Read that again?

[NEOWatcher]

I think this guy is stretching the truth just a bit, or is really bad at estimates. (although; maybe it was a temporary situation too)
Broken toilets strand United passengers in Alaska

"And they were checking us off one-by-one, so it took like 10 minutes per person to get your voucher, and there was like 280 of us, I believe."

[jamesabrown]

I think this guy is stretching the truth just a bit, or is really bad at estimates. (although; maybe it was a temporary situation too)
Broken toilets strand United passengers in Alaska

Or it could mean that more than one person was checking off passengers one-by-one, each check taking ten minutes. Could be why he said, "They were checking us..."

[NEOWatcher]

Or it could mean that more than one person was checking off passengers one-by-one, each check taking ten minutes. Could be why he said, "They were checking us..."

That was in the article:

"They told us to wait in line and get our meal and hotel vouchers. But it just took them hours and hours to make that announcement, and there was only one guy handing out the vouchers,"

[Tobin Dax]

If the passengers aren't wise enough to bring their medication in their carry-on, that's not the airline's fault.

[NEOWatcher]

If the passengers aren't wise enough to bring their medication in their carry-on, that's not the airline's fault.

I've never seen any clear indication of how carry on medication is supposed to work.

Every article I read says that they should be clearly labeled if they are in a carry on. That means taking the bottles.
Does that mean I have to take all my current supply because I can't just take what I need?
I am currently on over a dozen medications. To bring the bottles with the labels takes a bag the size of a 6pack cooler.

I haven't flown yet while on that medication, and that little snippet worries me.

[Trebuchet]

Here's a rather confused article from a Minnesota TV station, with a bonus for Gillian in the headline: Linky

[HenrikOlsen]

Funny how the mind does error handling on the fly, I actually read "affect" the first time through.

[Tog]

The affect/effect issue aside, I thought using words like "and" and "but" at the start of a sentence was one of those things that shouldn't be done unless the writer is making a deliberate stylistic choice. But the article has three that I noticed on the first read.

And one even started a paragraph.

[Jim]

But if they did it three times, that is a stylistic choice.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

[HenrikOlsen]

Or, it's what seems to be the more common reason, they're just plain ignorant journalists without copy editor backup and did it repeatedly because they don't know any better.

[NEOWatcher]

I'm still trying to see the connection between gas prices and the road conditions.
Oil prices and the cost of sealant? sure, but not gas.

[Fazor]

The affect/effect issue aside, I thought using words like "and" and "but" at the start of a sentence was one of those things that shouldn't be done unless the writer is making a deliberate stylistic choice. But the article has three that I noticed on the first read.

And one even started a paragraph.

We've talked about it here before. I know when I took my college placement tests for English, they bumped me down a class because my sample essay had three or four sentences that started with "And" or "But" (Out of three pages worth of essay.) But after I approached the department head and said that it was my understanding that it was okay to do so as long as it is being done deliberately she agreed and bumped me up a course level.

Still, I know I do it too often and I've been working hard to break the habit. But if you read any of the reviews or such that I write, you'll see it's a battle I'm not close to winning. (Yes, I did that on purpose.)

[Trebuchet]

I'm still trying to see the connection between gas prices and the road conditions.
Oil prices and the cost of sealant? sure, but not gas.

That's kind of the point. They're talking about gas price, but it's really the price of crude oil, not the price of gasoline, that's causing the cutbacks.

There is a connection to gas prices, but they didn't mention it. In many states, road maintenance is funded by gas taxes. The tax is usually based on a fixed number of cents per gallon which is set by the legislature. When the price goes up, people change their driving habits and use more efficient vehicles so consumption, and hence tax revenue, goes down. It's tough to convince legislators to raise gas taxes at such a time -- electoral suicide.

[NEOWatcher]

From this article...

In the fall of 2010, there were 22 million undergraduate and graduate students in college, the U.S. Department of Education reported this week. Two years ago, the figure was 19 million.

I can only assume they mean 2 years "prior" rather than "ago". Otherwise, that's a heck of a growth in a couple of months.

[Tobin Dax]

I've never seen any clear indication of how carry on medication is supposed to work.

