# 35 1/2 months pregnant? Time to induce? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552 "2010-06-09T16:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/1 "2010-06-09T16:46:00Z")
Record-setting pregnancy fails to spark serious discussion, or just more evidence that The Washington Post has abandoned any effort at copy editing? > [@](#): > > The victim, who is 35 1/2 weeks pregnant, came home earlier than expected and might have startled the suspect, authorities said. You bet. A 3-years-pregnant woman would startle _anyone_. Full story [here](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060704516_2.html), if _any_ of it was fact-checked. (Washington Post links require e-mail registration but are free.) It makes no sense even if you read it as 35 1/2 _weeks_, because who mentions _half_ a week? Just bizarre. . ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/2 "2010-06-09T16:49:52Z")
I think you need to read your quoted text more closely. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/3 "2010-06-09T16:56:22Z")
I think\*\* Baracus\*\* has a point. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/4 "2010-06-09T17:07:34Z")
One of us has no idea what they’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/5 "2010-06-09T17:11:34Z")
Trust me, guys. Sometimes, 35 1/2 weeks can _feel_ like 35 1/2 months. ---
**Author:** ![Elysium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@Elysium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysium)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/6 "2010-06-09T17:41:38Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > It makes no sense even if you read it as 35 1/2 _weeks_, because who mentions _half_ a week? Just bizarre. > > . Pregnant ladies do, trust me. You start counting down the DAYS at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/7 "2010-06-09T18:13:32Z")
Ah, they scammed me. I have the PRINTED edition from yesterday, which does in fact say 35 1/2 MONTHS. The online version ALSO said months this morning. A stealth edit took place some time after I checked it and before I copied the text into my post. I didn’t even notice it. I can provide a scan of the printed article as proof, if desired. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/8 "2010-06-09T18:16:03Z")
Well, to be fair, I missed that it said “months” in your title, and was even more confused. The fact that you missed an edit is nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/9 "2010-06-09T18:22:01Z")
35 1/2 weeks pregnant means only one more month to go… ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/10 "2010-06-09T18:28:24Z")
Here’s a scan [cropped for size](http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q121/Pinfeather_photos/355mothspregnantsmallscan.jpg). I made a .jpg of as much of the page as would fit on the scanner, but that’s 5.5 megabytes. A .pdf came out vastly smaller, but Photobucket won’t host a .pdf. What’s annoying is stuff like this seldom makes the correction page too; they just stealth-edit it and act as if they still pay real copy editors. . ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/11 "2010-06-09T18:53:48Z")
And trust me, a woman who is that far pregnant is counting every last day. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/12 "2010-06-09T18:55:54Z")
Did feel bad; yesterday somebody was “mudered” on the CNN website. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/13 "2010-06-09T19:18:28Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Here’s a scan [cropped for size](http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q121/Pinfeather_photos/355mothspregnantsmallscan.jpg). I made a .jpg of as much of the page as would fit on the scanner, but that’s 5.5 megabytes. A .pdf came out vastly smaller, but Photobucket won’t host a .pdf. > > What’s annoying is stuff like this seldom makes the correction page too; they just stealth-edit it and act as if they still pay real copy editors. > . Looks photo-shopped to me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/14 "2010-06-09T19:32:52Z")
I spotted an article headline in the Wall Street Journal this morning that read: > [@](#): > > Equipment Fims Bets on Restaurants Not often you find two typos in a headline. I couldn’t find the article online so I couldn’t see how they fixed it. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/15 "2010-06-09T20:17:44Z")
> [@Big\_Norse](#): > > Not often you find two typos in a headline. I couldn’t find the article online so I couldn’t see how they fixed it. What’s the other typo besides ‘fims’? ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/16 "2010-06-09T20:29:08Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > What’s the other typo besides ‘fims’? “Bets.” If it’s “fims” they would “Bet.” ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/17 "2010-06-09T20:49:21Z")
My favorite was the small town paper’s ad many years ago, looking for “tysetters”. No wonder they needed some. I have noticed more and more errors creeping into the larger mainstreammedia as the current post-literate generation works its way into the workforce. My favorite was the Dilbert cartoon, where the guy yells at PHB “My name is Myron, not ‘moron’! Next time don’t just take the first word that spell-checker suggests!” As he walks away, PHB wonders “what’s spell-checker?” I did read about a woman in Portugal many years ago who died at 80-something after being pregnant for over 50 years. The autopsy found that there was a calcified fetus inside her womb. I find that a little hard to believe as a survivable condition, but the mainstream media was as easily fooled as anyone by urban legend stuff on the newswires back then… ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/18 "2010-06-09T20:59:37Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I did read about a woman in Portugal many years ago who died at 80-something after being pregnant for over 50 years. The autopsy found that there was a calcified fetus inside her womb. I find that a little hard to believe as a survivable condition, but the mainstream media was as easily fooled as anyone by urban legend stuff on the newswires back then… Before you say that they were “fooled”, you could [check yourself and see that it’s real.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcified_fetus) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/19 "2010-06-10T02:20:17Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Before you say that they were “fooled”, you could [check yourself and see that it’s real.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcified_fetus) Back when I was a med student learning radiology, they used to give us an x-ray of a lithopedion and see if we could identify it. I missed that one, as did 99% of the class. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552/20 "2010-06-10T07:41:32Z")
The 11th trimester is always the worst. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/35-1-2-months-pregnant-time-to-induce/542552.md?page=2)