward

Commas have power. Use them, and use them wisely.

A few years ago, Robert Samuelson lamented the declining use of the comma, suggesting that its abandonment was a metaphor for the impatience of modern life. He’s right, I think,

March 8, 2013 dbward

A question that brings tears to a journalist

I spent the morning judging entries for a high school journalism competition. Many were quite good, showing clear thinking, maturity and solid language skills. I always come away impressed. And

February 24, 2013 dbward

Why is the Style section mooning me? Or, a lesson in context

I stared hazily at the folded newspaper lying atop the dining room table. Right there, next to the Chex and the napkins, the New York Times Style section was mooning

February 22, 2013 dbward

Wonder and disappointment at the end of the driveway

Somehow, my New York Times arrived in the driveway this morning. I had to dig my way through more than a foot of snow to reach it, but there it

January 3, 2013 dbward

Yes, context does count, in pictures and in words

Let’s consider the importance of context. Context allows us to put things into perspective. It helps us delve beneath the surface and understand deeper meanings. In life, context nourishes spirituality.

December 18, 2012 dbward

A juxtaposition that speaks louder than the end of the world

Flipboard offered this combination last night, by way of The Guardian. Sure enough, that’s Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, masquerading as Warren Buffett, the American billionaire investor. I’m

December 5, 2012 dbward

Factual, yes. Helpful, no. Confusing, definitely.

Done right, context elevates understanding. Done wrong, it distorts or confuses. Place the example above in the confusion pile. It’s from an AP story about two winners of the $587.5

November 19, 2012 dbward

How to tell 1903 from 1930

News organizations do their audiences a favor when they write about history. We all need to understand where we’ve been and how we arrived at the present. Small newspapers, especially,

November 16, 2012 dbward

Affect, effect and the peril of snakebites

Homophones slither through writing like hungry snakes, striking hard and fast when disturbed and leaving a painful mark behind. Affect and effect are among the slipperiest homophones. Much of the

November 5, 2012 dbward

Meet the mind-reading search engine version of Autocorrect

Search engines create the illusion that they can read our minds. Their algorithms have been created to compare the words we type to popular terms, and to suggest alternatives. Did

September 14, 2012 dbward

Keeping jalopies alive in word and spirit

The word “jalopies” puzzled my students this week. I had used it in an example about web design. If an organization promotes spaceships and moonbeams, I said, you don’t want

September 3, 2012 dbward

Watch your spelling. You never know who might notice.

Spellcheck walks into a bar. “Whaddaya have?” asks the barkeep. Spellcheck looks at the sign above the bar. “I guess I’ll have a sandwhich,” Spellcheck says. “A what?” asks the

August 19, 2012 dbward

Do yourself a favor: Learn to edit your own work

I sometimes wonder whether people bother to look – really look – at the things they put online. If they did, surely they’d see “Is the students learning?” and realize

July 27, 2012 dbward

Don’t walk on the sidewalk, and other messages from hell

This sign appeared like a mirage above the sweltering sidewalks of Chicago the other day. Trudging along South Canal Street, I stopped and pointed the sign out to my son.

July 10, 2012 dbward

A lesson about ‘refute’ from the NYT crossword puzzle

Lessons often come from unexpected places. Yesterday, it was the New York Times crossword puzzle. Clues for the crossword often push the boundaries of obscurity (that’s what makes the puzzles

July 9, 2012 dbward

Laying down the principles of ‘lay’ and ‘lie’

Two Associated Press leads from Sunday’s newspaper sent up a signal flare. They reminded me that it was time to talk again about “lay” and “lie,” if only to remind

July 8, 2012 dbward

The sky is falling! No, wait. That’s not until tomorrow.

You have to love unexpected jolts of unintended meaning. There you are, sitting in a hotel room, surfing the channels, and the finger on the remote freezes. Your eyes open

June 13, 2012 dbward

More language lessons from the App Store

Once again it’s time for Language Lessons from the App Store, a periodic feature that helps you see that writing code is not the same as writing sentences. Let’s start

June 8, 2012 dbward

How ‘ongoing’ creates an ongoing redundancy

Police officials toss out “ongoing” with a reverence usually reserved for words that actually mean something. I have no problem with the word in principle. After you’ve heard “ongoing investigation”

May 26, 2012 dbward

Peonies, Decoration Day, and the rituals of small-town life

FAIRBURY, Neb. – The peonies bloomed early this year. A mild winter and an early spring coaxed up their long stems in late March, and by mid-April, tight green buds

April 20, 2012 dbward

This singer didn’t die. He just capitulated.

To the bulging files of unnecessary haste winning out over thoughtful editing, I add this.