Every article I read says that they should be clearly labeled if they are in a carry on. That means taking the bottles.
Does that mean I have to take all my current supply because I can't just take what I need?
I am currently on over a dozen medications. To bring the bottles with the labels takes a bag the size of a 6pack cooler.

I haven't flown yet while on that medication, and that little snippet worries me.

I wonder if you could ask for two smaller bottles at the pharmacy when you get your refills before you fly. Then again, I've just put a few days worth of meds in a single bottle and never had an issue.

[DonM435]

From this article...

I can only assume they mean 2 years "prior" rather than "ago". Otherwise, that's a heck of a growth in a couple of months.

I recall a newspaper headline that went: STUDENTS AT COLLEGES GROW OLDER

[DonM435]

On-screen TV News headline from last night:

FANS BURN COUCHES & FLIP CARS AFTER LOUISVILLE'S DEFEAT

In a sports frame of mind, I thought it said FANS BURN COACHES ...

[NEOWatcher]

Since my normal interpretation of "man" implies a single individual. I hesitated a few seconds on this headline.

OH executes man for 1st time in 6 months

Would it actually be an execution the second time? or at least pointless?
Was he executed prior to 6 months ago?

[Tog]

First time in six months implies it used to happen a lot more frequently. That guy must have been executed a lot.

[Jens]

That's really bad. Obviously the writer meant, "OH carries out first execution in six months" but that's a pretty unforgivable effort. Unless the guy is a cat, and they've executed him seven or eight times already.

[Extravoice]

This headline was on the CNN web page this morning.

Ecstasy tied to teen depression

The headline is okay, but I *did* have a "Wait, what?" moment.

[NEOWatcher]

... Unless the guy is a cat, and they've executed him seven or eight times already.

There is one case in Ohio that may still end up in a second execution after 3 years.

[Jens]

There is one case in Ohio that may still end up in a second execution after 3 years.

A second execution or a second execution attempt? I thought that as with murder, an execution implies success.

[NEOWatcher]

A second execution or a second execution attempt? I thought that as with murder, an execution implies success.

Absolutely. But for a headline, that's too many words.

[NEOWatcher]

From this story:
Behind the scenes look at what cell phone carriers are doing to boost your signal

If you drive from Interstate 480 west to I-480 east, at least 20 different towers handle your signal.

I can excuse the mix between "interstate" and "I-" since a lot of abbreviations need definition.

The part that's hard to swallow is "I-480E" or "I-480W" is a direction not a location.

So; if I go 20 feet over the median then I get a cell tower every foot?

Why can't they just stick with "along I-480" or something like that?

[DonM435]

OH executes man for 1st time in 6 months

I was thinking that even "OH executes a man for 1st time in 6 months" might be an improvement, but even that recalls that old joke, wherein they tell some old guy who's unfamiliar with the language: "Be careful on the streets. In New York, a man is struck by a car every 11 minutes." And the old guy says "That man should definitely stay at home."

[Extravoice]

The part that's hard to swallow is "I-480E" or "I-480W" is a direction not a location.

Is I-480 a beltway that goes in a complete circle? Maybe if you travel halfway around the circle, you'll hit 20 towers

[Jens]

Maybe if you travel halfway around the circle, you'll hit 20 towers

Only if you're a very bad driver.

[ToSeek]

Is I-480 a beltway that goes in a complete circle? Maybe if you travel halfway around the circle, you'll hit 20 towers

It's actually a connector route that goes south of the city. I'm gathering what was intended was "If you drive from Interstate 480 west [of Cleveland] to I-480 east [of Cleveland], at least 20 different towers handle your signal."

[Jim]

It's actually a connector route that goes south of the city. I'm gathering what was intended was "If you drive from Interstate 480 west [of Cleveland] to I-480 east [of Cleveland], at least 20 different towers handle your signal."

That's a fairly common way for locals to differentiate between sections of a through highway. Or a loop.

Houston has I45N and I45S, I10E and I10W, US59N and US59S. We also have Loop 610N, S, E and W (often called the North Loop, etc). Same for the Beltway.

We know which is which.