Guess their copyeditor must've eaten, shat, and left.

[yendi]

"Naturally there is concern where this new urchin came from and if it is being dredged up from the depths, the affect that may have on it's numbers."

That gem of a sentence doesn't come from a Xanga site written by a semi-literate twelve-year-old.

It's from the motherfucking BBC.

Bad enough that the sentence isn't, well, a sentence. This is a transcription, and if the speaker didn't use proper English, there's not much the writer can do.

On the other hand, getting "affect" and "it's" wrong? Oy.

ETA: As noted by chris_walsh, there's also a typo in the url. Seriously.

Comments

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

I've come across several sources that seem to be attempting to broaden the usage of "affect" to muscle into "effect" territory.

Really, they should just use my creation: "aeffect" - it slices, it dices, it's a noun, it's a verb, it can be applied to physical and emotional symptoms! It doesn't help in any way, shape, or form with "its/it's/it is" issues - your on you're own with those! =)

:: ducks to avoid exploding heads aeffected by the your/you're swap ::

[crystalrowan.livejournal.com]

Bonus points for the subject. I love that book. :)

[yendi]

I like the book, but the serial comma is my one strong religious belief, so I consider the book an heretical work.

[kizlj.livejournal.com]

this is why I snicker whenever the annual fight breaks out on Romanesko's bb about whether journalists should massage quotes for clarity. If you're doing a profile or something that focuses on individuals and their speech patterns help tell the story, then you quote verbatim. But if you're dealing with an information-focused story, and the people you're quoting are just providing more information, then clean the damn quotes. even in a Q&A, I'll throw around []s liberally and smooth grammar.

[yendi]

*nod* Readibility is important. It's also why I hate fiction that insists on being super realistic with speech patterns. "Um" is only intresting if someone's dodging a question.

[trouvera.livejournal.com]

No, no, no...read the sentence carefully.
This is apparently what he (she??) is trying to say.

The urchins where this one came from are naturally concerned that it was dredged up from the depths, and may be affected by its absence and become unable to count due to the emotional upheaval.

On the other hand, if there is concern about where this urchin came from (that is to say, "the depths") then and only then do we need to be concerned about the effects on population, because it is all about the numbers you know.

Gosh, yendi you don't read so good does you.

[yendi]

I failed me English!