Today a reader pointed out to me probably the worst stylistic error I've ever made as a reporter. But it wasn't as bad as it looked, I promise. Allow me to explain.
I was writing an article on the state beekeeper of the year, and I started a sentence planning to write "... he still hadn't done anything." I stopped midsentence and decided instead to write, " ... he still hadn't gotten started." But I forgot to remove the word "done" from my first start. Thus I was left with this doozy:
But a year later, he still hadn't done gotten started.
Ohhhhhhhhh no. Wow. Just wow. We'll just call it a "Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel" moment, and then we'll move on and pretend it didn't happen. Right? Right?
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3 comments:
Oh no! Where was your editor :) Maybe they'll let you put that whole explanation in the "corrections" section of the newspaper :)
I don't know, Mark. This is pretty scandalous.
I don't not see anything wrong with it.
word verify = malitruc
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