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Must agree that I find typos very distracting. I've sometimes considered setting up a little business offering to read restaurants' menus for them to look for this and other problems, as it seems to be such a common place to find them.

My tendencies in this regard probably spring from the fact that I was raised by a professional editor and ESL (English as Second Language, in case it's not a common abbreviation outside the US) teacher who was pretty dang nitpicky herself. Or maybe I was just born to be a pain in the ass.


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Typos, wherever they appear, scream at me. I get no rest from typos. Both typos and factual errors.

I am sure that most who post here share this aversion. I remember being moved as a ten-year old to write an indignant letter to a UK periodical which had stated that Oliver Cromwell was the only Lord Protector of the Realm in the period between Charles I and II.


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I too am annoyed by typos, but what I really dislike is when the writers put their brains on autopilot and don't check the article after it has been mauled by a spell checker.

The local newspaper had a review of the new VW Jetta station wagon. It stated that it had not been offered in this conflagration in Canada before. (Perhaps Jetta is German for Ford Pinto?)

An article a few years ago in the Vancouver Province (a major daily) about a charity hockey game between Los Angeles police officers and NHL oldtimers. Man was changed to person in every case. John Smith, a defenceperson for the Dallas Stars...

On a restaurant menu... Roast Beef with Au Jus.




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The local newspaper had a review of the new VW Jetta station wagon. It stated that it had not been offered in this conflagration in Canada before.

But how can one get angry with a gaffe that makes one laugh so much?


#22800 03/15/01 07:48 PM
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...Except for Jackie's post on Peltzer.

Rules, dammit, where are the rules??!!





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I've sometimes considered setting up a little business offering to read restaurant's menus..

I have often considered offering my services as proofreader to my University newspaper, due to the constant and egregious errors found therein. Like some of you mentioned, I see typos right away-- they seem to be printed in red ink! Fortunately, my parents share this trait, so I don't unduly annoy anyone by constantly pointing out nitpicky errors.


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Are any of you cursed with the tendency to find typos everywhere you look?


What about deliberate typographical "errors"? Not just "Nu" for new, or "EZ" for easy, but small typographical errors used intentionally to catch the eye of the pedantic? I'm still a stranger here, but I see that some regulars have experience in various media. Of them I ask, do deliberate typographical "errors" exist, or are they merely the product of a cynical imagination?


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An article a few years ago in the Vancouver Province (a major daily) about a charity hockey game between Los Angeles police officers and NHL oldtimers. Man was changed to person in every case. John Smith, a defenceperson for the Dallas Stars...

They misspelled defense, too!

Flatlander


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Oliver Cromwell was the only Lord Protector of the Realm in the period between Charles I and II.


Dear Max: His son being the second?


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In reply to:

Man was changed to person in every case. John Smith, a defenceperson for the Dallas Stars...

They misspelled defense, too!


Only if you follow Noachian orthography.


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