Good, Bad, and Ugly
Reader reaction to Reuters news
Long before dawn
Judge upholds eviction of Wall St. protesters
Protesters who had been kicked out in a surprise predawn raid were allowed back 16 hours later but were banned from bringing the tents and sleeping bags that had turned a square-block park near Wall Street into an urban campground the past two months.
Hundreds of police stormed the camp around 1 a.m. and dismantled tents, tarpaulins, outdoor furniture, mattresses and signs, arresting 147 people, including about a dozen who had chained themselves to each other and to trees.
Hi there, just a quick comment on this story.
Are there short nights in New York?
I appreciate that the move by police to evict Occupy Wall St protesters was pre-dawn in the strictest definition of the term, but does 1 a.m. New York time really qualify, when sunrise is around 6:40 a.m.?
Nick
Not the right word…
5.6 magnitude Oklahoma quake causes some damage
In Prague, Oklahoma, where the earlier quake was centered, City Manager Jim Greff said the latest tremblor caused a chimney to topple over and crash through the roof of a home.
The correct word is “temblor,” NOT “tremblor.” “Tremblor” SEEMS as if it would be appropriate, because the ground does tremble. Nevertheless, “tremblor” is wrong and “temblor” is right.
Charles R.
You are correct, “temblor” was the word we wanted.
Tremblor seems to be creeping into the language, and I even find it in an online thesaurus as a synonym for temblor, but I also find this advice on a language site:
Earthquake experts call each vibration produced by an earthquake a “temblor,” derived from the Spanish word for “tremble.” It’s not surprising that many people turn this word into “tremblor,” but journalists and others who may have experts among their readers would be wise to stick with “temblor.” GBU Editor
Too slangy?
Clues to Gaddafi’s death concealed from public view
Another man in the crowd lets out a high-pitched hysterical scream. Gaddafi then goes out of view and gunshots ring out. One of the fighters present said Gaddafi was in a bad way but alive when he was put in the ambulance.
In this article, the author uses the phrase “in a bad way” to describe Gaddafi’s status.
This phrase is considered slang in the U.S., and I was surprised to see it in a Reuters piece.
I’m not sure if cultural differences are at play, but the writer should be advised that readers here would assume she is not serious about the content of her article based on this informal tone. It would be analogous to writing, “Gaddafi was bummed out but the rebels showed him what’s up.”
G.V.
I agree the phrase seemed a bit too slangy, at least for a U.S. audience: GBU Editor
Just plain wrong…
Snowstorm blankets Denver area just days after balmy weather
DENVER, Oct 26 (Reuters) – A heavy, wet snowstorm descended on the Denver area early on Wednesday morning, causing widespread power outages and numerous car crashes and minor injuries in the Centennial State, officials said.
Just two days after record high temperatures, six inches of snow fell in the Denver area forcing the closure of roads in the mountains and eastern planes.
..eastern planes? Are you for real? Good grief.
Steven C.
Ouch. We corrected: GBU Editor
U.S. President Barack Obama steps out of his limousine into the snow at Buckley Air Force Base near Denver, October 26, 2011. A storm system dumped heavy snow in Denver on Wednesday as Obama wrapped up a three-day trip to the west. REUTERS/Jason Reed
Not what we meant to say…
Then Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy Advisor Adel-Al-Jubeir gestures during a press conference in response to U.S. engineer Paul Marshal Johnson’s beheading at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington, in this June 18, 2004 file photo.
Wow! I must’ve missed the video footage of the beheading at the Embassy.
Man, that’s poorly worded!
M. T.
Sigh. Yes, that’s a sentence sorely in need of some editing: GBU Editor
Before his death, huh?
Thousands attend funeral of executed convict Troy Davis
Recorded “before his death” ?
Nice work!
M.G.
Yes, I suspect that last bit of information was fairly self-evident: GBU Editor
Protesters display banners in the protest area at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification prison where convicted killer Troy Davis is set to be executed by lethal injection in Jackson, Georgia September 21, 2011. REUTERS/Tami Chappell
Correcting errors?
ABC Attacked by ‘DWTS’ Fans Over Chaz Bono Casting
Bono, the only child of Sonny Bono and Cher, was born female but legally changed his gender and name last year. The announcement Monday that he would join the highly rated ABC dance competition immediately made him one of the highest-profile transgendered people in the world.
Chaz was born a MALE with a female anatomy. He didn’t “change his gender”, he CORRECTED his body so it matched his MALE BRAIN.
When Transsexual people Transition, they are not changing their gender on legal documents like passports and birth certificates, they are correcting errors.
Tell your writers to do some medical research before he writes about people with conditions he obviously knows nothing about.
Erica
Great leap forward?
Moody’s cuts French banks as euro crisis deepens
While Europe’s leaders struggle to avert a first default in the 12-year-old single currency area, the head of the European Union’s executive challenged them to prepare for a great leap forward in fiscal integration that would be deeply divisive.
I wanted to point out some unfortunate language in your article. Your editors decided to include the phrase “great leap forward.”
It seems obvious that “great leap forward” is inappropriately loaded language. For example, you don’t routinely call new immigration laws a “final solution to the immigration question”; and you wouldn’t talk about an urban blight program creating “Lebensraum.”
G.L.
We shouldn’t have used that phrase, which to many people is a permanent reminder of Chairman Mao Zedong’s catastrophic campaign in the People’s Republic of China. GBU Editor
A paramilitary policeman stands in front of the giant portrait of the former Chairman Mao Zedong at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square June 30, 2011. REUTERS/David Gray
Inexcusable word?
Scores burn to death in Kenya gas fire, police say
Kenyan media put the toll higher, saying more than 100 people were burnt to death and a similar number were taken to hospital in one of the worst fire disasters in the east African country.
Residents said petrol spilled from a fuel depot owned by the Kenya Pipeline Company and ran into a sewage dyke that runs under the slum, which is known as Sinai. The petrol ignited, causing an inferno that left charred corpses and burnt skeletons.
“The scene is bad, there is a large number of people burnt to death,” Owino said.
“There is an informal school inside the slum, they have all been burnt,” Daniel Mutinda, a spokesman for the Kenya Red Cross, said.
Please tell your people how to write the past tense of “burn.”
It is NOT “burnt” but “burned.” Experienced reporters and writers know this, but if it is a newbie who is responsible, where was the supervising editor?
Offensive headlne?
I am writing with reference to your article, ‘Jacko’s doc represents rise in criminal prosecutions.’ I was extremely shocked a media establishment such as yours which is respected for its integrity would use such a term.
If you are unaware, ‘Jacko’ is not a term of endearement for Michael Jackson but is rooted in racism and negativity.
I am asking you to correct this disrespectful slur.
Grace
Please remove the offensive moniker immediately.
I accidentally came to your site from google, thinking it was a news site, and was disgusted and repulsed by the nickname I saw in the headline. How dare you belittle a deceased person, who was a legendary artist and the greatest humanitarian, like that? Shame on you!
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Resident Mediafile Expert
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