Fun with typos
Sometimes, spell-check won’t save you. Here are some mistakes I came across recently in my job as a local news reporter:
-- A police report about a drunken driver: “He was swearing all over the road.”
-- A news release about a natural gas leak at a college, which was due, it said, to “leaky values.” I must admit that I missed that one until an astute radio reporter pointed it out. (Thanks, Beth.) The first time I read it, I read the word that was intended: “valves.”
-- And there’s this, from a school district handout, apparently meant to explain to the public the district’s variety of educational opportunities: “Identified students in grades 4-8 have the choice to participate in our magnate school talented and gifted program.”
A magnate school would be a school for magnates, I imagine. Magnates are bigwigs, basically, especially in the business world, so a school that produces magnates would not be such a bad thing, as we need our captains of industry. But of course, the word they were going for here was “magnet.”
We must strive to be kind when coming across such mistakes, because they could happen to anyone. They have happened to the best of us.
One rule of thumb: The more words you write, the more likely you are to trip up. It’s a matter of the odds. That’s why an investment in a person who can edit is wise.
Do you have any good written mistakes you’d like to share? Yes, I’m open to hearing about zingers you might find in The Gazette.
Jan 13, 2012 at 4:31 p.m.
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Thanks for the mention, Schultz. The "leaky values" typo was one of the better ones I've seen.
One of the more notorious typos is leaving the "l" out of "public". I believe a former Gazette reporter did that and it wasn't caught before it was printed/hit the web.
Beth
Jan 12, 2012 at 5:45 p.m.
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notajanesvillelifer: I was referring to the hiring of proofreader. Yes, good point, someone with the requisite skills should be available, one would think.
Jan 11, 2012 at 8:58 p.m.
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Misteaks our comon enuff in dis nek o' th" woulds. If it aint broak don" ficks it. Perhaps the next great topic to explore would be Spoonerisms and other "pubic" speaking errors. Frankly, I know that this will be very entertaining.
Jan 11, 2012 at 2:04 p.m.
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Mr Schultz, How would it cost the district any money? I am sure two people within the district completed this document-one to comprise the class schedule document and one to put it onto the PDF format on the computer. One of the two school employees should have caught these spelling errors.
Jan 11, 2012 at 11:44 a.m.
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My nephew went "peasant hunting." :)
Jan 11, 2012 at 11:14 a.m.
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Having a person to proof school documents would be nice but would cost money. I don't expect the district will be creating any new positions in the near term, especially positions that don't directly help in the classroom.
Jan 11, 2012 at 8:34 a.m.
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I am not sure I would blame it all on spell check. I would think it is the authors responsibility to physically check (proof reading) his or her text before publishing. I would also think a certain amount of the "misspellings" are just improper use of the English language.
Jan 11, 2012 at 6:57 a.m.
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The person who misspelled the word "magnet" within the school district must be the same genius who misspelled the word "formerly" on the high school schedules. (it was spelled "formally" several times there) How embarrassing to the school district. After all, if the schools cannot spell correctly, how can they teach this subject to our children.
Yes, I do realize mistakes are made, however, one would think that the district would have another person proofread to avoid these embarrassments.
Jan 11, 2012 at 1:28 a.m.
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"Gadhafi family fleas Libya"
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