[Image credit: digitalart]
Proofread carefully to see if you any words out. ~ Author Unknown
Quick, did your eyes replace the missing word in the above quote, or did you catch the omission? One of my job responsibilities at the publishing company where I’m employed is to assist with copy edits. Which is oftentimes a curse as I can’t help but notice mistakes when reading other printed (or online) materials. The other night at dinner, I read how a woman was explaining to her children how she met not their dad, but their da. In a magazine, the head architect for a construction job had tragically become the dead architect. A newspaper headline accidentally omitted the L in a public announcement. Then there are the contradictions. On an antibiotic prescription of mine, the front label reads: Take one capsule by mouth every day with meals. The reverse side states: Take medication on an empty stomach one hour before or two-to-three hours after a meal. So which one is it? (Yes, I called the pharmacy to double-check.) The moral of the story: a second set of eyes can never hurt.
What’s your most embarrassing typo?
Mar 09, 2012 @ 16:06:24
Probably in every post I’ve made. I’m always in shock at how much I miss. I guess the worst is having one in a title once. That was bad.
Mar 09, 2012 @ 18:18:23
When my dad was a Safety Manager for the U.S.P.S., I was typing a caption for him for a cartoon to be used in a Postal Service mailing. The cartoon showed a letter carrier who had just been in a motor vehicle accident with his Post Office van. When the mailing came out and I read the caption I had typed, I almost had a heart attack. I had inadvertently typed, “Does this mean I loose my safe driving award?” And I proofread EVERYTHING I write or read! Ack!!!