First-time submitter (yay!) Belinda nabbed this screenshot the other day, noting that the WP tab had the correct spelling and Google… didn’t.

I’m curious about how this happened. Does anybody know if this kind of news round-up from Google is manually curated? I’m wondering if maybe the original WP publisher used “effects” and it got put in the metadata somewhere, and when it was imported by some Google-bot the headline remained unchanged even though the WP had corrected the error.

Not that it really matters! Either way, the end result is a fingernails-on-chalkboard dichotomy that Belinda was totally right to send our way. Thanks!

[Aside: in case any of my Esteemed Readers are confused about this one, it’s easy! Just remember, one of these is a noun and one’s a verb. And if you write “the effect,” you know it’s correct because “the” ends in “e” and “effect” starts in “e.” So you know that’s the noun. See? You’re welcome.]

“Yes, we know how to spell ‘brake,’ world!  We cared enough to spell it correctly once! But we don’t care enough to make sure it’s spelled correctly the second time, and we have no problem hanging these signs right next to each other! Also, I am wearing plaid pants with a striped shirt!”

John P.’s friend apparently hoped this could mean a winter break special on brakes.  But John and I agree that that’s probably too charitable.

Reporter #1 is vigilant.  And sometimes vigilance is lonely.  Ask Batman.  Once upon a time his world was Technicolor-ful, and he hung out with Robin, and he had all those women hitting on Man of Leisure Bruce Wayne.  And now he’s all dark and broody and I mean yes the Joker is creepy but you also have to admit that Batman is really serious.

Which is why it’s nice when we hear the occasional voice in the dark.

Reporter #1 apparently got all teary when she found this in her workplace.  I don’t judge her tears.  We all need to express ourselves more.  Except for people who can’t tell the difference between “effect” and “affect.”  They shouldn’t.

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NB: Happy Thanksgiving, Americans!  More post-y goodness after the holiday weekend.  I mean, *I* will be at work as normal this week, but I assume most of my mysterious non-commenting readers won’t, so… see you Monday.  🙂

Yet another Washington Post oops brought to you by Dave S.

Nice job wielding the red pen, yo.

Until this very moment, when I tried to come up with a clever headline for this post, I never really contemplated the idiom I will now be contemplating all night.

I guess, if you’d pressed me, I would have supposed the idiom was written “What’s past is past.”  I always thought it was something like saying “What will be will be.”  Only, you know, past tense.

But as I went to write this post, I thought I’d better double-check that, because there’s nothing funnier (in the eye-stabbing way) than a grammar/spelling blogger messing up grammar or spelling, amirite?  And it occurred to me that it could really be “What’s passed is past” or “What’s past is passed.”  Although really just thinking about the distinctions between those two makes my head hurt more.

In case anybody’s curious, the GoogleBATTLE winner between those two is “passed is past,” at 21,600 to only 11,400 the other way.  On the other hand, “past is past” kicks either one to the curb at a shocking 2,000,000+ mentions.

So, yeah, anyway, the picture.

I don’t care how you spell the idiom, this right here is wrong.

Thanks to Nolan’s friend F.’s friend S.!

Oh, Chow Baby.  Your Thai Peanut Pesto sauce makes me so happy.  Your spelling doesn’t.

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A gleeful email from Kacia:

Check out the second-to-last ice cream flavor on this menu: Bear Creak Caramel!  I mean really, who doesn’t want creaky bears in their ice cream?!  Delish!

We spent the rest of the meal making creaky-bear noises.  *RAWR!-ereek!*  I think the waitress thought we’d lost our minds.

Happy Friday, all!