#sn&r

[streetartsf]

Chuck alug

Unknown

Downtown Sacramento, Ca

Lots of interesting sac news and review boxes scattered around Sacramento.

[thegaypothead]

Wake n bake

[matthewmalone]

Copy Edit: Reported to the Department of Redundancy Department

Nothing’s ungrammatical about “light-speed radio waves” in the first screenshot, but it is redundant. Radio waves are light, and light must move at light speed. So “light-speed” adds no meaning to this phrase.

My 2 percents

The second screenshot incorrectly describes the statistics on Californians who considered moving because of housing costs. Take a look at the data referenced:

Where would you likely relocate?

Considered another state: 25%

Considered another part of California: 14%

Considered another place in same area: 9%

Considered another country: 2%

Have not considered moving: 44%

Don’t know: 6%

That “1 in 4” figure for people who considered moving out of state is out of the overall sample, not just the 56 percent who considered relocating. One could correct the sentence in a couple of ways:

Change “1 in 4” – Of the 56 percent of voters who said they’ve considered moving, nearly half said they’d relocate out of state if they did.

Rephrase to allow “1 in 4” – Of the voters surveyed, 1 in 4 said they’ve considered relocating out of state.

I prefer the second choice for using a figure easily derived from the chart. The first option, while it keeps much of the original sentence, requires a reader to add up percentages and compare the sum to one of those same percentages.

On a different note, I don’t know whether the number agreement in that sentence is right. The AP Stylebook doesn’t say whether a “1 in n” phrase takes singular or plural agreement. I tweeted at the stylebook’s Twitter account about it and will update if I get an answer.

Note: Corrections are based on the AP Stylebook. The organizations included in this post follow AP style to the best of my knowledge but may have in-house modifications.

Sources:

    Andseron, Scott Thomas. “Of clans and culture: Aerospace engineer turned writer of Irish tales sees warnings ahead.” Sacramento News & Review, 14 Sept. 2017. https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/of-clans-culture-aerospace/content?oid=25007678. Accessed 17 Sept. 2017.

    Barrow, Bill. “GOP governors launch ‘news’ site critics call propaganda.” The Associated Press, 19 Sept. 2017. https://apnews.com/f97fbf53c0c84468ae046f861ecf3b64. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

    Greenwood, Max. “House Dems call on Trump to negotiate lower prices for opioid overdoses.” The Hill, 19 Sept. 2017. http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/351366-house-dems-call-on-trump-to-negotiate-lower-prices-for-opioid-overdose. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

    Hart, Angela. “California exodus? Poll finds voters consider moving due to sky-high housing costs.” The Sacramento Bee, 18 Sept. 2017. http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article174026561.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

    Hill, The. “Fox News host Sean Hannity is blaming the ‘failure’ of …” Facebook, 15 Sept. 2017, 8:50 p.m. PDT. https://www.facebook.com/TheHill/posts/10155277649544087. Accessed 17 Sept. 2017.

[screaming-pants]