Crying Fowl

Aaaack! Check your ears for feathers! Chickens are taking over the brains of science reporters--AND their editors, apparently. And you might be next!! ...Either that or those Chik-fil-A cows are trying some new subliminal messaging thing.... I don't know how else to explain nearly identical errors in two separate articles posted on the same day on two separate science geek news spots.

I ran across this one first. It's from the article by Jennifer Viegas, Cleanest Creatures Skip the Bathroom, at Discovery News:

"Since fowling oneself is a major social faux pas that can create health and safety problems..." (emphasis added by me)

Then, not ten minutes later, I ran across this one. It's from the article by Lily Whiteman, The Truth Behind Global Jellyfish Swarms, at LiveScience:

"Many important fisheries, including the Gulf of Mexico, where jellies regularly clog nets, fowl fishing gear or prey on eggs and larvae of fish." (emphasis added by me)

I do imagine it would be a social faux pas to emu oneself (would that entail dyeing one's feathers black?), but I just can't imagine jellyfish having anything to do with birds at all.

Jennifer and Lily, the word is FOUL, as in to ruin, soil, or sully. This is why we don't rely on spell-check.

Oh, what sad times are these when science news writers can cry fowl at will to old ladies. (I dunno. Eric Idle's voice in my head...) (No, not really.) (Okay, maybe. It's an oddly-placed Monty Python reference.) (Holy Grail?) (Ni?) (Never mind...)