See, now, the problem with writing and, more specifically, editing things for a living, is that I find it very hard to stop doing this outside the office.
Newspapers and magazines, with their tight deadlines and frequently cavalier usage of the English language, are a case in point.
For example, last week’s edition of TNT, the traveller’s magazine, included this gem, in a bizarre news article about a woman who has been terrorising the Melbourne tram network by breaking into the driver’s cab and broadcasting X-rated announcements over the PA. According to the article:
‘It was very graphic about how she was going to have sex with a driver for about three minutes,’ said Angela, a passenger on the Frankston-bound train.
Hmm. So is there by any chance a better way you could have phrased that quote, or was she actually rather dismissive about the driver’s, ahem, staying power…?