edittorrent: Kindle ad

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Kindle ad

I was really, really considering asking for a Kindle (e-reader) for Xmas. Then in the advertisement for said Kindle, I discovered a dangling modifier:

Just over a third of an inch in profile, you'll find Kindle DX fits perfectly in your hands.

The horror, the horror.

Maybe by Christmas, I'll be over this.

You probably think I'm joking.
Alicia

17 comments:

Skeptic said...: Oh don't let the marketing "genius" at Amazon kill the greatness of the Kindle before you even have one! I am so addicted to mine. It's the best thing that could ever happen to the avid reader who works night shift. ;); July 8, 2009 at 1:48 AM
Edittorrent said...: Well, I'm trying to decide if this is worth one of my letters. I don't want to get burned out, and there are all those "Great Used Car's" signs to decry first.
Alicia; July 8, 2009 at 6:21 AM
Riley Murphy said...: You'd never joke about something this serious. Hilarious!
Do you think if you sent a copy of the original ad with a red pen correction the company would be as mortified or ashamed as you think they should be? Or, do you think they'd shrug it off figuring that you're just some grammar nerd being picky? Of course, now that you’ve exposed their poorly written ad to all the people who read this blog - they may be more inclined to pay attention to your complaint. My advice? Copy this post along with the other ones that deal with those pesky dangling modifiers and you know? They might just send you a Kindle for free (providing you mention how polite and prompt they were in handling your complaint). Because if I were on the end and received your letter, complete with copies of numerous blog posts and stuff like that, I’d be looking into who this grammar freak...um, I mean person;) was and when I discovered it was the famous ‘Not The Other Evil Woman, Alicia’? I’d comp you one for sure. After all, if you liked it (which you will) you’d probably mention that fact on the blog occasionally, and that would be great for sales, right?

At the end of the day? What do you have to lose? I get the feeling it ain’t much for you to sit down and pen a scathing letter to anyone - least of all someone, who has no doubt paid someone, to bastardized the English language. The horror! How have you been able to sleep? Come on, admit it. I know this has probably kept you up at nights. I mean, it’s a half year later and you’re still miffed? Again, hilarious!; July 8, 2009 at 8:46 AM
Jordan said...: I swear, ads are the worst for dangling modifiers!

We have a couple local commercials here with the mayor of a nearby ski resort town. One is okay, but in the other one, he says:

"As mayor of Park City, people often ask me . . ."

I didn't realize "mayor" was a collective noun.; July 8, 2009 at 10:07 AM
MitMoi said...: So let's see if I'm learning anything.

Just over a third of an inch in profile, you'll find Kindle DX fits perfectly in your hands.

Should be:

You'll find the Kindle DX, at just a third of an inch in profile, fits perfectly in your hands.

or could you fix it by just adding:

At just over a third of an inch in profile < strike >you'll find< /strike > the Kindle DX fits perfectly in your hands.

Or do I still need to work on my skills?; July 8, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Jami Gold said...: Oh MitMoi, You beat me to it!

Alicia has turned me into a dangling-modifier-seeking missile. I still don't know if I'm catching all of them in my edits, but I'm trying - I'm really trying.

Jami G; July 8, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Anonymous said...: That's right!

I'm afraid that if I sent the letter, they'd just think I was a crank. Tom Brokaw thinks of me that way. I used to send him letters telling him to start using complete sentences, or else.
A; July 8, 2009 at 1:50 PM
MitMoi said...: Sorry Jami G :( I can only fix it if it's pointed out to me. So it appears you're head of the game!; July 8, 2009 at 2:37 PM
Riley Murphy said...: Tom Brokaw? Really? Now, that's funny!; July 8, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Julie Harrington said...: And now I'm reminded of the Typo Eradication Advancement League. :)

JT; July 8, 2009 at 3:55 PM
em said...: Write a letter. If it bothers you that much I would:). Has it really been that that long?; July 8, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Alicia, you've made my day :) I'm still giggling!

I really like Murphy's red pen correction idea.; July 8, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Laura K. Curtis said...: I think they were actually commenting on your fabulously slim profile. Since you're so tiny, you need a small reading device!; July 9, 2009 at 6:02 PM
Unknown said...: I'm glad that I am not the only one who gets bothered by these things.:)
You go girl!!! And if you're going to use Murph's red pen correction idea? Do it with flare.:); July 9, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Edittorrent said...: All these years of friendship between us, and this is the first I'm hearing of your attempts to school Brokaw. I feel cheated somehow.

Theresa; July 9, 2009 at 9:59 PM
Edittorrent said...: Theresa, Brokaw had this terrible habit of using absolutes rather than sentences.
The Middle East heating up.
Baseball players on strike again.
Unemployment numbers up into the stratosphere as stock market plunging.

So I would watch a newscast and jot down the most egregious ones and send them to him, corrected into clauses, and gently suggest that he should try harder to add in the occasional predicate.

No answer. Of course. Those anchorpeople are thin-skinned. They want to believe they're intellectuals. Ha!

I saw him as a guest on some talk-show last month, and he's STILL DOING IT. I almost wrote him again, but you know, pearls before swine. Why waste my time?

Let that be a warning. No one wants to get my dander up. I am relentless.
Alicia; July 10, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Riley Murphy said...: You say: 'saw him as a guest on some talk-show last month, and he's STILL DOING IT. I almost wrote him again, but you know, pearls before swine. Why waste my time?'

Oh. My. God. That's me!

Alicia, I am so happy to be in great company. I'll be the second one on the petition of the complaint. COME ON, I'll do it.:D
Murphy

Question though, 'anchorpeople' one word?; July 10, 2009 at 7:47 PM