Another Badly Written Sentence

It’s almost a headline…

Fragments of rotating turbine parts penetrated one side of the plane’s fuselage before passing through to the other. 

https://interestingengineering.com/massive-russian-an-124-condor-slides-off-the-runway-after-engine-failure

Interesting Engineering is a source I generally expect better writing from.

I mean, Duh! How else would the rotating parts pass through the other side???

Here’s a picture:

See if you can construct a better sentence.

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No comment. What do you think?

I think irony has to be more deliberate. (So okay, I made a comment.)

You probably get this right, but it jumped out at me, so I thought I’d point it out. It’s a headline:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota sets June date for office return; CEO says flexibility will be key

At first I expected the plural form of the verb, “set,”but everybody knows that Blue Cross and Blue Shield is a single company, so the singular verb, “sets” is appropriate.

Easy lesson today.

Look at the last panel:

Should it be “bite” or “bites”?

I’ll make the correct answer more obvious:

• of those old ladies who bite
• one …who bites

Yes! the correct verb is “bites”! The plural “ladies” goes with the preposition, and the noun clause (who bites) refers to the singular noun, “one.”

The plural is closer, hence the mistake. This error is called “attraction.”

Not standard circumstance.

The problem with this error is that it’s two errors (putting yourself first and using “me” instead of “I”) and grade school teachers tend to correct both at once. Consequently, their students tend to use “I” even when they should use “me.”

So:

• Use “I” when it’s a subject
• Use “me” when it’s the object of a preposition
• Be humble—mention the other guy first.