BFTP: Typos

A weekend Blue Skunk "feature" will be a revision of an old post. I'm calling this BFTP: Blast from the Past. Original post November 23, 2008.

 

Why one should never trust a spelling checker...

I admit it. I make errors. Public ones. Like writing this:

For those of us who were once English teachers, to funny not to share... Doug

And of course, the misspelling was brought to my attention:

I am a devout reader of your blog (not that I always agree with you), but I felt, as an English teacher, the need to point out the irony of the mistake in your first sentence...

"For those of us who were once English teachers, to funny not to share"

"too funny"

No offense intended!

So, OK. That was embarrassing. I replied:

Hi,

Here are the possible reasons I made such an error:

•  
  • I deliberately left out the second “o” because my computer is running low on them and I need to conserve.
  • I’ve always been confused about to, too, and 2 (as well as tutu – both the costume and the politician).
  • This was actually a contest to see who could find the error – AND YOU WON!
  • Like the Navajo blanket weavers, I purposely make an error in each thing I write, honoring the belief that only God is perfect.
  • I suck at proofing my own writing and need to take the time to do a better job of it.

Anywho, I will leave the error in situ as a lesson in humility. Thanks for the catch.

All the best,

Doug

While making such a dumb mistake and being called on it never exactly makes my day, it doesn't really slow me down much either. Concern about your own writing being perfect prior to publication should not keep you from writing and publishing. Fear of errors keeps too (or to) many people from contributing to the common good.

After writing I don't know how many words in books, articles, columns and this dumb blog, you'd think I would get better at crafting a decent sentence and avoiding typos. But I still can't re-read a single thing I've written without the urge to re-write - even if just a little. And deliberate or not, I bet almost everything I've written still has grammar or spelling errors still in it.

Comments

[Jen Hegna]

Doug, good to know even the pro's have typos from time to time. I wish I would write more, but I get so caught up in the mechanics of my blog - that I spend way too (or tutu - lol) much time editing. Literally, a one page blog can take me hours. Of course, I know that practicing is one of the only ways get better. Thanks for the advice!

[Naomi Bayes]

Huge sigh!! It goes beyond blogs too...tweet typos are so apparent! Glad to know that imperfection doesn't mean ignorance, just oversight :). Love this short and excellent post!

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Jen,

It's the quality of one's ideas, not necessarily the quality one's writing, that should draw people to a blog. Keep writing! (I've always thought your writing was very good!)

Doug

Hi Naomi,

I thought typos and abbreviations and word shortenings were all required by Twitter.

Thx 4 note,

LMAO

Doug