Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Today's amusing copyediting error

From page 314 of Fifty-to-One by Charles Ardai: In the midst of a gunfight aboard a ship, "[b]oth fell to the ground moaning."

To the deck? Sure. To the floor? Maybe? To the ground? No.

Interesting note: "Ground," in nautical terms, means "the bottom of a body of water." So, if these two fell to the "ground," they most likely were drowning. Moaning and drowning.
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2 comments:

  1. Kevin R. Tipple7:34 PM

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  2. Kevin R. Tipple7:36 PM

    My rodent killer sized dictionary also adds that it can be the surface of the water.

    Either way--they are moaning and all wet.

    Kevin
    (have typos--will comment)

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