Can you spot anything wrong with these sentences, found online? “A rich mixture of ylang-ylang and palmarosa essential oils creates a sensual aroma.” “Soulful Situations is a sensual sound experience that offers soul, jazz, R&B and beyond.” Article Title: “Heightening the Sensual Experience of a Well-Designed Landscape” In all of…

Everyone has pet peeves – those irritating verbal tics and bromides that are the linguistic equivalent of fingernails scraping across a blackboard. The following sentences illustrate one of mine: “While we might be a bit partial to the Lamborghinis, the Aston Martins and the Bugattis of the world, we’d be…

I recently wrote a column on what may be the 14 most common misspellings in the English language. But additional candidates can readily be found. In a newspaper article about automated parking garages, the word palate was used repeatedly for pallet. A pallet is “a portable platform used for storing…

It’s time once again for a roundup of ambiguities in the media. That is, badly written sentences that puzzle, confuse, or mislead readers because they lack clarity and can be interpreted in more than one way. Check your writing to ensure that you don’t commit this common error. I found…

The expression of course looks innocent, but it can create problems. Writers and speakers casually insert the phrase to indicate that something is obvious or self-evident. In most cases, it’s perfectly acceptable. But in others, it can sound insulting or patronizing. The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style,…

A few months ago, I wrote a serious column about acronyms. Now April Fools’ Day provides an appropriate occasion to explore the humorous possibilities of acronyms and initialisms. You say you didn’t know that abbreviations can be funny? Sure you do! This is a phenomenon that everyone has encountered or…

I’ve observed a strange phenomenon in my reading lately: words that are improperly divided in two. I hope it’s not a trend. The following examples are taken from major newspapers and online searches: “While Mr. Assange is basking in his new found fame, there is no reason to believe he…

As readers of this column know, I have a habit of searching for errors and anomalies in the media, adding my own puckish retorts, and preserving the results for posterity. Below is a fresh collection of recent bloopers and mischievous rejoinders. This set originally appeared in Word Ways, “The Journal…