Picking nits: Psst! Don’t use ‘fanny’ in a headline!

May 25, 2008 | Picking nits,Words

Unless you want all the folks who speak British English to spit their coffee because, umm, fanny doesn’t mean buttocks to them. It means :::whisper::: female genitalia.

Ahem.

So imagine non-American-English speakers reading this headline on the front page of The Wall Street Journal the other day.

Modest Proposal: A Vermont Town Bucks Nakedness, Skinny-Dipping Spurs An Outbreak of Nudity; The Fanny-Pack Man

A man with a fanny-pack, no less.

Fanny issues might not be discussed much in, oh, The Economist, but they are discussed elsewhere.

But, hey. I bet one of the new bosses (you know, the ones from Australia?) might have an idea why using fanny in any context while trying to be serious might have the Brits laughing their arses off at the daft wanks, er, Yanks, who thought it was a good idea at the time.

Just sayin’.

Picking nit: Sometime it the small thing that count

March 28, 2008 | Picking nits

Technical difficulties, apparently, with servers. I posted this Monday, then it disappeared. I’m putting it back up and hoping it stays. I’ll also try to piece together the comments … just so you know, if they look weird.

I need to learn how to back up my blog. Does anyone do this? What do you recommend?

This front-page, above-the-fold* gem went out to million of readers this morning.

The newspaper spend thousand of dollars on, oh, dozen of copy editors. Maybe there a severe shortage of letter s at the end of word.

*I had to laugh when I saw a reference to “above the fold” regarding online advertising, as in, “Our ad must appear above the fold.” Because, you know, blogs don’t “fold.” But it’s an old newspaper term and, I suppose, hard to let go. Sort of like “dialing” a telephone, even though it doesn’t have a rotary dial. Or “taping” a favorite show, even though the digital video recorder has no videotape.

What outdated terms do you find amusing?

Picking nits: Bumper sticker

March 17, 2008 | Picking nits

Seen on a bumper last week: If you can read this, your too close.

Umm, actually? If I can read this, I’m close enough to correct you’re spelling.

Picking nits: Snoozing on the copy desk

November 25, 2007 | Picking nits

I count at least 10 things that cry out for correction. How many can you find?