Remember when I blew your mind with Ginsberg’s Razor? Well, it doesn’t end there. Here comes the Allen Wrench.
Not only has The New York Times treated “Ginsberg” and “Ginsburg” as interchangeable last names, most noticeably when it comes to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Allen Ginsberg, but we also have managed to misspell Allen Ginsberg’s first name at least two different ways. (In one story, you’ll remember, we misspelled both of his names.) Well, another literary type named Allan has come to light as a trouble spot over the years, not just for The Times but for New York City, as well.
Here’s an item from Tuesday’s corrections:
Not only has The New York Times treated “Ginsberg” and “Ginsburg” as interchangeable last names, most noticeably when it comes to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Allen Ginsberg, but we also have managed to misspell Allen Ginsberg’s first name at least two different ways. (In one story, you’ll remember, we misspelled both of his names.) Well, another literary type named Allan has come to light as a trouble spot over the years, not just for The Times but for New York City, as well.
Here’s an item from Tuesday’s corrections:
January 17, 2012
An article last Tuesday about opposition by the West 69th Street Block Association to the renaming of a portion of that street after a mayoral aide misspelled the middle name of a famous writer who had part of West 84th Street named after him in 1980. He was Edgar Allan Poe, not Allen. (The same misspelling appeared on the street sign erected by the city to honor Poe, a former resident of West 84th. Though the city spelled his name correctly on its second try, the same cannot be said of The Times, which has corrected Poe’s middle name at least 10 times — though dozens of misspellings of Allan, dating to the 1870s, were never corrected.)
An article last Tuesday about opposition by the West 69th Street Block Association to the renaming of a portion of that street after a mayoral aide misspelled the middle name of a famous writer who had part of West 84th Street named after him in 1980. He was Edgar Allan Poe, not Allen. (The same misspelling appeared on the street sign erected by the city to honor Poe, a former resident of West 84th. Though the city spelled his name correctly on its second try, the same cannot be said of The Times, which has corrected Poe’s middle name at least 10 times — though dozens of misspellings of Allan, dating to the 1870s, were never corrected.)
This got me to thinking about other potential Allen issues, and naturally my first thought was Woody Allen. I am happy and proud to report that searches for “Woody Allan” and “Woody Alan” turned up zero results in The New York Times's archives. I did, however, unearth, some rather Woody-esque corrections involving him.
This first one is a Daily Double. Three days after the first correction, there was a correction about the correction:
This first one is a Daily Double. Three days after the first correction, there was a correction about the correction:
December 15, 2007
The Weekend Explorer column on Friday, about the Upper East Side, referred imprecisely to the architectural style of the mansion Andrew Carnegie built at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 91st Street and of the town house Woody Allen bought on East 70th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues. They were built after the death of the last King George of Britain in 1830, and thus are Georgian style, not Georgian. The column also misstated the year Carnegie moved into the mansion. It was 1902, not 1901.
December 18, 2007
A correction in this space on Saturday referred incorrectly to the King George of Britain who died in 1830. The king, George IV, was the last King George in the period that gave the architectural style its name, not the last King George of Britain. (George V and George VI reigned in the 20th century.)
The Weekend Explorer column on Friday, about the Upper East Side, referred imprecisely to the architectural style of the mansion Andrew Carnegie built at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 91st Street and of the town house Woody Allen bought on East 70th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues. They were built after the death of the last King George of Britain in 1830, and thus are Georgian style, not Georgian. The column also misstated the year Carnegie moved into the mansion. It was 1902, not 1901.
December 18, 2007
A correction in this space on Saturday referred incorrectly to the King George of Britain who died in 1830. The king, George IV, was the last King George in the period that gave the architectural style its name, not the last King George of Britain. (George V and George VI reigned in the 20th century.)
Then there’s the usual array of names, dates, statistics and titles:
June 1, 2011
An article on Saturday about figures from the Paris arts scene in the 1920s who appear in the new Woody Allen movie, ''Midnight in Paris,'' including the filmmaker Luis Buñuel, misidentified a film by Buñuel that the Allen movie's protagonist urges him to make some day. It is ''The Exterminating Angel,'' from 1962, not ''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,'' released in 1972.
