Editor's Corner

Good morning, everyone. Kara prepared the following article and asked me to send it out for her since she is enjoying some European PTO. Enjoy!

Hello, folks. Today I’m taking you back to July 15, 2017. This is a portion of a column written by Richard Lederer called, “Be Careful Not to Dangle Your Participles in Public.” It’s from his column in the San Diego Union-Tribune, and I hope it provides you with some laughs.

The AP Press Guide to News Writing advises: “The language has many ways to trip you up, most deviously through a modifier that turns up in the wrong place. Don’t let related ideas in a sentence drift apart. Modifiers should be close to the word they purport to modify.”

Here’s a police lineup of modifiers that have gone wrong: I guarantee you that each specimen is genuine, certified, authentic and unretouched.

• “We spent most of our time sitting on the back porch watching the cows playing Scrabble and reading.”
• “In The Valley Between a prim teacher flees from a runaway bull clad only in his underwear,” a book review informs us.
• “A Muncie woman has been sentenced to 10 days in jail after driving a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of twice the legal limit.”

And on and on it goes:

• With his tail held high, my father led his prize bull around the arena.
• Doctors were giving Michael Jackson propofol to help him sleep up to 12 years before his death.
• Damaged by bat droppings and lying under a film of dirt in a cave near the Ein Gede Oasis, the Bedouin pocketed the manuscripts and began an arduous bidding process with Professor Eshel.
• The famous animal trainer, Keller Breeland, was the first person to use B.F. Skinner’s work to train performing animals along with his wife, Marian.
• The city council has put a proposal to designate a place for homeless people to congregate and sleep on the back burner.
• A screaming intruder made it onto the front lawn of the White House Sunday while President George W. Bush was at home before being apprehended by Secret Service officers.
• Oregon famers cannot remove a wolf caught in the act of attacking livestock without a permit.
• Two white men with their faces covered with pistols entered and demanded access to the cash register.
• Aided by a thousand eyes, the author explains how ants navigate and how they use dead reckoning.
• Amber was escorted by her father wearing a strapless silk wedding gown designed by Maria Lanting and carrying a tropical flower bouquet.
• The dog was hungry and made the mistake of nipping a two-year-old that was trying to force feed it in his ear.
• French mastiffs, also known as dogues de Bordeaux or Bordeaux bulldogs, are fighting dogs with big heads that can weigh more than 50 kilograms. [KC – 110 lbs.]

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editing Requests

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.