Note to Would-be Journalists

[erikred]

Be careful how you phrase things, as this rather ghastly example from the BBC illustrates:

"Inside the tombs, the archaeologists found a cow's head carved from flint and the remains of seven people."

Ew.

Comments

[alfvaen]

Having just read _Eats, Shoots & Leaves_, I'd have to say that a comma after "flint" would've fixed that one.

Besides, I don't know how you can carve one object out of several other objects, in the first place. There would have to be some assembly in the middle there, which makes it more than carving, IMHO.

[erikred.livejournal.com]

Have you not read Iron Council by China Mieville? Perhaps there was a bit of golemry involved.

[alfvaen]

I haven't read it yet, but since I liked his last two books, and it's on the Hugo list, I'm sure I will request it at the library soon.

[ophymirage.livejournal.com]

Having just watched The Mummy and The Mummy Returns (ah, pseudo-30's-pulp movies, how I l0v3s you, that sentence made perfect sense to me, just as it is. ;-)