Remember, They’re The Pros

I certainly know that I’ve mangled my share of the English language, but by gum I do it on my own dime. Can someone explain to me this sentence from those-who-are-possessed-of-layers-of-fact-checkers?

Game McGimsey, a volcanologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, said the vent, lying 1,000 feet under the surface, issued a cloud 40,000 reaching feet in the air.

Maybe “reaching feet” is a new unit of measurement?

Or maybe the name of a particularly flexible Indian?

4 Responses to “Remember, They’re The Pros”

1. Skyler says:

   June 1, 2010 at 10:20 am

   It’s a simple typo. They put the numbers before reaching instead of after.

   But I do see a lot more typos in professional publications nowadays.

2. Gary from Jersey says:

   June 1, 2010 at 12:36 pm

   Tortured, yes, but at least it’s still readable. He should have written “into the air.” Then he’d have game.

3. Anne B. says:

   June 1, 2010 at 2:10 pm

   Also, would you say that the vent “issued” a cloud? I’d think that the cloud would have issued *from* the vent.

4. Dave E. says:

   June 2, 2010 at 8:00 am

   Heck, I’m just trying to accept that there’s actually a real person named Game McGimsey.