Quickies: Everyone Loves A Malapropism

     Here’s a doozy I just encountered in a recent novel:

     After a long day spent transferring mice, Mark poured them tea, then sat down and looked Lindy in the eye.

     In the above sentence, what is the noun to which the pronoun them refers? Is it the mice? It sure looks that way when your eye reaches the second comma. Or is it Mark and Lindy? That would make more sense, as mice aren’t big tea drinkers. Or could it be some third group that’s not named above? That’s possible...but the sentence above is the first sentence of a chapter.

     Proofread carefully, fellow scribblers. And get someone else – preferably someone sharp-eyed who has no compunctions about embarrassing you – to check your manuscript before you hit that luscious red button labeled PUBLISH.