April 18, 2012 dbward

A 50-year tug of war over ‘hopefully’ ends with a shrug

“Hopefully” entered the realm of acceptability last week, receiving the blessing of The Associated Press Stylebook. The stylebook’s editors announced at the national convention of the American Copy Editors Society

March 30, 2012 dbward

Where the classifieds leave off, the aliens take over

You just never know what you are going to find in the classified ads. This week, it was a company looking for drivers, especially “women/others.” My mind started conjuring images

February 17, 2012 dbward

How to gain followers and influence zombies (it’s all in the headline)

Visitors to this site know that I’m prone to irreverence. That’s my approach to teaching, as well. As a teacher, a writer and an editor, I’ve found that irreverence can

February 8, 2012 dbward

How bad phrasing creates a perpetual student

This morning’s paper brought news of a new scholarship at my university. It’s a “four-year renewable scholarship.” Yep. That’s what it said: a “four-year renewable scholarship.” After pondering that possibility,

January 21, 2012 dbward

Headline turns an Etta James song into a kick in the teeth

This was not the way to say goodbye to Etta James. “At Last,” of course, is the title of one of James’ most famous songs. By using it this way,

January 19, 2012 dbward

Teddy Roosevelt channels his inner Bob Dole

Teddy Roosevelt, the president of bully pulpit fame, initially drafted part of his autobiography in the third person. History provides no record of whether he spoke of the Rock Chalk

January 15, 2012 dbward

Lewis and Clark go in search of a dictionary

In the world of misspelled explorers, Louis and Clark must surely rank alongside the likes of Christopher Colombus, Admiral Richard Bird and Sir Edmond Hillary Clinton. Mike Reilley, who curates

January 12, 2012 dbward

The genuine, the authentic and the redundant

Let’s consider the possibilities of this product. It’s genuine, which means it’s authentic. It’s authentic, which means it’s genuine. I assume it’s real, too, so that would make it real

January 5, 2012 dbward

Q&A: Is a family a ‘who’ or a ‘that’?

Jill writes: We got into a debate the other day about whether a family is a “who” or a “that.” I said “who” because it is made up of people.

January 3, 2012 dbward

Read before discarding: A new motto for politics?

I know nothing about Larry Marvin or his Senate campaign in Nebraska. In this ad, he seems earnest enough. What caught my eye, though, was not his qualifications but the line at the top of his ad: “Read Before Discarding.” …

January 1, 2012 dbward

Beware of zombies and 6 other headline tips for 2012

Let’s start the new year with some suggestions for better headlines. I’ve included examples because I know how you love examples. …

December 2, 2011 dbward

Think graphics, yes, but think storytelling first

Chikodi Chima’s excellent article on infographics raises an important warning. The article, called “How infographics jumped the shark,” argues that graphics are incredibly useful tools to cut through the glut

November 27, 2011 dbward

On Black Friday, did anybody really know what time it was?

Forgive me for avoiding the post-Thanksgiving shopping bacchanalia. I don’t like crowds, and I certainly don’t like battling demon-eyed hordes for the right to save $50 on an Olympus-size television

November 13, 2011 dbward

Colgate’s new box promises whiter teeth, worser grammar

Marketers make their share of errors, but they usually don’t trip over their own tubes of toothpaste. Consider this from Colgate, though: With regular use, it removes stains that ordinary

October 26, 2011 dbward

145 words later, a sentence begs to be edited

This is a cautionary tale about the importance of editing. It starts, though, with a monologue about a famed writer named Garrison Keillor, who spins tales about a little town

October 25, 2011 dbward

Rogue headline kills 1 million homeowners; editors groan

USA Today began the morning with this story of murder and mayhem among homeowners. Whether those homeowners voluntarily got shot wasn’t immediately clear. One report suggested they were simply in

October 18, 2011 dbward

Say what you mean: NYT headline shows the danger of wordplay

Journalists can’t afford to be misunderstood. Their motto mirrors that of Horton the elephant from the Dr. Seuss stories: “I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”

October 14, 2011 dbward

The visual complexities behind a tribute to Steve Jobs

This reinterpretation of the Apple logo, with its visual tribute to Steve Jobs, deserves a closer look. It’s an image by 19-year-old Jonathan Mak, and it spread quickly online last week

October 11, 2011 dbward

Spelling advice: Use I, not E, unless you really mean Lent

I’ve never thought of laundry as a religious experience. The closest I ever came was years ago when I stuck a fiberglass cloth in with a load of underwear. For

October 3, 2011 dbward

In memory of Drew Anderson, 1989-2011

Drew Anderson loved editing. He loved the way words fit together, the way the right headline could sell a story. He loved to troubleshoot problems in the newsroom, to work

September 16, 2011 dbward

What is the future of news?

The Shorenstein Center at Harvard recently challenged people to submit short videos that ponder the future of news. This is my submission. In the video, I suggest that journalists use

September 3, 2011 dbward

Haste subtracts two days from 9/11. Right, 99?

You know about 9/11, right? Good. Let’s do the math: This year is 2011, and it is September. So the anniversary of 9/11 must be on Sept. 9. Hurry. Put

August 28, 2011 dbward

Do you know this man? If so, hunch over and bellow.

When I saw this guy in a Walmart ad this morning, I knew he looked familiar. Somehow, I just couldn’t place him, though. I thought so hard that my brain

August 26, 2011 dbward

Charges cleared in laptop case: A one-act play

Characters The judge: A high-strung man wearing a black robe The bailiff/electrician: A vacant-looking man wearing a hard hat and rubber gloves, and clutching a pair of yellow-handled wire cutters

August 21, 2011 dbward

Why it’s important to read your own publication

Prepare yourself: It’s double-up week. Prepare yourself: It’s double-up week. In this morning’s New York Times, the Style section declared, “The Night Is Young.” Not to be outdone, Sunday Business

August 14, 2011 dbward

Thanks to the classifieds, I’ve learned to print sandwiches

Commas appear so easily and seem so innocent that it’s easy to read right past them. That’s apparently how the “All-in-one computer printer, sandwich maker” was born.

