Oprah, if you're going to be a media floozie, at least punctuate correctly! Try an Oxford comma -- it'll help you punctuate beautifully. Also try parallel punctuation. That is, either use two commas or two dashes to set off a parenthetical clause-- not one of each. 

Submitted by Ian Cummings

This submission comes at an appropriate time. Check out the most recent Featured Boobery as well as the Education page to learn more about this hideous apostrophe error. 
Submitted by Nathan Cummings

Comma splices are not soothing. Neither is pronoun/verb disagreement. So, no, I will not relax. 

Submitted by SAGB members Ian Cummings and Peter Cowal

The National Enquirer is written by boobs who don't know how to use apostrophes? Who would've thought it?? 

As if being obsessed with avoiding a few wrinkles weren't boobery enough, the folks at Strivectin went ahead and committed grammatical boobery as well. The package should read, "More Science. Fewer Eye Lines." 

Here's the scoop: if there's an "s," don't use "less." There are a few exceptions to that general rule (like feet, a plural without an 's'). But without exception, countable things need "fewer." If the noun is not countable/counted, then "less" is correct. 


For example,
Oprah has less time to herself these days now that she's launching a network. // Oprah has fewer friends these days now that she's launching a network. 

This is a classic mistake. When combining a dependent clause with an independent one, one must consider the punctuation. The pattern is DC + comma + IC or IC + DC (with no comma). 

The Society is not concerned by the lack of capitalization in the sentence, however. 


Submitted by Jill Ginsberg

I wish I had found this website before my first featured boobery on the grammar blow-hards who blow hard incorrectly. This company claims that its program is the world's most accurate, but The Society does not agree. The evidence is clear: 

In the first example, Stella combines two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction but no comma. She does this twice. 

In the second example, the problem is less obvious. Does the tool catch plagiarism mistakes or just plagiarism? The sentence pictured above indicates plagiarism mistakes (oh no -- I didn't plagiarize correctly!). If this were the intended meaning, then the punctuation mistake would be the missing Oxford comma. However, it's highly unlikely the author intended this meaning. Therefore, the correct sentence is this: "...not only catches plagiarism and grammar and style mistakes, but also..." because plagiarism is the first thing, and grammar and style mistakes are the second. That is, there are only two items in the list, which does not necessitate a comma. Either way, this sentence is wrong and proves that no program replaces a truly knowledgable human brain. 

Submitted by Wilson Captein 

"One for the Girl's..."

Submitted by Jill Ginsberg (from travels in Ireland -- Americans aren't the only boobs!)

And what's with the capital A of "Always"? 

Submitted by Jill Ginsberg.