Monday, September 14, 2009

Proofreading is a dying art...

This landed in my email box the other day. I don’t know who to attribute the newspaper headlines to, but they were too funny to keep to myself. The following also serves to remind us that proofreading should be a top priority. Our readers may not always interpret our words the way we meant them. I can’t take credit for the pithy comments under each one, either.


Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter
Quite an accomplishment!

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
No crap, really? Ya think?

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Now that's taking things a bit far!

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy!

Miners Refuse to Work after Death
Good-for-nothing lazy so-and-so's!

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works any better than a fair trial!

War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect!

If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Ya think?

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought!

Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?

Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge!

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren't they fat enough?

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans!

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Do they taste like chicken?

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again!

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that right?

I hope these brought a smile to your day.

26 comments:

  1. Thanks Laura - I laughed and laughed and laughed :)

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  2. "Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half"

    Pfft. Not just Chainsaw Massacre, but pretty much every slasher pic ever!

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  3. It's pretty sad that some of these got past whomever was in charge of proof reading (though perhaps a few may have been intentional, for laughs). A good chuckle!

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  4. These are so funny. Thanks for starting out my day with a good laugh :-)

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  5. It brought a laugh to my morning, thanks!

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  6. Lol, those are great!

    Made my morning. Thanks for sharing. :)

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  7. Those were so funny - what a great way to start the day laughing.

    On another note - I passed on to you the Literary Blogger Award today.

    Helen
    Straight From Hel

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  8. Quick, send these to Leno! They're great. Thanks for the laughs.
    ~jon

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  9. Arf. very good. I life the 7foot doctors best.

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  10. Too funny, thanks for posting.

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  11. What a hoot, Laura. Visiting from Helen's blog. Great blog of your own. Come visit mine sometimes. LOL

    I'll mark yours as a favorite.

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  12. You gotta love these. I laughed outloud. Thanks for posting them. I'm going to Tweet this.

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  13. Oh boy! These were fun. I love the image of a bridge held up by bright red ribbons.

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  14. So funny. Love the kids make good snacks.

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  15. way to funny laura

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  16. I'm so glad that you all could share a laugh with me. :) Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment. It goads me on to greater heights... Uh, Oh

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  17. OMG, you're hilarious! I especially loved the gassy astronaut and kids snacks. Thanks.

    Lynnette Labelle
    http://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com

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  18. These are hysterical. Found you from Helen's blog. Glad I did. Thanks.
    karen

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  19. Those are brilliant. I will take a copy of those to use with my adult English class for when we deal with newspaper headlines and the dangers of ambiguity in what you write.

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  20. ROFL!!!! I loved this! Thanks for brightening my day!

    April
    http://cafeofdreams.blogspot.com

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  21. Thank you all for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate it.

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  22. Clearly I'm late to the party, Laura. Maybe I'm strange, but the Veterinarian headline had me in stitches. Thank you for sharing these proofreading bloopers.

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  23. You can be as late as you want, Stephen. The party will never be closed to you. Thanks for stopping by!

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  24. I've seen these before, but I smiled again! I do a considerable amount of copyediting -- it's amazing what ends up on my computer screen to fix!

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