July 31, 2011 dbward

100-year picnics, concrete vibrators and other amazing feats of something

As this hot, humorless month draws to a close, I feel compelled to add some levity to life with an assortment of recent bumbles and double-entendre.

July 18, 2011 dbward

Death by dangulation, or why syntax matters

This bizarre sentence assaulted me in a music app over the weekend.

It’s a good reminder that a dangling modifier is just as lethal at the end of a sentence as at the beginning.

July 14, 2011 dbward

How to look drunk in print (it’s all in the spelling)

Looking drunk in print is easier than you think. First, misspell “sobriety” in a headline for a story about a drunken joyride. Print that headline on a page with

July 11, 2011 dbward

Anti- vs. ante-, or what Doctor Who can teach us about usage

“Anti-room” is hardly what the author of this audiobook had in mind. It reminds me of something from “Doctor Who” but really involves a confusion of prefixes.

July 3, 2011 dbward

Death, life and the Oxford comma (or not)

Let’s talk for a few minutes about overreaction. Earlier in the week, the book industry site GalleyCat reported that the Oxford University public relations department had urged writers to

June 17, 2011 dbward

Ordinance vs. ordnance, fact vs. fiction

How do you tell a real military base from a fictional one? Try checking the spelling. I pulled these screenshots from an old episode of NCIS I was watching the

June 9, 2011 dbward

Obiter Dicta becomes KUEditing.com

Although I liked the name Obiter Dicta, many people (understandably) found it obscure. The name kuediting.com is easier to understand and easier to remember. It also reflects the broader scope

June 8, 2011 dbward

How to turn a squirrel into a Web celebrity

I stumbled across this squirrel a few days ago on the website of a Washington television station. Poor critter. It was blamed for blacking out parts of Bethesda, Md.

June 3, 2011 dbward

Disinterested vs. uninterested and the blurred lines of neutrality

“Disinterested” and “uninterested” have swapped meanings through the centuries. Most of us who pay close attention to language today see a clear distinction, though: “Disinterested” means impartial or unbiased. “Uninterested”

May 27, 2011 dbward

Believe what you read? It might just cost you

I can’t resist poking fun at signs like this. The absurdity speaks for itself. Nonetheless, when I run across this type of tag, I can never tell whether the store

May 26, 2011 dbward

How the Borg took over my yard, and why I refuse to be assimilated

My yard speaks to me. As I tramp atop the tangles of dandelions, the clumps of weeds, the patches of brown earth and even the occasional spread of grass, I

May 15, 2011 dbward

Accept vs. except and the addling of fast-talking ads

It has been an exceptional week for those of us who own dictionaries. For people placing classified ads and putting signs in store windows, it has apparently been an “acceptional”

May 10, 2011 dbward

A headline headline that makes its point twice twice

File this one under “redundancies.” You whip up some French toast and explain that it’s easy to take on the go. That is, it travels well. But “travel on the

May 7, 2011 dbward

Lode vs. load, and why you and your mother should care

The term “motherload” performed a pratfall across the classified ads this week and landed in my neighborhood with a thud. I tried to laugh. Instead, I scratched my head and

April 27, 2011 dbward

Next time you flaunt me in an ad, please change my diaper first

The grocery inserts in this morning’s newspaper included this picture of a baby’s butt. I had no problem with that. The ad promotes diapers, after all. I wasn’t sure about

April 20, 2011 dbward

How do you undress a fish? With a ‘p,’ of course

A few more typos like this and I’ll begin to think the Times has gone kinky on me. Somehow this makes me hungry for Phish.

April 18, 2011 dbward

The weak in review: Typos, solar-powered birds and the American mind

It’s spring, and a grizzled editor’s fancy turns to thoughts of the bizarre. (If you were expecting love, try Tennyson, who looks far more grizzled than I.)

April 8, 2011 dbward

When what we say distracts from what we mean

From the recycling, a message about why we all need good editors.

April 1, 2011 dbward

English becomes the official second language of English speakers

This could only happen on April 1.

March 29, 2011 dbward

Waiter, there’s sand in my desert

An editor walks into a restaurant in an oasis, famished after a long trek. He stuffs himself with pepperoni rolls, the daily coupon special. The waiter asks whether he would

March 23, 2011 dbward

You want respect? Get the punctuation right first.

The next time your job gets you down, think of poor Jaymes Butler. Last week, The Wall Street Journal identified Mr. Butler as the Rodney Dangerfield of union officials.

March 23, 2011 dbward

40+ Sites for Adding Visual Elements to Stories

A handout from my workshop at the 2011 national conference of the American Copy Editors Society. In Downloads.

