What Happen With That Cover, Atlanta Voice? Why It Happen?
Chile, today’s cackles have been provided by the Atlanta Voice, and I blame/thank Jamilah Lemieux for bringing it to my attention via her Instagram account. The newspaper’s latest issue cover is below. Read it and howl.
After I finished cackling like a hyena in Prideland, I went “Nooooooooooooo!!!” And then I hollered some more because HAAAAAAAA!!! WHAT HAPPEN? WHY IT HAPPEN? Who failed English? I have so many questions.
Did the copywriter not make it into the office because of the snow? Was their gmail down so they couldn’t get someone else to do the work? How did this cover get printed without anyone catching this epic fail? Even beyond the spelling is the random capitalization. They didn’t even TRY! The proof passed hands and everyone was all “Yup. Looks right.”
I can’t even focus on the story of their Snowpocalypse because I’m too busy laughing until tears fall out my eyeballs. I guess folks tweeted them about the error so they offered this up:
Yes. PLEASE do better because this is a shame. Even a quick run through Microsoft Word coulda caught this mistake. Did someone get their “look it over” privileges revoked? I know we all make mistakes but this one is so careless. THE DOGGONE COVER!
I mean for real. This looks so amateurish that you wouldn’t think this is a publication that has existed for *counts on fingers* 48 years. Oh, Atlanta Voice.
I woulda told whoever was responsible for this to go sit in the corner because they had ONE JOB.
What I do know is I’m about to be walking around asking people “Why it happen?” for no reason. See? This is how I pick up bad habits and say stuff like ALPHETS (outfits) and SELF OF STEAM (self-esteem). At least this time, it wasn’t Twitter’s fault.
So what tips do y’all have for the staff of the Atlanta Voice so this won’t happen again?
P.S. HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Edit: They made a correction on the website.
“Why It Happened?” So close, yet so far.
How you gon win when you ain’t right within, Atlanta Voice? SMDH.
It is time to write that book. Come into The Book Academy and learn how to go from IDEA to INK.
80 Comments
Wow! It would’ve been better to just make the headline, “…See what had happened was….”
See, what had happen, was…
Flubbed my own joke. Think the Atlanta Voice will hire me?
No, you were right. It IS “what had happened was…”
Why it Happen?
you are all wrong. it’s see, whaa had happen whaa… (no s and the whaa and whaa are the same.
duh.
All wrong. Its written phonetically: whahadhappen wuuz. Standard spelling and grammar need not apply.
Slight addendum, wathadhappen wuz is also acceptable.
LMBO!!! Perfect!
Someone is writing like they speak, and forgot to code switch I suppose.
Ugh…even the capitalization is all wrong. They could at least be consistent.
Can they get some points for spelling debacle correctly?
I just thought it was GA speak…. Whut it do, shawtie???!
ROFL!!! This had me on the floor!!!
Lol!
LOLOLOLOL!
haaaa!!!
I am CRYING!
Their retraction article will be called, “Why It Happen?”…Why It Happen?
What’s going on with the random capitalized words in on the cover? The only thing missing is a few random hashtags. Tomorrow’s paper will read “Who did It?” “Why they Did It?”
More like, Who Done Did it? Wth DID they done did it? LOL!
HAAA!! Now dats dat ebonics dat I love to speak!
they done did it Lol
wha it be Done been did?
Who done it? Why They do it?
What part of the Caribbean did the writer come from? Those verbs are as green as limes from Trinidad. *cackle*
Ent?! I was just thinking the same. Bunch of Trinis working at The Atlanta Voice.
all i heard was Ricky Ricardo’s voice yelling at Lucy “WHAA HAPPPANN”
ATL just needs to chill until springtime. The winter has not be kind to them and the rest of the nation is cackling far too much at their expense.
WAIT – did anyone go to their website? they made a slight change/attempt to correct. i am HOWLING!
http://theatlantavoice.com/news/2014/jan/31/atlantas-snow-debacle-2014/
And they STILL haven’t caught the random capitalization?!?! Truly, someone needs to be in a corner…meanwhile, I’ll just laugh!
That’s what’s bothering me the most now. You took the opportunity and time to correct it, yet they STILL missed a blatant error…smh. Mess…
Still missed ONE blatant error? The whole second sentence isn’t even a question? They hardly fixed it.
It should read:
What happened. Why it happened. Can it happen again?
OR, probably better given the placement:
What Happened
Why It Happened
Can It Happen Again?
It’s not rocket science.
