Killing and raping a ten-year old girls

I hope it was only a singular girl.

Autism leading to higher hydro bills?

Yet another link fail.

who then smashing a window

My best guess: "who are then seen smashing a window" mis-edited to "who then smashed a window".

Dakar or Daka?

The Star is once again having trouble differentiating between Dakar, Senegal and Dhaka (formerly Dacca), Bangladesh.

The story is clearly about Dakar, but the photo caption reads "Daka".  (I suppose it might have been a typo, since it's missing the "h".)

(How important is the distinction?  This unlucky couple inadvertently flew to the wrong city!)

Wonka or Wonca?

Looks a little wonky to me...

Star's Public Editor talks typos

Sadly, no mention to this blog!

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/public_editor/2013/10/25/typos_wont_go_away_no_matter_how_we_try_public_editor.html

Hyperlink huh?

On incident involving an icy driveway

Maybe "on" is a hybrid of "one" and "an"?

Photos released son Monday

The strange this is that this is a Reuters article, which has been reprinted elsewhere without the error: http://www.iol.co.za/news/back-page/a-colourful-day-of-crime-1.1585073#.UksFrdKsiSo.

Potatoe?

Seriously?  C'mon, a fifth-grader would know better!  The "e" is only added to "potato" when making the word plural ("potatoes").

Citrus salad = vitamin C supplement?

This is a departure from our usual typos and technical errors, but it was so maddening I couldn't resist.

This is another example of the photo and caption not matching the text of the article.  The article states that "men who take high-dose vitamin C supplements may be at added risk of developing kidney stones".  However the stock photo and its caption would have you believe that "citrus salad could be a kidney stone in the making". 

As a mild health-nut myself,  I think it's reckless of the Star to equate healthy, natural food with high-dose supplements.  I hope no one avoids vitamin C rich foods thanks to the unfounded insinuations in this caption.

 

Police "not entitled to use unlimited force to affect an arrest"

Numerous news reports today are quoting a court decision "A police officer is not entitled to use unlimited force to affect an arrest"; e.g., The Globe and Mail (below), Global News, and CTV News.  (The Star's story doesn't carry the quotation, but I don't have separate blogs for calling out other news sites!)

I haven't seen the decision yet but I'm assuming that this is a direct quotation.  In any case, I'm pretty sure the correct word here is "effect" (see http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/affect.html).

Interestingly, CBC News quotes the word "effect".  Did they quote it inaccurately?  Or is it OK to fix an obvious error in the source being quoted?  Or should the other news outlets have used [sic] to exculpate themselves from the mistake (and embarrass Madam Justice Louise Botham)?

An unelected boy of people?

I refuse to believe Mr. Marchese didn't actually say "body of people".

sppearing

Ottawa, the capitol of Canada

The correct word here would have been "capital", which, as a noun, can mean (1) a city that is the seat of the government for a country or state, or (2) an amount of money or property; and, as an adjective, can mean (1) an uppercase letter, (2) first rate, excellent, or (3) main, principal.

Capitol, on the other hand, is the (actual) building where U.S. Congress meets.  Its white dome is depicted in the logo of record label Capital Records -- and that's about where its usage ends.  Perhaps because of its association with the U.S. capital, the two words are often confused.  They may even have the same roots, but capitol is derived from Latin Capitolium, temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill in ancient Rome (which probably looked nothing like the United States Capitol does today).

Maybe the senate reference left the Star writer in a Roman state of mind!  

References:
http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/capital_capitol.htm
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=capitol&searchmode=none
http://www.learnlangs.com/latin/lessons/9.htm
http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/

Storm knocks out power to condo air condition

For readers outside of Ontario, people here call electricity "hydro" (from back when it came almost exclusively from hydroelectric dams and the provincial power company was called Ontario Hydro).  

Police perform an illegal arest

Yet another typo in a photo caption.

