Ya Gotta proofread...ya gotta listen; don't launch your mortar at the foe. (Wood on Words).

Ya gotta proofread...ya gotta listen! Valued stepdaughter Pamela, far more a financial pro than an editorial type, was nevertheless quick to report the following "from CNN's obituary of Joseph Coors":

"Born and raised in Golden on November 12, 1917, Coors was educated in public schools."

My contributor inquired, "Really? He was both born AND raised on November 12, 1917? That must have been something to see!"

Such strangelings continue to appear with distressing frequency. A second glance here would have produced "Born in Golden on 11/12/17 and raised (wherever)...." which is what CNN's writer was reaching for.

The lead in PR WEEK's 2/10/03 issue covered the flight of an American Airlines exec to Dell. The antepenultimate paragraph told readers about "the ramifications of September 11 and the economic blight of the airline industry."

If it walks like a blight and talks like a blight it could still be a plight: if the writer indeed meant blight, trade that of for an on. Listen.., but do not spell by ear.

PR WEEK's 3/10/03 issue laid its own egg in its Media Roundup department atop page 12: Noting media efforts to inform the public about domestic security issues, writer David Ward said in his second sentence that "News outlets both large and large and small have raced to do follow-up stories that not only keep the average American aware of the latest homeland-security issues, but also to put those developments in perspective."

Somehow I'm sure writer Ward said "News outlets both large and small,..." omitting the careless repeat of large. I expect he also wrote "(follow-up stories) that not only keep (everyone aware) but also put (developments in perspective)." Omit the infinitive to put to effect parallelism: "follow-up stories that not only keep, but also put...."

On page 163 of Dr. Robin Cook's scary Y2K medical thriller, "Abduction," one reads:

"'I'm not talking about elevator music,' Richard shouted back at Arak. 'I mean something with base and a beat....'"

The same error appeared in a reprise two sentences further along in the chunky paperback:

"The music had more base and a beat...." If it sounds like a bass and swings like a bass, it's not gonna be a base, a word more at home on the baseball field or maybe an architect's plan. The context heavily suggests reference to the double bass, about which American Heritage Dictionary IV observes, in part, "The largest bowed stringed instrument in the modern orchestra, also used frequently in jazz ensembles, especially played pizzicato..."

* The first editorial in the March 25 Wall Street Journal spoke to "The risks, and benefits, of a 24/7 media war." In the center of the piece appeared word of "a firefight that caught our troops here, the American POWs there, the fragging of U.S. troops apparently by one of their own...."

Verb frag can be tricky. You won't find it in your Merriam-Webster's College (10th ed.); your Random House Webster's College shows it not; both American Heritage IV and your Microsoft Encarta College agree that fragging implies killing a soldier who is on your side with a frag (mentation) grenade. Alone among equals, Webster's New World College opines: "[Mil. slang] to intentionally kill or wound (one's superior officer, etc.), esp. with a hand grenade." This last view is shared by editors of the huge Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang: "frag v Mil. to kill or wound Ca disliked superior officer), usu. by means of a fragmentation grenade."

A March 26 photo caption in the Boston Globe described the actions of three young Royal Marines in support of other British forces fighting near Basra, Iraq. The words 'neath the pool photo told how the Marines "launched mortars toward the city."

Pay attention: A mortar, according to AHD4, is "A portable, muzzleloading cannon used to fire shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high trajectories." Operative word here is shells. Mortars fire shells. Any bozo who launches his mortar toward the enemy may expect to hear a derisive, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty."

Alden Wood, quondam lecturer on editorial procedures, Simmons College, Boston, USA, writes and lectures on language usage. He is a retired insurance industry vice president of advertising and public relations. His e-dress is [e-mail].