Los Angeles passenger onboard Alaska Airlines flight to Portland stung by scorpion

originally posted by: Yeahkeepwatchingme
a reply to: LukeDAP

It's an acceptable sentence.

No, it's not. It needs the comma to avoid the confusion. I would have put it there.

Actually, I probably would have reworded it entirely.

The plane, which was carrying members of the Oregon State University basketball team, took off an hour late after flight attendants killed the animal.

Or I would have removed the reference to the OSU b-ball team (do they actually have relevance to this story?).

Flight attendants killed the animal and the plane took off an hour late.

That takes out the need for the comma in from of the conjunction although I would still want to put it there since the two clauses have different subjects and can stand alone as sentences. But putting the reference to the OSU b-ball team in there injects confusion if you don't have the comma in front of the conjunction.

a reply to: ketsuko

The sentence in the article was fine, this was more a reading comprehension problem.

I read the quoted sentence first (correctly), actually, then was confused by what the OP was saying.

a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah, I'm not using my time "denying ignorance" to discuss a sentence. It's journalism, they make it short and they assumed the reader would know what was conveyed.

originally posted by: Yeahkeepwatchingme
a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah, I'm not using my time "denying ignorance" to discuss a sentence. It's journalism, they make it short and they assumed the reader would know what was conveyed.

When you work in the industry, you assume nothing about your readers. Trust me. You are told to assume they are below fifth grade reading level. It might even be lower by now.

All I know is as an editor, you are to make things as clear and unambiguous as possible. Leaving out the comma makes this ambiguous. If this was sent across my desk, I would have sent it back.

a reply to: ketsuko

Comma, comma, comma, comma, com comm-e-leon.

Aboutface takes a fresh breath upon releasing her Boy George impersonation



Thing is, would there not be any scorpions in Alaska or Oregon?

a reply to: ketsuko

Makes sense. But then again, the quality of media has gone downhill over the years.

However, I still think the sentence makes sense.

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

I never said it didn't. I just pointed out why in my professional opinion it should have had a comma.

But c'mon! This is one of the few threads on ATS where I actually get to use my real area of professional expertise and not some body of knowledge I've picked up out of my own personal curiosity. Let me use it, man!!

a reply to: LukeDAP

Perfectly acceptable sentence, yes, and where leaving a comma out is not exactly incorrect; however, the media are champions of misplaced modifiers in headlines and opening paragraphs, it seems.

I see it all the time, and it seems to me more or less acceptable due to the way they are structured and constructed.

originally posted by: starfoxxx

Flight attendants killed the animal and the plane, which was carrying members of the Oregon State University basketball team, took off an hour late.

How did they exactly kill the plane??

Scorpions on a plane, big deal..

The new York daily incompetent lazy publishers?? I think so...

www.nydailynews.com...

Reading comprehension F A I L

originally posted by: SpongeBeard

originally posted by: starfoxxx

Flight attendants killed the animal and the plane, which was carrying members of the Oregon State University basketball team, took off an hour late.

How did they exactly kill the plane??

Scorpions on a plane, big deal..

The new York daily incompetent lazy publishers?? I think so...

www.nydailynews.com...

Reading comprehension F A I L

Sense of humor BIG FREAKING F A I L L L L

If someone has asked this already, I've missed it. What was a scorpion doing on an Alaska Airlines flight in the first place? All the scorpions I know stay clear of Alaska in winter. No doubt this one wanted to travel a little further south, too cold for man or beast or tinier beast.

EDIT: As for the great comma controversy of two-naught-fifteen, I was sorry both for the scorpion and the plane, each attacked by a horde of stewardi for nothing more than hanging around (comma probably needed, but if anyone in a literate nation thinks the stewardesses killed the airplane the school/logic systems of the educational system need an adjustment or two. Bring back art and music, that'd be a good start).

originally posted by: Aleister
If someone has asked this already, I've missed it. What was a scorpion doing on an Alaska Airlines flight in the first place? All the scorpions I know stay clear of Alaska in winter.

Why do you think he got a ticket south? It was too cold for him.

Maybe they got Scorpion confused with Sub-zero.....

originally posted by: GoShredAK
Maybe they got Scorpion confused with Sub-zero.....

Thread over; the answer has been found.

"If God Had Wanted Scorpions To Fly"

originally posted by: AshOnMyTomatoes

originally posted by: GoShredAK
Maybe they got Scorpion confused with Sub-zero.....

Thread over; the answer has been found.

Haha nice I was hoping someone would get it

originally posted by: thesaneone
This s what passes for news on ATS?

Smh

Cmon now that scorpion may have been training in the middle east,for all we know this could be a new secret weapon developed by isis to take down the west....you know like some sort of jihadi scorpion

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

I'm tellin Ya its a probe to test our scorpion awareness and readiness!

The scorpion bomb is gonna crash the economy! Just imagine trying to go about your day and boom! Scorpion!

DOOM ON!

originally posted by: GoShredAK
Maybe they got Scorpion confused with Sub-zero.....

Post of the day. We need to have a post of the day just for that quote.

So how did the scorpion get past the TSA?
I can't even have a needle and thread with me.
It's time for a congressional committee to investigate.
Scorpion Gate !