This is so not a gotcha. I really enjoy reading Malcolm Gladwell’s stuff. I think he is a very engaging writer with interesting ideas. That’s why I was happy to see this little eggcorn in his latest post:
He entered into a private arrangement with a private-sector employer and was renumerated accordingly.It takes me back to when I was a struggling undergraduate and a friend asked me to proofread his resume. I saw “remunerate” and thought, “That can’t be right. That should be ‘renumerate’.” So I changed it. I was a little embarrassed when he told me that I was wrong. My first ‘stet’. But not nearly as embarrassed as when I handed in the first draft of my masters thesis with ‘irregardless’ in it.
1 comment:
I myself have had the exact same experience -- looked it up and everything.
But it looks like he does need an editor. In the same post he uses "who's" when he means "whose" and uses "a" when he needs "an".
Or is he doing this on purpose? So that he can feel superior to those of us who feel superior when we catch a so-called error? Do I think he knows we know he knows?
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