Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Criminal Sentence 34: To Ire or To Irk?

From a Web headline:

"Slow batter ires Big Unit"

(FYI, "Big Unit" is a nickname for pitcher Randy Johnson, who is 6'10".)

The verb here should be "irks," which means "annoys." "Ire" is a noun that means "anger."

A new headline:

Lack of Dictionary Use Irks Copyeditor
at

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2008 at 1:58 PM

    "Ire" may quite be what is meant. A pitcher simply being irked, or annoyed, probably wouldn't make news. Or are you displeased with "irk" as a verb?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Sentence SleuthSeptember 16, 2008 at 2:10 PM

    I like "to irk" as a verb. I often feel irked when I read poor grammar! You too?!
    You could also say, "raises my ire." Perhaps that is what the writer meant but it didn't fit in the space for the headline.

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