February 26, 2011 dbward

Going ballistic: The danger of hastily truncated words

This ad conjured up a vivid image in my mind: A motley collection of citizens squishes awkwardly into child-size desks in a brightly lit classroom. All of them fidget with

February 22, 2011 dbward

An apostrophe (or not) that keeps people guessing

On this day after the holiday when the United States celebrates its most distinguished presidents, let’s consider an important matter of punctuation. What’s that you say? You didn’t celebrate a

February 13, 2011 dbward

Repelling from the rafters? A comic proves truly comical

You expect entertainment from the comics. Today’s “Girls & Sports” offered some unexpected entertainment, though – in the form of a malapropism. It got me thinking about what someone who

February 5, 2011 dbward

Those other Super Bowl ads, and their invisible language

How many ways can you not say “Super Bowl”? Odd as that sounds, that’s the challenge most retailers face in their advertising leading up to this weekend’s game. The Super

February 3, 2011 dbward

Headline trouble of the naughty variety

When you write headlines, you must have a dirty mind. It’s required. If you don’t come by a dirty mind naturally, you have to cultivate one. Hang around teenage boys.

January 29, 2011 dbward

Misused words: Taking the ‘dryer’ side for a spin

How, you might ask, did poor Asok get stuck in this bizarre location? Because in Dilbert this week, the Pointy-Haired Boss sent him to Elbonia via the underground route, telling

January 25, 2011 dbward

How reliable is a Google search? Um …

Try this: Type “photosynthesis” into Google. Check out the first result. And blush. I was certainly skeptical when I saw an image similar to this on Reddit. So I did

January 23, 2011 dbward

Word choice and the theater of unintended meaning

All the world’s a page, and all the writers and editors merely word slayers. They have their nouns and their verbs, and one writer in his time has many bad starts.

January 19, 2011 dbward

Those pesky homophones strike again

An e-mail message that arrived last week asked me to “take a peak” at a website. Now, if I were to “take a peak,” I’d probably take the one at

January 16, 2011 dbward

Lay vs. Lie: The animated short

Something new from Obiter Dicta: an animated grammar lesson. Bananas the monkey helps Harold the snowman learn the difference between lay and lie.

January 11, 2011 dbward

A logo for the dawn of a new … something

Let’s pause for a moment in this new year and ponder the meaning of squares and circles, circles and squares, and, most importantly, circles in squares. When I think of

January 10, 2011 dbward

How to tell the 1930s from the 1980s

I did a double take when I saw the caption for this picture this morning. Were these guys really at an auction sale in 1983? No, they weren’t. The picture

January 7, 2011 dbward

The Year of Blather gets off to a baffling start

I’m beginning to think of 2011 as the Year of Blather. First, The New York Times whacks me with “incentivize.” Then the Lawrence Journal-World or the provost of my university

December 30, 2010 dbward

Ryan Seacrest gets an inadvertent makeover

Ryan Seacrest sometimes seems omnipresent on TV and radio these days. Or is that nauseating? Ouch! Whatever your view of him, I doubt that the picture above comes to mind.

December 17, 2010 dbward

Heading two directions in the same headline

Jacob at Ruby Zippers sends this headline with a simple note: “Eating a bagel, confused.” I had the same confusion while I was eating Shredded Wheat. The top headline says

December 16, 2010 dbward

Dear Cosmo: I’m lost in Wyoming. Yours, Denver.

Dear Cosmo, When the latest issue of your magazine arrived, I ripped out page 42, scrambled into my car and sped eagerly toward Manland with nothing but my naughty lingerie

December 14, 2010 dbward

A good verb deserves the right mood

I could talk about the mood of verbs until someone felt the imperative to beat me over the head with a dictionary. I don’t need anything quite so indicative to

December 6, 2010 dbward

Look, Ma! I swallowed the cocaine!

The next time you mug for the camera, remember this: That picture may end up being a real mug shot. Thanks to Arthur Hur for pointing this out.

November 13, 2010 dbward

Adding weight, not stereotypes, to headlines

Descriptions in crime stories often create peril. Most of the time, the problem is an overly general racial description: a black man in his 20s, a white woman in her

November 11, 2010 dbward

Why a single pie will never equal 391%

Apathy rules most elections. Even a “high turnout” election barely draws a quorum in many places. So what’s the answer? Put all of a county’s voting precincts into a single

November 2, 2010 dbward

In this election, subliminal messages reign (or is it rain?)

I’m so fed up with ads that promise to “reign in government spending” that I’ve decided to form my own political movement, the Sheesh! Party.

October 21, 2010 dbward

Why this compliment isn’t

Or, how a misused word can make buildings speak.

October 10, 2010 dbward

Seeing plural, missing the singularity

close-up-of-waterfall-md Agreement are as easy as finding the subject of a sentence and making the number of the verb match. Stopped you with that one, didn’t I? When a verb

September 24, 2010 dbward

For National Punctuation Day, a paean to the period

OK, so I’m using “paean” loosely. What you’ll find is a paean in limerick form. The period deserves celebration. If people used more periods, we’d all understand one another better.

September 16, 2010 dbward

Honey, the thermometer says 572 degrees. Honey? Honey?

