Tag: typos

Typo Nazis

Angry people need to get there sines write.

science.it There’s an article about how only jerks bother pointing out typos. It used a harsher word, actually, to describe typo Nazis.

“Researchers concluded that ‘less agreeable people are more sensitive to grammatical errors, while more conscientious and less open people are sensitive to typos.’

“Overall, extroverts were more forgiving of both types of errors, and introverts were especially harsh about messages that contained typos. ” Not incidentally, the article is intentionally filled with typos.

Surely, science has proven I must be both disagreeable AND introverted. The very day I read the article, someone wrote on Facebook, in response to a politician he did not like, “Looser!” What he MEANT was “Loser” and I KNEW that, but I felt a bit dismissive of the comment, perhaps because a single invective isn’t very insightful.

I groan, rather than chuckle, when I see the protest signs demanding that immigrants know English, but spell moron “morans.” Go to Google images and type in misspelled tea party protest signs. Here’s an example.

“Previous studies have shown that we tend to judge people who make writing errors as ‘less conscientious, intelligent, and trustworthy.'” True enough; angry people need to get their sines write; I mean, their signs write.

Ah, The Guardian says correcting grammar is racist and is an expression of white privilege I will take that under advisement.

I’ve noticed more errors of fact in online newspapers. Speed gets in the way of accuracy. A story mentioned the “six minutes between 11:49 a.m. and noon.” I wrote to an editor I know personally to get it fixed, not as a taunt, but because it’s good to get it correct. Still, it DID hurt my head, but only slightly.

I’m much more patient with bloggers who produce regularly. Having my own problem with typos is a function of my brain operating faster than my fingers. I have learned to try to have the word NOT in any sentence, because I’m most likely to leave it out, totally changing the meaning.

If someone has written about the American Civil War and writes 1683 – this actually happened recently – I KNOW the guy KNOWS the actual date of 1863, and correct him, privately.

I am comforted by this: I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why.

What am I to make of the fact that someone emailed me this article?

See also: It’s not “homocide” or “genicide”…

Slightly off topic:

Why Does English Have So Many Words That Have Twins?

Blogging revolution #9

I try to let the blogging go, but then the heart will want what it wants.

9-page-headerNine years of blogging, every day; nine trips around the sun. This is remarkable, or remarkably crazy; the line between the two is paper-thin. There were weeks this past year when I could write only one or two posts. It was almost never out of a lack of content ideas, but rather a lack of time. Then there’d be an outpouring, usually at 4 a.m., when my mind was swimming with the thoughts I wanted to write.

It’s rather like the pushmi-pullyu of Doctor Doolittle, described in Wikipedia as a “‘gazelle-unicorn cross’ which has two heads (one of each) at opposite ends of its body. When it tries to move, both heads try to go in opposite directions.” I just recalled that I had a little plastic pushmi-pullyu when I was in high school, for some obscure reason.

Sometimes I try to let the blogging go, but then the heart will want what it wants. I want/need to communicate, and I feel rather cranky when I have things I want to write but can’t seem to find the opportunity. So the subconscious wakes me in the middle of the night. Regular morning blogging is SO much better for my sleep patterns.

I’ll attempt one more year of daily blogging, and, as I noted last year, I’ll stop. I think I will. Maybe I’ll repost some things I wrote in my first year when no one was reading my blog anyway once or twice a week. Or not. We shall see. But stopping altogether is not an option, and in any case, that’s still 12 months away.

Oh, if you see a typo, feel free to mention it. There was a piece I wrote about the word tittynope last month. Even had a graphic of the word. And yet I typed tittymouse, undoubtedly affected by the word titmouse; fortunately, I caught it before it published. On the other hand, I might get all colloquial sometimes: “And I done so well in high school math” made sense to me, in the context.

Anyway, the obvious from the Beatles white album.

T is for Tipos Typos

Some mornings, I reread my blog and only then do I see my egregious error.

In one of my favorite websites, Regret the Error, there is a lengthy column about how copy-editing errors take place, in this case, the Washington Post, and what to do about it. One quote from the Post: “Mistakes occur more frequently online than in print, generally, because online copy goes through fewer editors…But online errors are easier and faster to correct.”

I am a rather good speller. I remember that I was so proud to get 100 in my 5th-grade spelling final. Though I was no good at spelling bees; I need to write it down in order to ascertain that it looks wrong. But spellcheck has made me lazy. Add to that the fact that I’m a lousy typist and one will discover typos in this blog.

This used to pain me greatly, and still bugs me. Some mornings, I reread my blog, and only then do I see my egregious error. Generally, it’s a word that is a homonym. I DO know the difference between here and here, I really do. Or I’m distracted and leave off a repeated letter or series of letters, such as Missippi for Mississippi.

There are words I tend to check, such as words ending in ible and able, or ance and ence. I remember a rare time watching a show called Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, and I recall that the ‘1st-grade word’ was allegiance; does it have 2 or 3 Es? Having a second-grader, I don’t think it’s a first-grade word at all.

Some words I have tricks for spelling. For instance, facetious I know has the five vowels, in order (and six, if one adds the -ly). Still, I pronounce it wrong in my mind: FACE tee us, rather than fah SEE shus.

There are some bloggers who are generally good spellers. I tend to send e-mails to people I believe who know the difference but just made a mistake. One blogger who I follow wrote warp in a place that didn’t make sense. I mentioned another error in the sentence; then he changed warp to wrap. I then suggested warm, and he realized THAT was the correct word.

Whereas some folks that just don’t know the difference between its and it’s, despite the previous correction, I tend not to bother; noting this would just be harassment. I used to correct because I figured people might think that they were less well informed; now I recognize, in a world of C U L8R texts, that may not necessarily be the case.

In any case, I really like these proofreading tips from the New York Times. Among the points: Use spelling checkers but don’t trust them. In particular, be aware of homophone confusion: complement and compliment, accept and except, effect and affect, oversees and overseas. Rather like what I’ve experienced.

Incidentally, even the typo watchdogs can make mistakes.


ABC Wednesday – Round 9

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