GREEN for RIGHT
RED for WRONG
R.T.E’s Sunday Game hurling panellists: after-match analysis of Clare v Cork in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final, 08/09/2013
‘… them [sic] scores / them players / them tactics / them goals …’
All three of them misused the word ‘them‘. They should’ve had Joe Brolly on. Joe, whose mastery of an em-free and eh-free flow of the language has been heralded previously in volume 1, should replace them.
Weather forecast on R.T.E’s Six One News, 08/09/2013
‘Monday to Wednessday‘ [sic]
Weather forecast on the same programme, 02/10/2013
‘ … Tipperay [sic], Klikenny [sic] …’
Maynooth Castle, Co. Kildare, September 2013
The guided tour was brilliant, but a caption above a model of the castle reads: ‘… what the castle would of [sic] looked like …’
R.T.E’s At Your Service featured a hotel in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway in September 2013. The promotion of a wedding fair was marred somewhat by a sample menu which read: ‘Planning You’re [sic] Special Day?’ The Brennan brothers (presenters) were probably too diplomatic to comment or else…
An Post’s tracking facility for letters and parcels informs us that the item is ‘on [sic] route‘ to its destination.
Blame the French! The correct expression is ‘en route’. However, you can – according to the song – ‘Get your kicks on Route 66′. Drive on from Chicago to Los Angeles!
Incidentally, ‘on the route’ is acceptable. Example: ‘I’m parked on the route now.‘ (Being stationary as opposed to being on the move)
A name tag for the Tánaiste – who has already featured in this section – at a press conference in Government Buildings on 12/09/2013 was spelt ‘Táinaiste‘[sic].
The September 2013 issue of Aer Lingus’s in-flight magazine, ‘cara‘, featured an article on ‘Business Lunches in Barcelona’. The dreaded – for most people it seems – apostrophe featured in two consecutive paragraphs in relation to it’s and its.
‘… and it’s [sic] location in a five-star hotel ensures …’
‘… its location …’
www.irishindependent.ie, Friday, 04/10/2013: An exit poll on the Seanad Referendum featured comments by ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ voters. One such comment was: ‘It’s not serving it’s [sic] purpose.’
Sunday Independent, 06/10/2013: two consecutive sentences:
‘The dispute that led to … This subsequently lead [sic] to …’
The previously-mentioned ‘cara’ magazine also included an advertisement for ‘The Kildare Hotel, Spa and Country Club’. A caption over a photo of a bride and groom read: ‘You’re [sic] Fairytale Wedding Venue’.
A large poster in Cork Airport refers to the ‘Carribbean‘ [sic]. One would be better off going there by car! I wonder does Ryanair fly there.
This contribution from the presenter was heard on Ireland’s unofficial ‘Voice of the Nation’ radio programme, i.e. R.T.E’s Liveline on 02/10/2013:
‘There was [sic] posters everywhere.’
The Sunday Times, 29/09/2013: ‘Porto Banus is full of oligarch’s [sic] yachts.’ Is there only one oligarch left in the world?
www.irishtimes.ie, 07/10/2013:
(1) ‘It’s [sic] was Nidge [sic] episode.’ (definitely two typos)
(2) ‘There’s [sic] no sirens.’ (definitely not a typo)
Does anybody anymore check for mistakes like these prior to printing?
A ‘catchy’ radio advertisement for Ladbrokes featuring former Republic of Ireland striker, Tony Cascarino, advises: ‘Don’t say nothing to nobody!’
No red highlights are required but say nothing to anybody or don’t say anything to anybody. Now, if two negatives make a positive, logic would tell us that three negatives mean … There’s obviously a good tip going around!
Don’t rely on R.T.E. Sport for the football results. I wonder could punters sue the organisation for misinformation in the event of them tearing up winning dockets following R.T.E’s sports bulletins.
REALITY: Results of the two matches in Group C of the Champions’ League played on 02/10/2013:
Paris Saint-Germain (P.S.G.) 3 – 0 Benfica
Anderlecht 0 – 3 Olympiakos
R.T.E. FANTASY FOOTBALL RESULT: Broadcast three times on R.T.E. Radio 1 at approximately 6:50 a.m., 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. on 03/10/2013.