Just imagine the uses for this gadget. Perfect for home: No more emergency room visits when the water temperature in the shower surpasses that of Old Faithful! Perfect for auto:

September 4, 2010 dbward

Fewer vs. less: It’s as easy as pie

Hold up both your index fingers. Go ahead. Do it. Look around and see who’s watching if you must, but then hold up your fingers anyway. Now make a fist

August 22, 2010 dbward

How a virus gave a mosquito a ride

Mosquitoes are vampires of the insect world. Sloppy syntax, on the other hand, is a vampire of the grammatical world. Mosquitoes suck blood from mammals; sloppy syntax sucks the lifeblood

August 14, 2010 dbward

Lessons from the App Store

App developers tend to know their code structure better than their sentence structure. That’s good when you want to use an app, but it makes for some interesting reading in

August 12, 2010 dbward

Right vs. rite

Some writers are so used to hearing about “rights” that they forget about “rites.” Consider: The Declaration of Independence enshrined the idea of inalienable rights. The U.S. Constitution has a

August 9, 2010 dbward

NYT graphic prompts a delicate question: fish or phallus?

An illustration on the the Sunday Business front made my want to shout, “Don’t look, Ethel!” But it was too late. So take a look for yourself.

August 3, 2010 dbward

Chop this “word” into oblivion, please

Never underestimate the ability of headline writers to create linguistic abominations. Tight headline counts have given us such ugly permutations as solons (for legislators), hikes and ups (for increases), eyes

July 10, 2010 dbward

It’s summer, and the iron is rotting again

What have garage sales wrought? Actually, I shouldn’t blame garage sales. Garage sale ads simply offer a window into people’s minds. Apparently those minds hold visions of rotting iron furniture

July 5, 2010 dbward

The dangers of “true facts”

This is Webb, Jack Webb. He wasn’t a detective, but he played one on TV. Jack Webb as Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday on “Dragnet” He was a good

June 22, 2010 dbward

Dear self-appointed gods: Please lowercase thyself

Dana sends this from Colorado, where she seems to have discovered one of the gods of vacation. She writes, “I didn’t know a member of the divinity was renting out

June 18, 2010 dbward

How advertising turned armpits into vacation destinations

I could never work in advertising. I know that because thoughts of armpits – even deodorized ones – just don’t put a swagger in my step. Never would I have

June 16, 2010 dbward

Q&A: Why you shouldn’t put acronyms in parentheses

Q. Wayne writes from the business school with a question about abbreviations and acronyms: “I recall that your class taught me to not follow proper nouns that you plan to

June 13, 2010 dbward

Stationery vs. stationary and the meaning of mobility

This garage sale ad announced, “We can’t take it all with us!” Perhaps, but if this were really a “stationery bike,” they could have mailed it. “Stationery,” of course, is

June 10, 2010 dbward

Alter vs. altar and a link to “The Curse”

Melissa sends this in from Indianapolis. It’s from an ESPN.com story that was distributed widely, typo and all. The example I’ve used above is from a Denver TV station. Alter,

June 8, 2010 dbward

Sorry, Dad. We’re selling you along with the old TV.

This garage sale ad seemed appropriate with Father’s Day coming up. Clean out the garage, clean out the basement, clean out the closet and clear away unwanted family members. The

June 2, 2010 dbward

Much ado about “adieu”

Shakespeare never wrote about pink lemonade pie as far as I know. Nor does pink lemonade pie play a part in his play “Much Ado About Nothing.” I mention Shakespeare

May 26, 2010 dbward

Give them an “i” for a headline, matey

Kelly sends this from Salina, where there is apparently a shortage of i’s. I blame pirates, who seem to have stocked up on i’s to spell “pirates” and left only

May 23, 2010 dbward

Random books and cheeky thoughts meet the painful reality of butt piercing

The title of this book leapt off the sale shelf at me yesterday. Yes, it’s really “Button Jewelry,” but the unfortunately placed sale tag turned it into “Butt Jewelry.” I

May 21, 2010 dbward

Sale! Save nothing! Or, why you should read beyond the exclamation points

The red and yellow tags at the grocery store shout their messages from the shelves: “Temporary Price Reduction!” The price is printed in bold, black letters on a yellow background.

May 16, 2010 dbward

Staunch vs. stanch

Sue Novak of the Idea Chemist pointed out this headline today. Staunch can mean several things, none of which apply in this headline: steadfast, strong, faithful, substantial. It can also

May 15, 2010 dbward

An editor’s advice to graduates: 2010

More than 200 students from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications participated in graduation ceremonies this morning. The dean asked each faculty member to offer words

May 11, 2010 dbward

Dear spammer: Here’s to your lousy spelling

You have to hand it to spammers. They litter their messages with clues that scream, “Hey, stupid! Don’t click on this!” Take the one above, which dropped into my inbox

May 6, 2010 dbward

Taking ‘the next level’ down a few notches

“The next level” conveys about as much meaning as a fart in a locker room. I invoke “locker room” because that’s where “next level” comes into play so often, and

May 3, 2010 dbward

The butchery of “editing”

This is butchery in the metaphorical sense, of course, but it speaks to a larger point: Editing involves review and refinement – a chance to step back and look at

April 30, 2010 dbward

He’s a lectern! But does he know what one is?

