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

From Gizmodo, posting about a recent development showing possible healing properties of a blue dye:

This rat's skin is blue and its color may be the secret to avoid spinal cord injuries and paralysis.

Here, the verb needs to be in the present progressive form: avoiding.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5324102/this-blue-rat-may-have-the-secret-to-avoid-spinal-cord-injuries

The download only game, developed by DICE, launched on July 8 for $15 and included a map and mode that had to be unlocked through the communal effort of everyone playing the game.

Compound adjectives like "download-only" should be hyphenated.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5321078/battlefield-1943-breaks-digital-records

How cliche can you get?

Here's another its/it's debacle:

While the source material and it's use in a game still doesn't sit well with me, the setting is rich, deep and, if you trust this video, being fully explored.

Also, the compound subject here is plural (source material and its use), requiring a plural verb.

Later, the article finishes with this sentence;

Now about those Doggy-Style enemy creatures.

While it is apparent that the author is trying to mimic speech patterns, this is not punctuated correctly. The correct punctuation for such a thought trailing off is the ellipsis.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5311428/dantes-inferno-lust-level-could-have-been-packed-with-sex

You keep using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means...

The local campus paper has done it again:

Even though Adrian Peterson made a trip to his old stomping grounds this past weekend to coach children in the fundamentals of football, he said that coming to Norman brought back memories of his days as a Sooner.

That introduction "even though" implies that there is some kind of contradiction coming. Here, that is not the case. Preferable would be something along the lines of "When..."

Source: http://oudaily.com/news/2009/jun/29/peterson-reflects-sooners-career/

Questionable Content gets it!

Looking through the archives of webcomic Questionable Content, I found this gem (click the image to enlarge):



Source: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=360