Doors and widows replaced with stylish new ones

The 90 year old homeowner probably replaced her windows, unless she collects unmarried women who have been predeceased by their spouses.  

Time to stop capitalizing "Internet"?

This might not be a clear-cut error, but I couldn't resist...

The internet is no longer a bewildering newfangled phenomenon meriting squiggly red underlines in MS Word when uncapitalized.  It's now just another generic thing, like the mail, the library or the ether.  Let's resist our inner German and not unnecessarily capitalize nouns.*

Further reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/29/weekinreview/29SCHW.html

*Or adjectives, like in this quotation!

See bright yellow and xxx homes on California bike tour

My guess is that the "xxx" is a remnant from a placeholder in a draft or an editorial comment.

Star gets names Kris-Krossed

In a story about a real estate lawsuit, one litigant is described as "Marsha Kriss" throughout most of the article, but is called "Marsha Kris" in one instance.  (I checked the decision and Kriss is correct.)

Star confused by Dakar/Dhaka mix-up

The headline says that a couple was sent to Dakar, Senegal instead of Dhaka, Bangladesh:

But the article describes a couple who flew from Los Angeles and found themsleves on their way to to Dhaka, Bangladesh instead of their intended destination of Dakar, Senegal:

I suppose the blooper is equally hilarious either way, but sloppy reporting nonetheless.

No duty to advice tenants

Advice is a noun; advise is a verb.  And the Star can't blame the quoted speaker, since it's a spoken (and not written) statement that's being quoted. 

Nauru is the only country with a capital?

A quick look at the source (http://www.garfors.com/2013/01/the-25-least-visited-countries-in-world.html) confirms that Nauru is actually (supposedly) the only country in the world without a capital.  (Whew, I nearly had to unlearn a lot of high school geography!)

Political issies?

"Issues" was probably the intended word.

Special guest: National Post

My understanding is that "aid" as a noun means assistance (like a hearing aid).  While an aid might be a person (athough it's usually a thing), if it's a person in position of a helper (or confidante, in this case), then the person is an "aide".

Two National Post bloopers in one day -- I might have to re-name this blog!

Special guest: National Post

An unfortunate "inncident" in the National Post.

Seeing double

Looks like the Star is still having trouble with links.

Take nothe of this error

Surely "noting" is the intended word.

Link fail

Looks like the Star is still trying to get the hang of this hyperlink thing.

Farther or further?

I think the Star should have used "further" here, but there's room for debate so let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say this isn't necessarily an error.

Most grammar nerds say farther means "more far" (as in distance), while further means "more extreme" or "deeper" (in a metaphorical sense).  Some say farther is archaic and should no longer be used.  And a few say who cares, both are interchangeable.

The plane was "taxing"?

Anyone who has flown on a plane is probably familiar with this sense of the word of taxi: "to cause (an aircraft) to move along the ground under its own power, esp before takeoff and after landing" (Collins).

Much like the verb "to ski", I think the past tense should have two i's.  (Collins agrees: "Word forms: taxies, taxiing, taxying, taxied".)

A comprise-heavy budget

"Comprise" is a verb (only), meaning to include to be composed of.  The intended word was probably "compromise".

Not against state statue

This looked like an obvious error at first -- surely, "statute" is the intended word.  But I Googled "Kansas statue" just to be sure that the state's laws don't in fact come from a law-giving statue.  While I found no evidence of this, I did find a news story describing a controversial sculpture as a "statute"!
http://fox4kc.com/2012/09/04/next-move-group-against-partially-nude-statue-turns-in-petition/

Could it be that "statue" and "statute" have reversed meanings in Kansas?  Maybe laws in Kansas really are made by inanimate objects -- after all, this is the state that tried to repeal evolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_evolution_hearings

Undermining my vocabulary self-confidence even further, other news stories also quote the spokeswoman as using the word "statue", but maybe that's because the original source got it wrong.  In the end, I'm sticking with calling this an error.