Flower Shops Arlington Heights IL

Arlington Heights IL Press

Grammar Moses: When details don't matter, why provide them?

TV reporter meant to convey, which was something different. If you haven't caught the gaffe yet, Laquan McDonald was killed just once. Tom Roth of Arlington Heights was a copy editor in college. He sent me an old Daily Herald clipping after underlining this sentence, which has eerie similarities to the Laquan sentence: "Frederich and Wilhemina had 10 children on the farm where they raised horses and sold them to Chicago brickyards for labor there." This was a piece about the 1800s. Who knew that in those days parents sold their children to the Chicago brickyards for labor? The TV news reporter could have easily fixed her problem by saying, "Officer Van Dyke shot Laquan McDonald 16 times, killing him." And whoever wrote the history piece could have benefited from splitting the run-on sentence into two: "Frederich and Wilhemina had 10 children on the farm. The family raised horses and sold them to Chicago brickyards for labor there." I also would have questioned the spelling of Wilhemina. Ordinarily, it's Wilhelmina. Write carefully! • Jim Baumann is assistant vice president/managing editor of the Daily Herald. Write him at jbaumann@dailyherald.com. Put Grammar Moses in the subject line. You also can friend or follow Jim at facebook.com/baumannjim. http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151212/news/151219612/