Saturday, February 19, 2011

Say What? Re: Mayor's invitation



The official 2011 Laredo's visitors guide is out. It will be widely distributed near and far. Over 120,000 copies will be shipped to the largest cities in Northern Mexico and the United States. Fittingly, Mayor Raul Salinas' invitation opens the issue. Unfortunately, there's a few sentences here and there that don't seem to fit together just quite right. I hope all those people reading the guide are not English majors, or else, we're in trouble. Here are some excerpts from the Mayor's invitation to Laredo. I have italicized those parts that seem to be, ever so slightly, out of place.

"As Mayor of this great community, I invite you to come experience the authenic flavors of our culture and character and it's warmth and regard". .
I don't get it: it's warmth and regard? Maybe he was shooting for something like with warm regards ?

"Laredo's patriotic community spirit is done up in a do wrapped in high flying Old Glory".
Nope, I don't get what he's trying to say. Does done up in a do mean like  a hair-do? I don't know.
"Decked out in red, white and blue for the 114th edition of this Washington's Birthday Celebration (comma missing)  this warm winter weather series of outdoor festivals and community activities is nothing short of spectacular".
This is a Sarah Paliln type sentence. It is missing a comma after Celebration. Also, is warm winter weather an adjective for series? Warm winter weather is not always the case. We just had an arctic blast recently.

"It's two and half centuries in a modern day world".
Maybe he was thinking of two and a half centuries of history with all the conveniences of the modern-day world?  Overall, it looks like the Mayor knew what he wanted to say but maybe whoever proofread the article just dozed off.  

5 comments:

  1. Whew - I escaped criticism of the sections I wrote. Unless... are you going to continue?

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  2. What??? hey what do I know. I'm sure the sections you wrote are impeccable. But I would sure appreciate you correcting me. That's how we learn. Please don't tell me you wrote the press release on the birding festival? DOH!

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  3. Hahahaha - no. That was my first time writing bits & pieces for it. Apparently writing a blog makes people think you are a freelance writer :P. Not my field but it was fun. Just give it time & I am sure you will get offers, too.

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  4. Maybe for research since you pull up info from out of the blue!

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  5. How did you discover my secret: outoftheblue.com ok just kidding, there probably is such a website/blog.

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