Rein of ErrorThe local media can be counted on to never disappoint, so the Grammar Cop is back after noticing this Daily Herald headline:
State senate candidate refutes Grayslake trustee's accusationThis faux pas is not a malapropism on the scale of a refudiate, ala Sarah Palin. Operatives will recall that the word refute is defined as ...
re·fute /rɪˈfyut/However those reading the Daily Herald story and expecting to witness the spectacle of a Grayslake trustee's sophistry soundly disproved by the superior logic of a State Senate candidate, will be disappointed.
–verb (used with object), -fut·ed, -fut·ing.
1. to prove to be false or erroneous, as an opinion or charge.
According to the Herald, State Senate candidate Suzi Schmidt and Grayslake trustee Ron Jarvis had a minor dustup on the mean streets of suburban Grayslake. Jarvis overheard Schmidt tell some neighbors that the municipality of Grayslake takes a 10 percent bite out of their property tax bill. (The actual figure is 4 percent.) Schmidt maintains she said that municipalities on average take 10 percent.
In saying so, did Schmidt refute Jarvis? Or is this just a case of He Said/She Said? You be the judge ...
No grammar cop's job is done until the red-pencil is sicced on the offending construction. However, your LakeCountyEye is not quite sure what the Herald intended to convey. Here are ten leading conjectures, with the questionable word refute replaced with a more appropriate choice.
He Said / She Said?
He Said
She Said
| Ten Headlines that the Herald may have Intended |
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Your LakeCountyEye will be cruisin' the Root 53 Extension. Look for the natty dresser in the zoot suit.
3 comments:
It's too bad the DH didn't do a little more homework and note that, notwithstanding the fact that Bond said that Jarvis was not "working" for his campaign (which by itself shows that Bond was a little defensive), Jarvis is a long-time Bond supporter who contributed at least $1000 to Bond's senate and short-lived Congressional campaigns.
Once again, Team America let's the lie go, looking instead for some nefarious connection. And to think TA is a LAWYER! Go figure. And the important homework the DH could have done was as to whether Suzi was totally wrong, which she was.
Suzi's been going to the doorsteps lying her little face off about taxes, about the recall vote, about road projects, and just about anything else she says. and what is obviously absent from Suzi's campaign is a plan. even a clue would be nice, but she has neither.
Oh, and while TA's at it, perhaps he can check who the adjacent property owners are for the last 5 big Forest Preserve District purchases. Could it be that Suzi knows the GOP is about to lose the county board and it's pay-off time for all her friends? Perhaps not. That would require a lawyer interested in uncovering real conflicts of interest and real corruption, not just one of Suzi's nasty little minions.
hi TA,
Everybody's in bed with everybody over on that side of the County.
-BB-
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