A renowned and stylish beauty, her photograph appeared in magazines throughout the world. (obituary)
Literally a room for wine, the cobblestone city is littered with these convivial boltholes. (travel caption)
The composer of Lord of the Dance, his life was a musical journey in search of an unconventional God. (obit heading)
But the beauty isn’t the photograph; the room isn’t the city; the composer isn’t the life.
Like many vicarage children life was peripatetic. (diary)
Like lots of his contemporaries, Kerouac and Burroughs were on his bookshelves. (feature)
There is usually something lingering about a Catholic formation even if, like James Joyce, it later turns to passionate hostility. (feature) No, life is not like children and a Catholic formation is not like Joyce.
In the second example readers might be misled into thinking he had ‘lots of his contemporaries’ on his bookshelves.
The floating participle (a particular case of the dangling modifier)
If participles float, identity may be mistaken:
After nearly burning down the house by leaving an empty pot on the stove, the sisters arranged for a neighbour to bring Ruth her dinner every evening. (feature)
But it was Ruth, not the sisters, who nearly burnt the house down.
Not long afterwards, having returned from a hunting trip to nearby Donegal, an IRA unit tried to sledgehammer their way through the front door of their home. (feature)
But it wasn’t the IRA who went on the hunting trip.
After making his debut in the Millennium Stadium defeat, Williams watched the hooker play for Glasgow and phoned him to say that the scrum was not good enough. (feature)
But Williams was the coach: it was the hooker who made his debut at the Millennium Stadium.
‘I know this makes me sound like a security guard,’ he explained. ‘But having tried to defend her interests in the past, she says she’d be happier with me present.’ (feature)
But it was he, not she, who had tried to defend her interests in the past.
‘Born’ in features and obituaries is a warning sign – it doesn’t always mean what it says:
Born in Singapore, her Singaporean-Chinese mother divorced her father . . . when she was three. (feature)
Born Bettye, in Peoria, her mother had edited a local newspaper’s women’s page before becoming a housewife. (obit)
Then there are the amusing ones – purchases that pop out, books that write etc:
Popping out to the local sandwich shop last week, their purchases were handed to them in sponsored bags. (feature)
As well as writing about obelisks, mummies, papyrus and Chinese ideograms, his books dealt with codes and code-breaking . . . (book review)
But having won that battle decisively, the ground has dramatically shifted. (column)
Buried deep in Queensland, Australia, her experiences as Connery’s wife seem a million miles away. Having wed at the fresh-faced start of their careers, their marriage quickly dissolved into one long,
mistrustful squabble. (feature)
2 Number disagreement 2a Verb clash
Half work in the media and the other half is waiting to perform.
(feature)
It’s not often that the international press takes an interest in our politics, but they are now. (column)
2b Noun/pronoun clash
The decline of the grey nurse shark is exacerbated by the fact that it takes them up to 10 years to reach full maturity. (picture caption)
2c Pronoun clash
They are the only major party to have increased its vote over the past eight years . . . (feature)
2d Pronoun/verb clash
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of their Dover-Calais route, SeaFrance Ferries has created 10 special Easter breaks . . . (news story)
Of course the Bangladesh team clings to their Test status eagerly.
(feature)
The jury is still considering their verdicts in the case of White . . . (news story)
The top brass at the British Navy has decided their ships need to be run along the lines of medium-sized companies. (feature)
2e Singular verb for plural
As terrorism and violence has ended, common problems such as crime and skills shortages have loomed. (feature)
It is a tribute to the wit of the creators of ‘Little Britain’ that its dystopian characters and Swiftian satire has struck a popular chord. (leader) They recall the Lawrence inquiry when the racism and incompetence they took for granted was laid bare before an astonished public.
(feature)
The materials and technology used in aircraft design over the past 10 years has improved rapidly . . . (letter)
Lynne Truss, author of the bestselling Eats, Shoots & Leaves, told the Times Educational Supplement . . . ‘Correct punctuation and spelling does have a bearing on people’s success in life . . .’ (news story)
2f Plural verb for singular
Jill Kelly, a former porn star who runs her own production company, said: ‘Anyone who continues to shoot at this point are complete idiots.’ (feature)
Bertrand Russell claimed that one of his literary models were the Baedeker Guides, for their unambiguous clarity. (feature)
Suddenly I was under the most monstrous attack and everything I valued – my home life, my future, my finances – were being relentlessly threatened. (feature)
The yearly flurry of scandal, mischief-making, gossip and bitchiness that surrounds the Booker or the Turner prize have become their lifeblood. (feature)
Elsewhere everything from Janet Jackson’s breast to bloggers on the hunt for scalps in both press and broadcasting have shaken the media’s confidence. (feature)