Why are MySQL syntax error messages so bad?
Oracle is where open source software goes to die. They have a disincentive to make the freely available competitor to their commercial database applications very good. It was good enough that no one would make another, for a while, and now I prefer MariaDB and the other forks when I am given a choice.
MySQL Optimizer optimizes the query you send. By the time it is executed, it could look pretty different. Also the idea that the line an column will stay the same during that time is not correct.
Here is a look at how MySQL optimizes queries that it gets:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/internals/en/optimizer-primary-optimizations.html
Update 1:
The above is my assumption on why error reporting isn't that good. In no way I am saying MySQL error reporting is good, it is really bad. Sometimes I get errors that totally have nothing to do with the actual error. Here are some issues Peter Zaitsev ran into (awesome blog btw for people working with MySQL):
http://www.mysqlperformanceblog.com/2011/04/06/more-on-mysql-error-messages/http://www.mysqlperformanceblog.com/2008/03/16/mysql-error-message-nonsenses/