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I also offer personally-tailored, individualized English conversation practice (including etiquette) and coaching in writing techniques. Finally, I edit texts such as magazines, business proposals, memorandums, emails so they are presented in English which does not embarrass you or your organization. For further details, please mail me at: language.etiquette@gmail.com

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14 January 2014

The Moscow Times gets in on the act: who gave who the potatoes?



Not to be outdone by the Financial Times (see previous post) the Moscow Times today has a go at confusing its readers by having two conflicting facts in one reader view. Did Lavrov give the potatoes to Kerry (and if so, why were they not Tula potatoes?) or did Kerry give them to Lavrov?
     Since this was the lead story in the News section of the web edition of the paper, it is amazing that no-one checked the wording of the, plainly wrong, headline.
     Why was I not involved? Why do newspapers prefer to make a laughing-stock of themselves rather than spend the few million roubles it would cost to have someone like me proof-read their output on a daily basis? In organisations of the size of these two newspapers, a few sacks of spendable specie are, as the saying goes, small potatoes, whether they come from  Idaho, Youdaho or Nadaho, or even from Tula.

    

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