The Wrong Word Entirely, # 109

A very odd use of a word here, in a sentence whose grammar is also dubious:

Source: Rugby Observer, ‘Violent Attacker to be Deported after Prison’ (19 May, 2016), p. 9; and online

suspect remains outstanding [+hoped that he may still be identified]

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 108

Des Pond of Slough muses: ‘Ideal for onion-sellers?’

Living France, 299 (April, 2016), p. 13

peddling for pedalling

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 107

Des Pond of Slough reads an article on the European Referendum, and asks: ‘Does Brexit mean giving up speaking English?’

Link: The Telegraph, ‘EU to Launch Kettle and Toaster Crackdown after Brexit Vote’

convict for commit

You Cannot Be Serious, # 70

While we’re on the topic of dental care, here is a puzzling choice of adjective — twice:

therapeutic taste

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 103

Dr Faustus is unimpressed by what he calls an ‘insensitive mangle’ (though the insensitivity arguably begins with the headline, and ‘insensitive’ seems too generous a term):

Link: BBC News, ‘Memorial Service for Ben Nevis Death Climber Tim Newton’

exhibitions for expeditions

You Cannot Be Serious, # 66

This writer seems to be mixing up very different literary personae:

Link: Cosmopolitan, ‘26 things you didn’t know about Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’

hyde for hide

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 101

Unjust and incorrect!

Link: The New Times [Rwanda], ‘Cashless Bus Fair System Should Be Made Optional’

fair for fare

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 99

A Good Friday mangle from the food database of a fitness website. It is not ultimately clear whether the misnaming of the foodstuff is due to a typographical error or to genuine confusion, but, as a bonus, the the name of the source is mangled too:

Link: myfitnesspal, ‘Calories in Wait rose Diet hot cross bum’

Wait rose Diet hot cross bum

Multimangle, # 46

The first of a short series of seasonal mangles. Today’s come from a blog that seems to have been created quite recently. The author is not identified.

Link: Happy Easter Bunnies Chocolate Rabbit Photos & Pictures 2016,
‘Happy Easter Sunday Activities For Children’s 2016’

Celebrations on the holy week; Munday Thursday; last super; So friends we hope that you have done all the latest all the latest collection for you. faces on near and dear ones

Handritten, # 6

Gary Hazell is surprised by a description on the board of tasting notes for guest ales at the Gluepot public house in Swindon:

larger bitterness

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 95

I’ve saved this recent submission from Mo Juste for the anniversary of the last time he sent in an example of what may be the mangle that most annoys him:

Link: Udiscover, ‘The Godfathers of British Blues’

Mo Juste comments: ‘I can see that you’d write “You shouldn’t underestimate what Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner…”, but surely “It’s impossible to overestimate what Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner…” is what the writer meant.’

underestimate for overestimate

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 92

This was submitted by John Holloway, with the caption ‘Horseplay at Skyscanner?’ It is a companion mangle to one featured last year (12 April, 2014). It may be a typographical error; this time there is certainly no possibility of allowing it as an eggcorn:

Link: Skyscanner, ‘Carry on: readers’ opinions on cabin luggage restrictions’

confusion reins

Multimangle, # 25

This extract from a Co-operative in-store/staff circular, which comes via Dr Faustus, displays a wide range of mangles, including — but not limited to — misspellings, non-viable syntax, acyrologia and random punctuation:

there for their; trailed for trialled; evolve for involve; everyday for every day; we re set; incomplete sentence

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 84

It’s hard to tell whether this error is the journalist’s or the bank’s, although surely the former should have corrected it anyway. Since t and p are not adjacent on the keyboard, it’s probably not a typographical error, and is more likely to be a mondegreen or eggcorn since, when sounded with a glottal stop, the wrong word can barely, if at all, be distinguished from the correct word. Similar errors in published writing and in students’ written work suggest that this is becoming an increasingly common problem.

Link: The Sunday Times (subscription access only), ‘Scandal of the missing cash from dormant RBS account’

upmost for utmost

Not Washed or Cooked, # 242

A barely subliminal secondary message may be embedded here — or perhaps it’s just a mangle:

destory for destroy

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 82

Dr Faustus has come upon this erroneous word before in formal literature on journalism courses. This version, on the right, comes with some clunky syntax and bad punctuation, on the left, and can be found in a study programme issued by The National Council for the Training of Journalists:

Link: NCTJ.com, ‘NQJ News Report – Programme of Study 2014-15’

Although the NCTJ is a British association, the document also uses practice as a verb throughout. It appears that at least some of the many mangles of British journalism are actually being taught…

effects for affects; practice for practise

Spellchecking Is Never Enough, # 188

A pair of instructions from the walls of the National Defence Academy, Shrivenham, submitted by Vice-Commodore Pugwash:

faulty for faulty; [any for a]; [syntax]; comma for full stop

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 81

There are various mangles and oddities in this extract from an email sent in May by eBay, including some missing articles and some illogical verb tenses. The key issue is the word ‘language’, which is used rather strangely throughout. The last two paragraphs in particular seem to require something more specific, such as ‘terminology’ or ‘terms‘:

additional language, new language &c; missing articles; incorrect verb tenses

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 80

This subheading compounds its confusing mangle with confusing syntax, but clarity of expression could be achieved by a simple restructuring — easily done via cut-and-paste:

Link: The Telegraph, ‘NHS wasting millions on expensive hip replacements’

basis for basics

The Wrong Word Entirely, # 79

When the details are revealed, this headline proves to be using the wrong adjective:

Link: The Telegraph, ‘Fraudulent doctor […]’

fraudulent for fake