Aaack!

-
I dislike finding typos and grammatical errors in my posts - makes me feel like a real idiot (of course, maybe I have an exaggerated opinion of my own literacy).

The most common typo I notice is teh instead of the.

Then there are the little typos that Word fails to pick up like, "Then there are he little typos that Word fails to pick up."

There are also the times I insert or omit one or more words in a sentence.

I could also gripe about my use of punctuation - which I consider creative in most instances - not to mention run on sentences - for which I sought no help (they just seemed to go away - mostly).

This morning, I noticed a typo in my Evolution of a Peeve blog. sigh.

I suppose what I need to do are: (1) write my posts out well in advance - say a month or so – put them aside and reread them shortly before posting, (2) get an editor who will proofread this stuff.

I also habitually break various grammatical rules because it sounds better to break the rule than to follow the rule. I misuse hopefully, I split infinitives, and I have been known to verb the odd noun - for these, I am unrepentant. For all the others ... aaack!

Image nabbed from here.

Comments

Barbara said…
I too am a grammar fanatic, but I have decided to cut myself some slack on the typo issue. Initially I felt very embarrassed (just spell-checked the last word), but I am trying to make the emphasis communication and not perfection. Blogging is not about points being taken off for misspellings!
September 06, 2006 1:53 PM
B said…
excellent point, barbara. for so long, i've worried too much about these technical things, when really, blogging is about the communication itself and the content. it is still difficult for me not to spell check and do a quick read through to make sure i haven't completely butchered something, but i think that blogging is a great exercise in letting go.
September 06, 2006 2:31 PM
RennyBA said…
I always love to read your posts - typo or not! I hope you bear with me my gramma - yours are not my native toung you know. But: ask me to spell a Norwegian word - I all of a suden feel at home:-)
September 06, 2006 4:02 PM
Richard said…
barbara: I agree, it is about communicating - it just looks better when properly spelled and resonably grammatically correct.

breal: one of the problems with being oour own proof reader is that we know what it is supposed to say, so we easily gloss over imperfections and errors because we don't see them. But, yea, if I was focussed on getting it roght, I would never blog.

rennyba: the next time I need to spell a Norwegian word, I shall think of you first.
September 06, 2006 8:13 PM
Just me said…
I'm just speaking (typing) for myself but I rarely notice most errors and tend to read right over them if I do notice. We're all busy with real life and blog as a way to share our opinions, thoughts, ideas, pet peeves, etc. If we were being graded on the quality of our work I'm sure no one would bother. I certainly wouldn't, life grades us enough as it is. So be yourself, errors and all.
September 06, 2006 10:20 PM
tin-tin said…
i don't proofread my work. i just type tne press publish. hahaha. that's why sometimes i have wrong spellings and wrong grammars. and to think that i laugh with those who have wrong grammars. tsk tsk tsk
September 07, 2006 4:25 AM
Mother of Invention said…
I am guilty of all you have mentioned plus ending the sentence with a preposition! No to worry, Richard, we get what you're saying! if I am sending some work to a publisher, then I get picky! You already put a great deal of effort into your posts! Small potatoes!
September 07, 2006 10:28 AM
vina said…
haha, you are definitely not alone tito richard!

i read my work over and over and over again to make sure everything is correct, grammar and spelling-wise.

i sometimes lose sleep over errors i overlooked.
September 08, 2006 6:46 AM
Richard said…
freckled-one: certainly this is a more informal way of expressing thoughts.

tin-tin: I agree that the content of the blog is more important than the fine details of spelling and grammar. If someone has great spelling and grammar, but lousy content I don’t bother to read it. However, it is still nice to get it right.

MOI: you have been published? Whaaaa! I have always dreamed of being a writer, but, I suffer from writer's paralysis - not block. I have found blogging is instilling in me the discipline of writing.

vina: do you really lose sleep? I always find your posts so charming.

Thank you all for your comments, support and encouragement, however, I am not as distraught as my post may intimate. I just needed a topic and, lo!, I found a spelling mistake - topic found!
September 08, 2006 9:17 AM
Richard said…
matt: you have had something published? Aaack! I Feel so inadequate now.
September 10, 2006 8:11 AM
vina said…
oooooh yes. i lose sleep over it. when i do get to sleep, i dream about it.
September 12, 2006 1:28 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chinese Wisdom Concerning Money

-
[19September-2007 @ 17:11 EST: Revised preamble. This page still gets the most search hits: There is no Anthony de Croud. The e-mail is SPAM. I post things that pique my fancy at the moment. I like the 8 precepts, but the rest of the e-mail is junk. However, I thought it fair to post everything in its entirety. I did not write the e-mail. I did not forward the e-mail. I strongly encourage you not to forward it either. (I also encourage you to reply to whomever sent you the e-mail and tell them you don't appreciate getting junk mail.)] Received this in our e-mail (English translation follows): PRECEPTO CHINO SOBRE EL DINERO EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CASA, PERO NO UN HOGAR, EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN RELOJ, PERO NO EL TIEMPO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CAMA, PERO NO EL SUEÑO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN LIBRO, PERO NO EL CONOCIMIENTO. EL DINERO PUEDE PAGAR UN MÉDICO, PERO NO LA SALUD. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA POSICIÓN, PERO NO EL RESPETO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR LA SANGRE, PERO ...
Read more

Why you should regularly visit your dentist.

-
I hadn't been to my dentist since May-2004 (normally I went on weekends, but since Sofia and the kids moved to Montreal, I am not in Ottawa on the weekends). Last night, as I was munching on some cashews, I felt a pain in one of my molars and then some grit in my mouth. I went and washed it out, assuming that maybe there had been a stone or something amount the cashews. Turns out I noticed a hole in the surface of the molar (top right, second from the back, my wisdom teeth were removed years ago). Fishing around for grit in my mouth, it looked like crumbled filling. So I assumed that my filling had cracked and crumbled and come out. Went to the dentist this morning, he took an x-ray and came back with bad news. I have a large cavity under the filling, which gave way. The filling did not fall out, but rather impacted into the space of the cavity. He did not rework the filling, since the cavity is very near the root - cleaning it out would likely result in exposing the root. As some...
Read more

Chicken Menses

-
Image
A friend of mine is an ovo-lactic vegetarian. This means that in addition to the plant matter he consumes, he also consumes dairy products and eggs. Dairy products I can accept, but eggs? … hmm, I wasn’t so sure - it sounds a bit like those vegetarians who say they eat chicken and fish. After all, the egg is an animal product. His answer was simple and satisfying, "Eggs are chicken menses. The hen will produce an egg whether she is fertilized or not. Unfertilized eggs are the discarded products of ovulation akin to menses in mammals." Image grabbed from here .
Read more