gpeck,

No it does not make sense. (reference to "couple") Couple is a singular term. As are team, group, trio, family, or any other singular collection of people. Multiple couples would justify use of a plural verb. One couple does not.

If you want to use a plural verb, simply omit the singular collective term or replace it with more specific terms (the "man and his wife are" vs. "the couple is" or "the men and women are" vs. "the group is").

After all, when writing that "the Gazette does not endorse ..." are you referring to the Building or the collection of (decision-making) people who work at the Gazette? Please do not now cave in to your own "style" and start writing "the Gazette do not endorse..." Your "style" is incorrect.

Frank, typos and poor grammar can be forgiven. Errors of hubris and personal attacks on the editorial page, not so much. It is only by chance that I even saw this 'story' tonight, as I generally do not read the JG anymore because of my disgust with the tone and bias of the stories. I have long felt the JG has no business calling itself a newspaper. In my opinion, tabloid would be much more appropriate.

Agreed, Frank -- but I also know I'm not the only middle-aged person still dreaming about being late for class or forgetting to study for the test!

birdman: I've been organizing and adjusting The Gazette's newsroom "style guide" for about a decade or more. I also point out our style transgressions to staffers almost daily. I'm also on a style committee, along with Frank, that we started about a year ago to make changes/additions to our style guide.
"Couple," in our style guide, takes plural verbs. It's one we struggle with constantly, and our readers struggle with our use of it, as well.
But let me use your sentence above as an example of why The Associated Press suggests "couple" usually takes plural verbs. What if your sentence continued: "The couple are going to live in Janesville because they think it's a nice community."
That makes more sense than writing: "The couple is going to live in Janesville because it thinks it's a nice community."
When you think of the couple as two people, "they" think sounds better than "it" thinks, does it not?
Greg Peck

Readers have some tolerance for typing and grammatical errors made by writers. But factual errors will seldom be forgiven - and rightfully so. In the readers eyes, when you are being PAID to write, you are taking on the responsibility of verifying your facts - don't look for forgiveness here.

dini, I'm no therapist, but if you're reliving the experience decades later, then I think you've suffered enough. I know it's easy to say "time to move on," but here's hoping you can put it behind you.
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Thanks for your support. Diversity is one of the joys of working at a small town paper.

Frank, I hope to heck you don't do what I do about this, which is to continue to have awful dreams about those glaring errors twenty years after anyone else is still thinking about them. I remember three glaring, and I mean glaring errors in a business story one time, and I'll probably dream about that editor calling me in a huff the next day. To her credit, she said SHE certainly should have caught them.

But in the end they're our words.

Me, I'd like to celebrate the diversity of stories and of people you bring to the Gazette. I trust your work for its measured sensibility AND its accuracy. Thanks for what you do!

I'm not quite sure what some of these folks are babbling about, Frank. I have read your column three times and am unable to find any reference to God. Difficult for some folks to stay on topic I guess.

Mr. Schultz, let's call it God or the idea of God or the Christian God or the Christian idea of God -take your pick. The Bible and Christianity in general and in practice is big on the availability of God for dispensing forgiveness whenever He is asked for it. However there is little or no mention of involving the recipient's victim (when applicable) in a mental (or spiritual) process that promises comfort to the worst of people. Keep in mind that even if God doesn't exist, it is the nature of the process that gives even the worst of people comfort from it.

Is this a fair description of any part of the forgiveness received from your aforementioned "forgiving" God?

HankJanes, I leave theology to others. Feel free to tell us your perspective on God's forgiveness.

irebout, I take to heart criticisms of my work. That give and take is important for me as a reporter. I don't believe I've heard any criticism from you. Feel free to contact me with your thoughts.

Word Badger, do you have any understanding of God's forgiveness absent the input of the forgiven's victim?

Nygrf Thanks LOL

wahoo, I think I learned the phrase "God and everybody" from southerners I encountered in the service. It's not meant to be taken literally. It's meant to impart the kind of embarrassment you might feel if made to stand naked in church while someone reads of a list of all your sins.
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Word Badger makes no claim to understand anything about what God might know or read or pay attention to. Word Badger also leaves such theological discussion to others, other that to say that one thing that makes a lot of sense, from my limited perspective, is a forgiving God.

I don't think your writing flounders because of punctuation, I think it has more to do with the lopsided story telling the paper you work for tells. I love it when you guys would say, were not biased to my face. Maybe when you write political stories you should have someone from the other side check it to and just ask them a simple question "Does this seem biased?" if yes than rewrite it, or at least reanalyze what your trying to say. Ya pissed me off more than a couple times Frank, and that's why alot of people I know will not let you do a story on them.

cholon14....I believe it's "their move." Just funnin'! Hoppy Knew Year!

A misprint can be a tidal wave. Such as Anytime Fitness saying they are closing Dec 26th and reoping in two days. Now on the door of anytime Fitness on West Court St sign says closed until further notice. Your paper even did a review on there move. Now this is poor misprint or is this poor management???????

I had the same thoughts wahoo. Paper subscriber or online only?? Boy will he/she be cheesed when the gazette puts up a paywall.

God has spare time to read the Janesville Gazette? Wouldn't his time be better spent protecting children so they are not murdered?

Best wishes as you aim for perfection in the coming year, Frank. An admirable, albeit unattainable goal!
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The nature of your business is words and language, and the more words you write, the more chance for error. But still hard to accept when that inevitable mistake happens, I know.

I suspect the majority of us readers simply shrug and acknowledge those things happen, Frank. We’re human, after all. Y’all are doing the best you can, I know.
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Today’s Gazette had a glaring use of “the wrong word”: “two” where “to” was the word to use. Most such goofs are so minor as to go mostly unnoticed, to my way of thinking.
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Subject - Verb agreement can be an issue for me: "The couple are going to live in Janesville." The subject is singular but the verb is plural. Another is: "The team are visiting Pasadena." Please tell us again why that is allowable.
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Only the perfect spellers and grammarians phone Sound Off or write to blogs with their complaints. And, I suspect, none of your would-be detractors are journalists or writers.