I’m so mad that its now: “What happened? Why It Happened? Can it happen Again?”
Because that’s a complete fix…bless their hearts. O__O
Wait a minute…… Was it really called Winter Storm Leon???? Chile please….
I AM DYING over that!
lmaooo not leon tho
“What Happen! Why it happen!” sounds like what my Haitian mom screamed at me after my many terrible report cards back in the day… :-/
hey it happens. long nights, deadlines, some shit falls through the cracks, even on covers. I’m more upset they used reverse type on white… horrid.
See in my head I didn’t even get it, until I read what you wrote I said happened, lol. I was like Damn I’m as dumb as they are, ctfu.
Now that I think about it…maybe the editor was still stuck on the highway.
Naw man, must be a whole heap o’ Jamaicans working at that paper. That’s exactly how we talk! I’m over here *deadin’ wid laugh”!
Lol. That’s what I thought. I even read it like we, then I realised ah nuh so it go!
For real! Like seh a dem Yaad blog dem deh pon.
You and Pash sound like the beauty parlors on Flatbush Ave. Even when 60% of the grammar goes right over my head, the convo is funny as hell!
It looks like someone typed the cover text AND the edited text on their blackberry. :-/
“What happened? Why It Happened? Can it happen Again?”
I REALLY wish they’d ended it with “What Is we Gon’ do?”
Lmao!
#Dead #ByeFelicia LMAO
dead and fucking buried
LMAO
That’s Brilliant!!! LMAO!!!
the copy editor was still out on a “snow day”…
Well, you don’t have room to talk. Your article is written even worse than the front page of that publication. So I think you should sit down… in an English class.
You must be the editor. Aawwwww.
😉
No this muthaf.. ((sigh))
I’mma James to take all of the seats. All Uv’Em.
So maybe I shouldn’t correct my lovely girls (2nd grade, native Arabic speakers) when, after I give directions for an assignment, they ask me, “what do Miss?”……there is a job for errrrrrbody sumwhere!
“ALPHETS (outfits) and SELF OF STEAM (self-esteem)”
I laughed so hard I had an outer body xperinse.
*out-of-body experience. Luvvie will NOT catch me slipping!
We all make mistakes. We know this (in my Smokey voice).
BUT I always wonder how these people get hired for such high levels of wonderful, and let something like this escape their notice. Maybe I should call ’em and let ’em know my gmail is always monitored 😉
The “correction”: http://theatlantavoice.com/news/2014/jan/31/atlantas-snow-debacle-2014/
Smh…
This was a guest editorial piece by Fantasia.
LOL!!!
Your grammar can use some improvement too.
Thank you! I thought I was the only one who noticed. “Woulda” and “coulda” are not words (would have and could have, are correct). Also, “copy editors” proof headlines, not copywriters (they write advertising copy).
And even after the Atlanta Voice corrected their headline on their website, it was incorrect to write, “Why It Happened?” That’s a statement, not a question and doesn’t need a question mark at the end.
You noticed all of that, but didn’t notice this is a humor blog and not a news publication?
Oh ok.
Did they hire this guy as the headline editor?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzyCi1BFATA
Look, folks. What’s the big deal. This is just Ebonics. Atlanta is all about Ebonics.
ATL is a whole nother country w/their own language.
We have all come together on a trivial element of writing I really love it when we bash each other better than they do? Wow!
As an Atlantan, I am appalled. As an English PhD, I am ashamed. But it appears that someone named “Holly Yan” is responsible for this article. Let’s pray that English is her second language or something, hence the troubles.
BTW: That ice condition we had..I can’t even laugh at that. I just live here..*sigh*
My question is how will you make sure it won’t happen again. The thing is I don’t think they realized there was anything wrong about it. If The Altanta Voice is about Ebonics then they need to mention it somewhere in the fine print.
Even with the correction, would “Why It Happened” really be a question or statement? “Why Did It Happen?” is a question. “Why it happened” is not.
A+
The only thing missing from the headline was:
Someone set us up the bomb.
I’m so glad that I was sitting at home reading this because I HOLLERED thru the ENTIRE read! “Self of Steam”!!! I wasn’t ready!
WHY IT PUT DA BOOTERANG ON DA SKIN?? WHY
[…] Aw damb. Whappened? Why it happen? […]
what had happened wuzzz.
and WHY is the “correction” still jacked? I’m ready for a new job and a move to ATL, and am presuming there are lots of openings at the ATL Voice for ANYBODY who can read and write English. Where do I send my resume?
what snow…!?!