Riddle-me-ree...

[nq:1]"This article is ridden with inaccuracies..." http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00028.htm[/nq]
Odd thing is that that is not as much of an error as you might think. Merriam-Webster has:
2 : excessively full of or supplied with usuallyused in combination

Best Donna

[nq:2]"This article is ridden with inaccuracies..." http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00028.htm[/nq]
[nq:1]Odd thing is that that is not as much of an error as you might think. Merriam-Webster has: 2 : excessively full of or supplied with usually used in combination [/nq]
"Diseas

[nq:2]Odd thing is that that is not as much of ... of or supplied with usually used in combination [/nq]
[nq:1]"Disease-ridden" gets around 15,000 googlies, but I'm sure "riddled" was intended in this case. Definitely a howler.[/nq]
"ridden with errors" gets 436...you reckon they're all howlers? (you can likewise try mistakes, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, * holes - in all cases 'riddled'

Adrian Bailey wrote on 03 Jun 2004:
[nq:1]"This article is ridden with inaccuracies..."[/nq]
I especially liked the other example of high-level linguistic change in that paragraph: "..., the editor did not get back to us so far." Does this guy live too far away from where the well-written English lives?

In any case, there's nothing to fear about the level of English used by profes

[nq:2]"Disease-ridden" gets around 15,000 googlies, but I'm sure "riddled" was intended in this case. Definitely a howler.[/nq]
[nq:1]"ridden with errors" gets 436...you reckon they're all howlers?[/nq]
You know what? Yes, I do.

Michael West

[nq:1]I especially liked the other example of high-level linguistic change in that paragraph: "..., the editor did not get back to us so far." Does this guy live too far away from where the well-written English lives?[/nq]
Ugh! That's about as ugly a misuse of tenses as "The editor got back to us already".
[nq:1]In any case, there's nothing to fear about the level of English used by profes

Richard Sabey wrote on 04 Jun 2004:

With a rule, of course. ;-)
[nq:1]Why mention dumbing down?[/nq]
Because that is the current cliché about the direction of the level of English.
[nq:1](BTW, anyone here feel that "dumb" is skunked? If it is, then we shouldn't use "dumbing down"; how about "oversimplification"?)[/nq]
That's a point. I suppose one could look at it the way

[nq:1]You know what? Yes, I do.[/nq]
Me too.
Adrian

When you look at them, they mean exactly "riddled with errors" they don't refer to, say, losing points on a horsejumping course.
[nq:2]You know what? Yes, I do.[/nq]
[nq:1]Me too.[/nq]
riddled with errors 12,400
ridden with errors 436 Ratio 28:1
Although I raised the point about "-ridden," I don't find any more evidence connecting that to this. No one in Mastertexts.com (19th-c

On Fri 04 Jun 2004 11:22:22am, CyberCypher I'll stop now. Discussion by analogy is a pointless endeavor.[/nq]
I'm not so sure; an analogy can make it clearer why something is good or bad, for example. It's no substitute for a sound argument, though.

Richard Sabey Visit the r.p.crosswords competition website cryptic fan at hotmail.com