My picky, overly pedantic dig at the last few days of news #media #language

Picky, picky, picky. Sometimes I can't help myself.

Today, from Cyclingnews.com, and yes it could be a translation problem, but for the record:

Quick Step has announced it will extend Tom Boonen’s suspension but not fire the rider who has tested positive for cocaine for the third time. The reigning Paris-Roubaix champion will undergo a psychiatric treatment plan and be subject to strict testing by Quick Step over the next 12 months.

Psychiatric treatment? Have they gone mad? I think they need a behaviour management plan written by a psychologist. There is a difference, guys.

Yesterday, from the Australian, reportedly the "online newspaper of the year":

Qantas to retain Brisbane hangar for maintainting Airbus 330 fleet

I was going to let "maintainting" through to the keeper but then...

Qantas' large hangar at Brisbane Airport is currently used to service its Boeing 767 fleet, but over the next five years this work will progressivly be taken overseas.

I thought "progressivly" less inclined to let them off the hook. Busy day, too busy to run the old eye over the copy? Ahhh, it's only online, it doesn't matter! No wonder they are the "online newspaper" of choice!

And from Carsguide, this gem:

It's been 20 years since the birth of the Mazda MX-5 but time has hurried and the car remains almost unmistakable from its ancestor.

'Almost unmistakable' from its ancestor? So the writer is saying that it's not mistakable, almost. So in fact it is 'mistakable'? Now I could be mistaken but I think they meant to say 'almost indistinguishable'. Perhaps it was translated into English from a Japanese press release, although attribution is to a Neil Dowling of the Mercury. I thought that would do me until I read the very next para:

It is becoming the Galapagos turtle of the motoring world — fascinating in its ability to look its age when born and exactly the same a century later.

Oh dear, this is just priceless... a car - purportedly a sports car - that is not only akin to a giant turtle that takes 40 years to grow to maturity but "fascinating in its ability to look its age when born"! As Wikipedia attests, it hatched from an egg and looks like a baby turtle... the mind boggles with thoughts of what animals, vegetables or manufactured goods do not look their age when born... and boggles again when said creature (or car) doesn't change appearance in 100 years. I think Neil meant to say that it it hasn't changed much in overall shape, just gotten somewhat bigger. There, that's not hard, is it?

Stating the obvious (again) - Qantas in trouble #airlines

Having just recovered from the amazing revelation that 'coal mines may close', now I'm reading this gem:

Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation director Peter Harbison said that a currently unprofitable Qantas faces being gutted and reconstructed around a more profitable Jetstar model.

Well the language is tabloid-style, where any restructure is labelled as 'gutted and reconstructed', but the point is made that seeking bigger margins via lower costs will mean a mix of sharper scheduling, more layoffs, increased outsourcing, fleet sales and further creative reorganisation. Of course the Jetstar model is not the only one, just the most likely - given that it's one that appears to work. However Qantas may seek to retain some premium services, at premium prices, with a tightly targeted approach, and it may contract its network of routes. It could also re-engage in merger or 'partnering' talks with other airlines in the hope that size will help.

So where's the surprise in all of this? Hasn't Qantas already telegraphed many of these changes? Given the current global economic situation, drastically falling seat sales and the looming impact of carbon emission schemes, which will surely force fuel costs back up, what else could they reasonably do? Even a return to economic 'good times' will only mean rising fuel prices - and restructuring. So they may as well get it over and done with... and bear the pain.