For your entertainment and edification, Obiter Dicta offers Lectern Man. Lectern Man was inspired by the accompanying bit of mangled usage. We’re not sure whether Lectern Man fits the profile

April 27, 2010 dbward

A source emerges from hell, or somewhere thereabouts

Jesters of the world have long tweaked the noses of journalists. Hugh Jassel, who apparently was one, caught the Lawrence Journal-World twice in his little joke. (I’ve posted one of

April 24, 2010 dbward

That’s ‘sleight of hand,’ not ‘slight of hand’

“Sleight of hand” means trickery or deft maneuvering with the hands. “Slight of hand” could mean someone who wears an extra small glove, I suppose. Then again, it could just

April 19, 2010 dbward

Writing Web headlines: An Obiter Dicta extra

A supplement to Obiter Dicta 10, now available for download as a PDF file.

April 13, 2010 dbward

Next time, just order the chick wings

This just in from our Department of Unfortunate Coincidences: People are buying more chicks and ducklings for pets. And … People are eating more chicken wings. We at Obiter Dicta

April 9, 2010 dbward

Obiter Dicta No. 10: the download

http://obiter.ku.edu/downloads/obiter-dicta/ Obiter Dicta returns to print (and PDF).

April 8, 2010 dbward

A comics double-take

So I was reading the comics on Sunday and thinking about the Dalai Lama. You know, that spiritual dude who let Bill Murray carry his bag in “Caddyshack.” Well, that’s

March 31, 2010 dbward

Throwing a flag on first and sloppy

Jane sent this screen shot this afternoon. She said the news that “Conner Teahen” was trying out for the KU football team was sent via Twitter. Here’s the problem: “They

March 30, 2010 dbward

Number of homes grows 13-fold! Or not.

Let’s think this through: In a story about census data, one paragraph says 13,535 homes equals 5.7 percent of the total in Lawrence. The next paragraph says 13,000 homes equals74

March 26, 2010 dbward

With egg on my irrational face

My brother, Dave, writes: “Dear Editor, “I was just curious about the following line from your article: “‘ … to make reasoned, rationale decisions – that’s when ignorance melds into

March 23, 2010 dbward

From toasted chips to hips

My wife took one look at this package and said it was definitely truth in advertising. Beneath that brown strip of tape, the package says “Toasted Chips.” It comes with

March 20, 2010 dbward

136 ears and still publishing

Lauren sends this from the Oakland Tribune and asks whether it isn’t the best typo ever. This is good, but I’ve seen some gems over the years. I’ve made a

March 16, 2010 dbward

Stepping in a royal headline error

Health care in the United States has certainly turned into a royal pain in the hemorrhoids. Any reform effort must involve insurance companies. You’ll get no argument here. But if

March 15, 2010 dbward

That sneaky ‘aide’ is at it again

When last we saw our beleaguered school “aide,” he had been hauled to the chopping block. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that now he’s getting hammered. Having my

March 4, 2010 dbward

Pre-Madonna confusion

How much worse can it get for poor Stanley the cat? His teeth have fallen out. He has BBs embedded in his head and hip. He has irritable bowel syndrome.

February 26, 2010 dbward

How to spot an urban legend

The messages always suggest an impending apocalypse. BEWARE!!!! PHONE SCAM! NEVER DO THIS!!!!!!!!! They drop into my in-box about once a month, usually from my mom. She forwards them with

February 23, 2010 dbward

Here’s to agreement, wherever it are

Apostrophes seem to block out all sense of agreement from some people’s brains. Then again, maybe it’s just deadline. Or journalists’ desire for conversational tone run amok. Or perhaps in

February 19, 2010 dbward

Going north for the winter

Before we get to the problems in this headline, let’s clarify something: This is for a story about baseball. Problem 1: We suggest that Minnesota isn’t part of the Midwest.

February 16, 2010 dbward

How a single word undermines our credibility

This is basic civics: Legislators introduce bills, debate bills and vote on bills. If passed, those bills go to a chief executive – in state government, that is the governor

February 14, 2010 dbward

Its, It’s and Its’?

Valentine’s Day has a confused relationship with apostrophes. (Or is it a confused relationship with relationships?) So this variation on “its” and “it’s” seems appropriate today. Not that it

February 13, 2010 dbward

Q&A: Ladies coats or Ladies’ coats?

Juls writes: “I am at work, and my boss is making signs. What is correct for a discount sign for ‘ladies jackets’ or ‘ladies’ jackets’? “Then someone thought to just

February 10, 2010 dbward

As Comma goes rogue, Punctuation loses its Essentials

Once upon a time in a land called Punctuation, the Village Editor discovered an innocent little mark that she named Comma. The editor slipped Comma into a sentence and found

February 6, 2010 dbward

How fame and legend expose ignorance

This teaser headline tells us that a “famous author” was remembered. The deck tells us that he wrote a “famous novel.” The headline on the story itself tells us that

February 3, 2010 dbward

An anagram waiting to happen?