(Note ‘result’, not ‘results’)
‘Olympiakos won 3 – 0 at P.S.G.’
I wonder what the score was in the Anderlecht v Benfica game!
The Sky Sports News presenter lost the run of himself on the night of Tuesday, 22/10/2013. And why wouldn’t he on the day that Sir Alex Ferguson released details of his autobiography and three British teams were involved in Champions’ League matches? However, all the excitement centred around two league matches in England. The tension became almost unbearable for the anchor man when he informed his viewers that Leyton Orient’s loss away to Coventry coupled with Rochdale’s late winner at home to Northampton resulted in Rochdale replacing Leyton Orient as league leaders. I wonder did he have a bet on this happening. You may well ask why I am bringing this matter to your attention. The fact of the matter is that Rochdale’s win did indeed send them to the top of the table. However, Leyton Orient and Rochdale play in two different leagues – the former in League 1 and the latter in League 2. You just can’t get reliable staff nowadays!
Despite Arsenal’s loss in a U.E.F.A. Champions’ League game on the 22/10/2013, TV3’s Ireland AM news / sports bar helped to soften the blow for their supporters with an amusing nugget of information.
‘Arsenals [sic] 2-1 defeat at home to Borussia Dortmund leaves FIFA World Cup Qualifier Group F open with three clubs on six points . . .’
Imagine that – Arsenal playing in the World Cup!
The U.S. golfer, Webb Simpson, who won the U.S. Open in 2012, won a tournament in Las Vegas on Sunday, 20/10/2013. According to the morning bulletin on Sky Sports News the following day, the winner was ‘Bradley Simpson‘. (At least she didn’t say Bart!) I know a guy who knows a guy who had a bet on Webb to win. When his friend told him that he had seen on Sky that a fellow called ‘Bradley’ had won the event, he threw the docket away!
I wonder if Tiger McIlroy is playing this week.
A.S.T.I. (The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland) held a protest meeting in Dublin on Wednesday, 02/10/2013. One of the placards read: Big Classes Effects [sic X 2] Childrens [sic] Education.
It’s hard to believe that this poster with five words on it contained three grammatical errors.
(1) There shouldn’t be any ‘s‘ in the verb (Effects) for noun and verb harmony.
(2) ‘Effect‘ should be ‘Affect‘.
(3) Childrens should have an apostrophe before the s. (Children’s)
Beam us all up, Scotty!
10/10/2013: The weather forecast along the news bar on TV3’s Ireland AM read:
‘This morning will be dry with sunny sunny expecting [sic] across this country.’
And why not ‘the‘ country?
Does some journalist actually get paid to write this stuff? Was it a case of the Ireland AM news bar journalist spending too much time at the bar the night before?
R.T.E. Radio 1’s sports report, Morning Ireland, 16/10/2013
When comparing interviews that the Republic of Ireland interim soccer manager had given to both television and radio interviewers the previous night, the sports presenter commented that the interview given on radio was ‘more calmer‘ [sic] than that given on television.
There’s no need for ‘more‘ as calmer means ‘more calm‘.
Sunday Independent, 20/10/2013
A caption under a photo read:
‘…view plans for the campus, which will recieve [sic] €13m in 2014.’
The word that was always used to explain the i before e except after c spelling rule was receive. Hardly anybody ever forgot how to spell it.
The so-called rule, however, is somewhat misleading. On the one hand, one could infer that i is always placed before e when there isn’t any c before the pair. This, however, doesn’t square up with words such as being, deign, feisty, height, leisure, neighbour, seize and veil. The rule does apply to words such as biennial, diesel, field, hierarchy, lieutenant, niece, siege and view.
On the other hand, the inclusion of c before the pair of letters usually necessitates a cei grouping. Accordingly, words such as ceiling, receive, receipt, deceive and deceit are spelt with the ei sequence. (What’s common to these words is that the ei pairing makes the ee sound.)
But words such as ancient and science are exceptions – there’s no ee sound in these words.
Forget the rule. Why was such a rule devised when there are so many exceptions? There’s only one thing for it – consign it to the scrap heap. Just remember how to spell ‘receive‘.