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.”
Okay, we all know (or at least really hope) they really didn’t mean to apologize for bladder-based shortcomings. They probably meant to apologize for the “inconvenience” they felt they had somehow created. But they couldn’t spell the word. If they were lucky enough to be using word processing software, the program offered some helpful alternatives – and they chose the wrong one.
Spellcheckers are such a wonderful invention that I’ll even suggest that the programmers who assembled them were channeling Divine inspiration. But they’re not perfect. Don’t fall into the trap of trusting them implicitly. Keep proofreading your words the old-fashioned way, and you’ll save yourself some embarrassment.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue to reach for my boots when I see signs that say: “Our office is closed this afternoon. Sorry for the incontinence!”