Here’s the question of the day: What are the chances that O, K and ! will meet H, A, G, S and W in line at a basketball game? Yes,

February 1, 2010 dbward

Use vs. utilize, headlines and the art of third thoughts

“Utilize” rarely adds anything but bluster to a sentence. And in a headline, that bluster multiplies with the point size. Yes, “utilize” has its use (not its utilization), as American

January 29, 2010 dbward

Poetry in motion (with a message)

Jesse Trimble of The Miami County Republic sent this to me this week. I hadn’t been introduced to the poetry of Taylor Mali, but I’m now a fan, thanks in

January 28, 2010 dbward

A headline that deserves a AAA rating

There’s no real formula for great headlines, although most good headlines share some common elements. For news headlines, verbs provide the punch. The best feature headlines, though, offer a hint

January 26, 2010 dbward

Punning your way into confusion

Headline writers love word play. And word play can be an effective tool for conveying an idea in a headline, especially if the story is lighthearted. Sometimes, though, headline writers

January 22, 2010 dbward

Asking questions we never answer

When we promise something in a headline, a lede or a graphic, we should deliver. In this case, the answer was so generic it was all but useless. The site

January 21, 2010 dbward

How fast can you see? and other p. 1 questions

I’m almost afraid to get into the car after seeing this list. I’m imagining the streets and highways turning into racetracks, drivers holding stopwatches in outstretched arms, noses pressed to

January 18, 2010 dbward

North Pole, meet South Pole

Calling researchers from the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets “arctic scientists” would be fine in many cases. After all, a large part of their mission involves studying changes

January 17, 2010 dbward

Let firsts happen first; the annuals will follow

Event organizers are an optimistic lot. Most of them tack the word annual onto a new event as a matter of routine. They apparently think it adds credibility or gravitas

January 16, 2010 dbward

How haste inflates the size of a crowd

Crowd estimates are notoriously inaccurate. The reporter of this story was careful to note that there were “about 100 people” at this rally across the street from the Kansas Capitol.

January 14, 2010 dbward

‘Coed’ trouble, doubled

“Coed” certainly has a place in the lexicon of a college newspaper, at least as an adjective. As a noun, it can – and did – send us into the wrong neighborhood.

January 13, 2010 dbward

To ensure agreement, choose your post-holiday subjects carefully

Can an errant clause trip over the Christmas lights and bring a post-holiday sentence crashing down in disagreement? The answer is trickier than you might think, but let’s work it

January 10, 2010 dbward

Grammatically speaking, a cabinet of medical curiosities

To begin the new year, Obiter Dicta takes you on a tour of a cabinet of medical curiosities. Cabinet of curiosities is an old term used to describe oddities of

January 3, 2010 dbward

To the bathroom and beyond, one abbreviation at at a time

When I saw this headline on Delicious Popular last month, all I could think about was toilets. Strange, yes, but worth thinking about. No, not me and toilets but headlines

January 2, 2010 dbward

Multi-digit double-entendre

Apparently jealous of the Wall Street Journal’s fingering of a billionaire, the San Francisco Chronicle decided to finger a terrorism suspect last week. Becka, who hangs out at This Ordinary

December 24, 2009 dbward

Seeing a sign amid the ‘Idol’ sloppiness

I understand all too well how a reporter, writing on deadline, can type “signing” instead of “singing.” Of course, where Simon Cowell is concerned, everyone is always trying to read

December 16, 2009 dbward

Crowing with quotation marks

This headline is too obvious for my taste, but I’ll give the headline writer credit: The reference to “big bucks” works two ways. It refers to lots of money and

December 14, 2009 dbward

Stimulus spending as an Olympic sport?

For most people, articles about economics are about as exciting as: (Please choose a metaphor from the following list: 1. dry toast 2. drying paint 3. jungle rot 4. I

December 11, 2009 dbward

I open the bottle electric

And when I do, I find electric wine! “Gentlemen, look on this wonder! “Whatever the bids of the bidders, they cannot be high enough for it; “For it the globe

December 8, 2009 dbward

Why headline writers should keep their mouths shut

I could say that this headline is in bad taste, but, um … maybe I shouldn’t. I could say that even for the Brits, this seems a lickle over the

December 6, 2009 dbward

If ‘aide’ is on the chopping block, will the ‘e’ go first?

A single “e” can make a big difference. In the case of “aid,” an “e” personifies, turning “assistance” into “assistant.” Consider: The point of the story that accompanied this headline

December 3, 2009 dbward

Look! Up in the sky! It’s … a bleeding face

Just who are those smiling faces in the clouds? When I first saw them in last week’s Science Times, I thought they were the “vision” the headline referred to. Then

December 2, 2009 dbward

Watch your neck, Mrs. Malaprop

This grammatical lapse in Maureen Dowd’s column in The New York Times brings Mrs. Malaprop to mind (“… she might reprehend the true meaning of what she is saying”).

What she meant, of course, was “neck and neck,” like horses at a track or ostriches on the way to wherever ostriches go in a hurry. …

November 29, 2009 dbward

A reign at Notre Dame comes mainly with the reins

Considering that Notre Dame, like so many universities, treats its coaches like royalty, I can see how “reigns” comes to mind.

The word we were after, though, was “reins,” as in “handed him the reins,” a phrase that means to hand over control.

Got that? …

November 23, 2009 dbward

It’s time to close the door on ‘going green’

I know of only two ways to go green in the bathroom.
And if I find myself going green in either of those ways, I’ll probably call a doctor.
Then again, after I did some searching, I found that perhaps I’m not creative enough in the bathroom. …

November 14, 2009 dbward

Is bad usage infectious?

The answer is no, but it sure seems that way.
The flu is certainly infectious, but the writer of this ad meant “flue,” or the passageway for a chimney.
You can certainly go up a flue, but I haven’t figured out a way to go up a flu, even sarcastically. (Although I did once find a way to turn flu precautions into a rock concert in an airport bathroom.)

