Mistakes & Mishaps Archives - Page 8 of 8

THE MUSTARD STAIN

November 19, 2009 by Scott Flood

Are typos a big deal? True typographical errors, misspellings, incorrect homonyms and the like all get lumped together under the rubric of “typos” these days. Many people seem to accept them the way we’ve come to accept a certain percentage of rodent parts in the processed food we buy. (You do realize that the government allows a certain amount of pest contamination in food, don’t you? There are actually acceptable levels of rodent “excreta” and insect parts in what you’ll have for lunch. Bon appétit!)

Those pesky typos have a more insidious side. While we might brush them off at a conscious level, they send a message to the subconscious that controls our beliefs and attitudes.

MORE FROM MISS SPELLING

November 10, 2009 by Scott Flood

Embarrassing spelling errors compounded by wayward spellcheckers continue to crop up, much to my delight (and that of several correspondents).

One recent example that provoked a chuckle was the Indianapolis-area newspaper that referred to those served by a County Home as the “poor and indignant.” I suppose poverty can bring out the worst in some people. (Of course, the writer meant to say “indigent”.)

ARE YOU BEING SERVED – OR SERVICED?

October 6, 2009 by Scott Flood

I’ve often written about the tendency to use bigger words when smaller ones are actually more communicative. I blame it on a desire to sound more educated and impressive (and I think it goes back to those papers we wrote in high school and college, when we tried to mask our failure to read the assignment by digging deep into the thesaurus).

One common mistake is to substitute the word “service” for its close cousin “serve.” Instead of saying “we serve our customers with a smile,” we see “we service our customers with a smile.” Rather than “thanks for the opportunity to serve you,” it’s “thanks for the opportunity to service you.” In place of “we served 10,000 customers last year,” we get “we serviced 10,000 customers last year.” No big deal, you say?

JIST PLANE REDICULOUS

September 17, 2009 by Scott Flood

In a recent post, I poked a little fun at people whose complete trust of spellcheckers occasionally puts them in awkward positions, such as inadvertently apologizing for their lack of bladder control (sorry for the incontinence!).

Then there are those who don’t seem to notice that spellcheckers exist. Am I the only one who has noticed that the most common Internet spelling of “ridiculous” is “rediculous”? That “probably” has become “prolly” online? “Frustrated” has people “flusterated”? If you follow any online forums, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

NOT NEARLY AS SORRY AS WE ARE

September 10, 2009 by Scott Flood

I’ve seen it on signs, in letters, and on emails: people revealing a little more than they want us to know about them. Well, they really didn’t mean to share that information with us, but in an act of carelessness (or maybe even ignorance), they offered a confession and an apology: “Sorry for the incontinence.”

THE MUSTARD STAIN

MORE FROM MISS SPELLING

ARE YOU BEING SERVED – OR SERVICED?

JIST PLANE REDICULOUS

NOT NEARLY AS SORRY AS WE ARE

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