Sports writer looking for Grammar help

We still have a handful paid to know these things, but certainly not enough, and not enough time to really "edit" anymore in a lot of cases. I just do not get the difficulty with affect/effect. Seems pretty straightforward in most cases.

 

Sadly, this was my editor who asked me the question.

 

I'm finding the TV news websites in this area are pathetic when it comes to the English language. Just brutal.

"A Podunk man dies early Thursday morning ..." "The driver was headed towards Podunk..."

I guess so-called broadcast journalists just have to look good; they don't have to be clear.

 

Please tell me this isn't correct AP style....

"Photos of the fire were posted on online social media."

 

Redundancy at its finest. ...

 

This word usage seems to be questioned on a weekly basis at my shop: dual vs. duel

 

A duel is a battle between two people. There are only two people involved.

A dual is a meet between two teams. If there are three teams, it's a triangular, four teams, a quad.

 

Just found this thread. Great stuff, folks.

Harley, thanks for all the insight and humor.

I've reached a point of not really giving a shit what the AP style changes are anymore.

 

Back when I worked full time — as opposed to being a full-time worker — at a paper, I'd always see last names turned into plurals with an apostrophe, such as the Smith's, Jones' and Kelley's, instead of Smiths, Joneses and Kelleys. I often see the same thing on homes with a sign having the family name, such as The Smith's, instead of The Smiths.

 

Here's one that I seem to see on a daily basis with the AP.

"... John Smith has eight his in his last five games ..."

Unless he is about to die or retired, or the season is over, they were not his "last" five games.

"... John Smith has eight his in his past five games ..."

Keep in mind when writing, it's not the last anything unless the season has ended, or someone dies or retires ... or dies trying to retire.

 

Good call. I'm probably guilty of this one. Never thought about it in this light before.

 

Here's one that gets under my skin that I saw today:

canceled vs. postponed

If an event was rained out, et al, and will be rescheduled, it was postponed.

If the event will not be rescheduled, it was canceled.

And if an event began, but then was rained out, it was suspended.

They are not interchangeable.