November 11, 2009 dbward

This headline is not all right either

This headline shocked me awake the other morning.

It wasn’t what Paul Krugman had to say that bothered me (it did, of course, but in a different way); it was the use of “alright” in the headline.

You see, among those who know better, there is no such word. And the editors at The Times know better. …

November 5, 2009 dbward

Unruly hair, heal thyself

A “curing iron” would sure come in handy some days.

Bad hair?

Zap!

Zits?

Batchung!

Gas? ….

November 3, 2009 dbward

Steering into confusion

I used to work with reporters who would write that something was “thisclose” to happening, and then howl that their creativity was being stifled if anyone suggested inserting a space between “this” and “close.”

Yes, it just looked like a typo.

The spelling in this ad, I’m afraid, is no typo.

Rather, it’s a morsel from the gruel school of usage. …

November 2, 2009 dbward

If Russell rustles, does that make him a verb?

I’d like to think that “Russell” referred to Sen. Russ Feingold or to the Russell Senate Office Building.

Then I could just say that this was a bad pun, like the one that has “Crowe Struggling to Russell Up a House in Wales.” (See below.)

Unfortunately …

October 31, 2009 dbward

Confronting the zombies of troublesome usage

I don’t condone cannibalism, so I’d suggest using “number of people” instead of “amount of people.”

Then again, this is Halloween, that scare me for the fun of it day when people feast on the likes of “Night of the Living Dead.”

If I were to describe that movie, I’d have to say that “a ghastly number of zombies consume a large amount of townspeople.”

Don’t know the difference between “number” and “amount”? Read on.

October 29, 2009 dbward

How juxtaposition stole the Halloween spirit

Of course, the combination of this photo and headline raises an interesting issue: Once a year, we encourage people (especially children) to dress up, roam the streets, ring doorbells and

October 24, 2009 dbward

Finger me not

You were thinking of something dirty, weren’t you? Shame on you!

Actually, I was thinking of something dirty, too, but I chose not to say it.

Rather, I decided to think of this headline as a Murdochism, the sort of thing you see in Rupert Murdoch’s publications.

After some database research that involved stories about bank cashiers taunting customers with $1,000 bills, Frisbee-throwers injuring themselves, and lots of people wishing for good luck, I decided that the headline was not a Murdochism, after all.

I did come up with a new slogan for the Journal, though.

October 18, 2009 dbward

Your home it is?

Presumably, Hy-Vee’s copy editor is home with the flu. Well hope for better punctuation in next weeks ad One bright spot: At least this incorrect “it’s” wasn’t chiseled in stone.

October 17, 2009 dbward

No, it isn’t fair

It’s “fare,” as in something offered for entertainment or consumption.

When you mix up “fare” and “fair,” the conversation can quickly veer from homophones and proper usage to “Ghostbusters” and “The Wizard of Oz” to exhibitionists and Zucchini Weenis. Don’t believe me? Just keep reading. I’ll even throw in a side of deep-fried butter.

October 16, 2009 dbward

An intents lesson

I suppose it’s possible that the “purposes” we describe here were “intensive” (a strength or intensity imposed from outside, according to American Heritage).

That’s not likely, though.

What we were after was “for all intents and purposes,” meaning “for all practical purposes.”

Oops. …

October 15, 2009 dbward

Lead Head

“Led” and “lead” seem to cause nearly as many problems as “lay” and “lie.”

“Lead” (as a present tense verb) can mean “to guide or to show the way.” As a noun, it can also mean an element that used to be in gasoline and still weighs down some people’s butts. …

October 7, 2009 dbward

Apostrophes of stone

“We will find no glory in the misuse of the language, no heroes among those who chisel their grammatical ignorance in stone.”—Doug Ward, 2009

October 4, 2009 dbward

But was it charged?

Yes, “battery” is the correct legal term for a beating, and this, no doubt, was taken directly from a police report.

But when I read this, all I could imagine was a crushed AAA lying in the gutter. Or maybe it was a nine-volt.

September 27, 2009 dbward

A barrel of what?

We don’t hear much about “barrows” in the 21st century, which is no doubt why the folks having this garage sale listed a “wheel barrel” for sale.

There’s definitely a difference, though, between a wheelbarrow, which is a type of hand truck, and “wheel barrel,” which is a, a … garbage can?

September 27, 2009 dbward

Usage that makes you want to flee

When you think about it, it makes little sense that one would look for treasures – chachkas, perhaps? – at a place named after bloodsucking insects.

However strange “flea market” might seem, though, “flee market” should have made someone dash for a dictionary.

September 19, 2009 dbward

How a single letter sends meaning into retreat

Mark Twain once said that the difference between the right word and the almost right word was the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

Let’s add this to Twain’s thought: The difference between the right spelling and the almost right spelling is the difference between clarity and hilarity.

Consider the accompanying example. …

September 18, 2009 dbward

Down with up!

Actually, “up” is a perfectly good word.
Without “up,” we could “look at” a dictionary, but we’d never “look up” anything.
For all its usefulness, though, “up” makes a ghastly verb when used to mean “increase” or “improve.”

As if transformed, that cute, handy little word suddenly communicates with all the eloquence of a suppository. …