Again with the verbs!

From a Kotaku article about the possibility of Infinity Ward bailing out on Modern Warfare 3:

This might because, if true, the future of the series has not yet been ironed out.

It seems someone forgot the verb again! Or it could be a failed attempt to write in slang, using "because" for the verb "be" with a common spoken contraction of "because." ("This might be, 'cause, if true...")

Source: http://kotaku.com/5443502/but-is-infinity-ward-doing-modern-warfare-3

Location, location, location!!

From today's Rooster Teeth comic:

We got so many wonderful gifts to the office this holiday, that we where overwhelmed.

Source: http://roosterteeth.com/home.php
http://roosterteeth.com/comics/strip.php?id=1519

Note: The description doesn't show up on the actual comic post, so this is probably only available on the homepage for a limited time.

Again with the homophones!

In an article in my local campus paper, the writer makes the fairly common mistake of using one homophone when the correct choice would be another. This is the root of the common "your/you're" and "its/it's" errors. In this case, the campus writer used a much more uncommon pair:

Deciding that my answer to the question is yes is a hurtle I have already jumped.

In this case, he mistook the verb form "hurtle" for the noun "hurdle," which in addition to being a different part of speech, also has a different meaning. (Though dictionary.com gives a noun usage for "hurtle," it also lists this as being archaic and referring to collisions.)

From dictionary.com, here are the most common meanings of the words:

hur⋅tle
 –verb (used without object)
1. to rush violently; move with great speed: The car hurtled down the highway.
2. to move or go noisily or resoundingly, as with violent or rapid motion: The sound was deafening, as tons of snow hurtled down the mountain.
3. Archaic. to strike together or against something; collide.


hur⋅dle
–noun
1. a portable barrier over which contestants must leap in certain running races, usually a wooden frame with a hinged inner frame that swings down under impact to prevent injury to a runner who does not clear it.
2. hurdles, (used with a singular verb) a race in which contestants must leap over a number of such barriers placed at specific intervals around the track. Compare high hurdles, low hurdles.
3. any of various vertical barriers, as a hedge, low wall, or section of fence, over which horses must jump in certain types of turf races, as a steeplechase, but esp. an artificial barrier.
4. a difficult problem to be overcome; obstacle.
5. Chiefly British. a movable rectangular frame of interlaced twigs, crossed bars, or the like, as for a temporary fence.
6. a frame or sled on which criminals, esp. traitors, were formerly drawn to the place of execution.
–verb (used with object)
7. to leap over (a hurdle, barrier, fence, etc.), as in a race.
8. to master (a difficulty, problem, etc.); overcome.
9. to construct with hurdles; enclose with hurdles.
–verb (used without object)
10. to leap over a hurdle or other barrier.

Source: http://oudaily.com/news/2009/sep/09/column-can-someone-be-religious-and-still-practice/

Dictionary.com:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hurtle
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hurdle

They're really just making excuses, and bad ones, at that!

In a follow-up to a post I wrote a while back, D3 Publisher has "explained" the typo in their name. Apparently it was supposed to be some kind of play on words, but even that explanation doesn't make sense.

The Kotaku response to this statement pretty much sums it up:
"Purlisher" is a pun on "Publisher" — not a very good one, and one that would have also been viewed as a misspelling. It has nothing to do with puppy dogs.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5440276/d3-publisher-spelling-mistake-explained

All in a "Daisies" work

Drew from Back of the Cereal Box wrote a great article about names in the TV show "Pushing Daisies." As with any writing of this length, Drew's article does contain a few mistakes.

After discussing the doubling in names of characters, Drew goes on to say:
The episode “Pigeon” features a different sort of doubling Elsa and her daughter Elsita, both of whom are played by the same actress, the very appealing Jayma Mays, who’s now on Glee and whose own name features an internal duplication of vowel sounds.
A colon would be required here, between stating the fact that doubling occurs and naming the specific instance.

He goes on to discuss a commanding character named Simone:
In that sense, I’m betting that that her creators has titular dictator of the game Simon Says in mind when they dreamed her up.
This is a case of simple subject-verb agreement, as the plural subject "creators" demands a plural verb, in this case "have." More specifically, the tense of the verb also comes into question. This is a past event, so we would need a past tense "had."

Source: http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/09/naming-conventions-in-pushing-daisies.html