September 18, 2005
An article last Sunday about Woody Allen's coming film ''Match Point'' attributed a precedent to it incorrectly. The first film he directed outside the United States was ''Love and Death'' (1975), filmed in Europe.
June 6, 2002
A front-page article yesterday about the sparseness of audiences for both Woody Allen's latest film and his civil court fight with a former business partner misstated the occupation of Abel Feldhamer, who watched the court testimony. He is a law student, not a lawyer.
May 2, 2002
A film review yesterday about Woody Allen's ''Hollywood Ending'' misspelled the given name of the composer and pianist to whose crunching notes the movie's one-liners were compared. He was Thelonious Monk, not Theolonious.
An article on Saturday about figures from the Paris arts scene in the 1920s who appear in the new Woody Allen movie, ''Midnight in Paris,'' including the filmmaker Luis Buñuel, misidentified a film by Buñuel that the Allen movie's protagonist urges him to make some day. It is ''The Exterminating Angel,'' from 1962, not ''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,'' released in 1972.
September 18, 2005
An article last Sunday about Woody Allen's coming film ''Match Point'' attributed a precedent to it incorrectly. The first film he directed outside the United States was ''Love and Death'' (1975), filmed in Europe.
June 6, 2002
A front-page article yesterday about the sparseness of audiences for both Woody Allen's latest film and his civil court fight with a former business partner misstated the occupation of Abel Feldhamer, who watched the court testimony. He is a law student, not a lawyer.
May 2, 2002
A film review yesterday about Woody Allen's ''Hollywood Ending'' misspelled the given name of the composer and pianist to whose crunching notes the movie's one-liners were compared. He was Thelonious Monk, not Theolonious.
March 26, 2002
An article yesterday about the Academy Awards broadcast on Sunday misstated the number of Oscars won by Woody Allen, who introduced a film of New York City scenes. It is three Oscars, not two.
An article yesterday about the Academy Awards broadcast on Sunday misstated the number of Oscars won by Woody Allen, who introduced a film of New York City scenes. It is three Oscars, not two.
Here’s an interesting one, because it combines two rather funny but minor mistakes followed by an absolutely huge, absolutely unfunny gaffe. | October 24, 2001 An article in some late editions on Sunday about the benefit concert at Madison Square Garden for victims of the Sept. 11 attack referred incorrectly to scenes in a short film made for the event by Woody Allen, ''Scenes From a Town I Love,'' which showed New Yorkers talking on cellphones. An actor in one scene complained that his anthrax drugs had been stolen by muggers; he did not say the police took them. Another man talked about opening Starbucks coffee shops in Afghanistan after the war; he did not say one had already opened there. The article also included two performers erroneously among the participants. Bono and the Edge, of the band U2, were scheduled to appear but canceled before the concert. |
From the Department of Is That a Six-Shooter in Your Holster or Are You Just Happy to See Me?” | August 9, 2001 An article in Weekend on Friday about watching movies with Woody Allen misstated the number of six-shooters worn by Alan Ladd in the film ''Shane.'' It was one, not two. |
I'll take Comedic Geniuses of the 20th Century for 500, Alex. | February 26, 2000 An article in Business Day on Feb. 18 about a lawsuit filed by Charlie Chaplin's heirs against Israel's national lottery, for unauthorized use of his character in advertising, misstated a comment made by Woody Allen recently about 20th-century comic geniuses. He said they numbered six -- Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Buster Keaton, Groucho and Harpo Marx and Peter Sellers -- not just Chaplin and Fields. |
And finally, I was going to stop at the year 2000, but when I saw this one from late 1999, I figured it would make a nice bonus. This from the Department of What Am I … Chopped Liver?
September 19, 1999
An article on Aug. 29 about the dubbing of foreign films misstated the title of Jeff Lipsky of Samuel Goldwyn Films, who commented on the practice. He is head of United States marketing and distribution, not president. The same article misidentified the secret recipe being pursued in Woody Allen's 1966 comic redubbing of a Japanese film, ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' It is for egg salad, not chicken salad.
An article on Aug. 29 about the dubbing of foreign films misstated the title of Jeff Lipsky of Samuel Goldwyn Films, who commented on the practice. He is head of United States marketing and distribution, not president. The same article misidentified the secret recipe being pursued in Woody Allen's 1966 comic redubbing of a Japanese film, ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' It is for egg salad, not chicken salad.
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