Now the rubbish is spreading
January 31st, 2012
Turns out poor old Aunty isn’t the only one that can’t get it right. Just tonight on Channel Seven’s “Today Tonight” I heard this clanger:
“… his entire fleet are equipped with cameras.”
What a moron. You’d think a highly paid, fully qualified journalist would get it right. The key object in that phrase is the noun “fleet”, which is singular. Therefore it should have read:
“… his entire fleet is equipped with cameras.”
Now I know “Today Tonight” is hardly the pinnacle of good journalism or quality writing, but this is so simple people! Get it right!
It’s a sad state of affairs that is only growing. Sports reporters have been doing it for ages, but it seems their poor grammar is spreading. For instance, for many years we’ve been listening to rubbish like:
“Australia are leading …”
Seriously? Even if you’re referring to a sporting team that is a collection of many, the team itself is STILL singular – it’s one team. You should be saying:
“Australia is leading … “
Honestly, people. It’s almost time to start calling out the masses to riot in the streets. Get it right!