Some funny things happened on last night's Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. In case you don't know, Rachel is a liberal political commentator on a cable TV channel that is commonly regarded as liberal -- the polar opposite of Fox News.
Funny Thing Number One: Rachel quoted a news report that originated with Fox.
Funny Thing Number Two: The text included the wrong word: "ordinances."
"Ordnances" -- with no "i" -- would have been the right word. I think that most people who see the word "ordnance" think it's misspelled, and that it should really be "ordinance." Actually, "ordnance" can be a properly spelled word.
Sometimes "ordnance" is improperly corrected by adding an "i." Sometimes "ordinance" has to be corrected by eliminating its "i."
- An ordinance is a law or other government regulation.
- Ordnance is something that goes boom, like a cannon or a bomb.
- An ordinance can deal with ordnance.
When I was a kid I assembled a Revell model tank. The box came with a zillion plastic parts, an assembly diagram and a sheet of decals to make the plastic tank look more realistic. One of the decals on the sheet was a label that said, "U.S. Army Ordinance." There was also a smaller sheet that said almost the same thing -- without the erroneous "i."
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You misspelled the word yourself! - "An ordnance is a law or other government regulation."
ReplyDeleteI believe that should be "ordinance."