Why does this irk me so much?

[Makar]

The errors detract from whatever atmosphere was being created in the show, and now we watch it with half an eye out for the next mistake.

Is the error is in the not spotting, or in spotting it and letting it through anyway?

You should see the warning looks I get from my wife concerning any show that has wildlife sounds, nature scenes, etc. There is an institutionalized Red Tail Hawk Buteo jamaicensis call that is used for every bird of prey the world over or for some unseen menace. I remember some show years ago that was suppose to be taking place in Australia, except no Australian vegetation and there was a Yellow-Breasted Chat,Icteria virens, calling non-stop in every scene. It's tough always being right, I guess someone has to do it. I can't even watch Nature and keep my mouth shut!

I have found that the Willow warbler - a UK summer visitor which winters in Africa - is used on nearly every continent in TV progs as the standard woodland songbird noise. Following years of work related biological recording I unfortunately cannot walk through a wood and hear birds singing, I hear various species holding territory! Shame really...

[HDSarah]

-As to language quibbles its amusing to see misuse of "compliment" where "complement" should have been used.

"The walnut end table compliments the houndstooth check sofa nicely."

Wow! That end table is something. Is the voice chip extra?

A man walks into a bar. The bartender is in the back, so the man sits down to wait. Soon he hears a tiny voice say, "Nice shirt!" The man looks around and can't figure out who said it; no one else is in the bar and the TV is off. Then he hears "You're looking great. Have you lost weight?" Soon after, "I like your haircut!" The man is getting pretty confused at this point.

The bartender returns and asks what the man wants. He says, "I was going to have a drink, but as soon as I sat down I started hearing voices. Maybe I shouldn't be drinking." The bartender replied, "Oh, you heard a little voice saying nice things to you?" The man nods. "Don't worry. That's just the complimentary peanuts."



Sorry; Brian's comment reminded me of that joke.

But back on topic: I am greatly annoyed by misspellings and other proofreading errors. They jump out at me. One of my all-time favorites was a huge poster on a bookstore door, advertising a new dictionary as "The best in it's class."

[fearfaoin]

I've been wondering how a weapon wielded often with two hands and having no hand guard could be called a lightsaber.

Oh, I'm sure they started off with a hand guard, but since the dang things
appear to slice through anything, it didn't serve much purpose. The name
just stuck even after the hand guard was removed. Yeah, that's the ticket!

[Martin Milner]

I've been wondering how a weapon wielded often with two hands and having no hand guard could be called a lightsaber.

Oh, I'm sure they started off with a hand guard, but since the dang things
appear to slice through anything, it didn't serve much purpose. The name
just stuck even after the hand guard was removed. Yeah, that's the ticket!

and sabres are curved... better for use from horseback.

[Makar]

But back on topic: I am greatly annoyed by misspellings and other proofreading errors. They jump out at me. One of my all-time favorites was a huge poster on a bookstore door, advertising a new dictionary as "The best in it's class."

Typos are like everything else in the western world - not enough time to notice them all. I would say relax and enjoy them for what they most obviously symbolise - the human touch.

On a related vein, on a less than human touch, the craik wae ma windaes live mail almost pit paid tae ma dubble glazin! Seriously though, I was really rather perturbed when on a daily basis my newly downloaded 'windows live mail' kept telling me that my spelling was incorrect. Had I inadvertently ticked the 'swahili' box? No, I had ticked the only 'english' box available and it was US english. Infuriating being told that words had Z's instead of S's and such like. I had to download a patch that some poor sod in blighty created.

Language and spelling is such an evolutionary thing - wait till the next generation start writing books - ho ho ho... mind you, maybe they won't.

[Lambchop]

On a related vein, on a less than human touch, the craik wae ma windaes live mail almost pit paid tae ma dubble glazin! Seriously though, I was really rather perturbed when on a daily basis my newly downloaded 'windows live mail' kept telling me that my spelling was incorrect. Had I inadvertently ticked the 'swahili' box? No, I had ticked the only 'english' box available and it was US english. Infuriating being told that words had Z's instead of S's and such like. I had to download a patch that some poor sod in blighty created.

We're taking over, you know. It's only a matter of time.

I'm not at all surprized by the bus ad. I think they removed the R to make the text fit on the banner without having to shrink the font. It's the only letter that most people wouldn't notice was missing, since it's right next to an i and the two look similar. Similarly. Whatever.

[WyoBadger]

The errors detract from whatever atmosphere was being created in the show, and now we watch it with half an eye out for the next mistake.

Is the error is in the not spotting, or in spotting it and letting it through anyway?

You should see the warning looks I get from my wife concerning any show that has wildlife sounds, nature scenes, etc. There is an institutionalized Red Tail Hawk Buteo jamaicensis call that is used for every bird of prey the world over or for some unseen menace. I remember some show years ago that was suppose to be taking place in Australia, except no Australian vegetation and there was a Yellow-Breasted Chat,Icteria virens, calling non-stop in every scene. It's tough always being right, I guess someone has to do it. I can't even watch Nature and keep my mouth shut!

I have found that the Willow warbler - a UK summer visitor which winters in Africa - is used on nearly every continent in TV progs as the standard woodland songbird noise. Following years of work related biological recording I unfortunately cannot walk through a wood and hear birds singing, I hear various species holding territory! Shame really...

I remember, as a kid, watching the Tarzan cartoon and thinking, "Hey, wait a minute, kookaburas don't live in Africa!!!" Let alone lions in the jungle.



Tom

[mcurtiss]

[Coffee]

Just say "no" to text tattoos.

[Redwolf]

Having worked for two years in an advertising agency, it's absolutely inexcusable for something like this to happen. These ads (at least at the agency I worked for) went through many, many proofreading hands before actually being printed and placed--and that's not counting the people who do the printing and placing. I hope the customer got their money back or at least free placement of future ads.

Every time I see something like this it makes me think less of the organization--not just the advertising agency--because they have to be approved by clients as well. And this one's so OBVIOUS!

When I take my dog for a walk on a certain route, there's a large truck sometimes parked in front of one of the homes. I can't even tell you what all the advertising on the side is for because each time I get distracted by the word (in several places) "commerical." I want to go to the door and ask them if they realize the mistake and just don't care.

Susan

I was going to say the same thing. I worked in print advertising before I "retired" to take the mommy track, and ANYTHING that went out of our offices was not only proofed many times by me (I was the lead editor), but by my assistant, by the graphic artist, by the art director, by the salesperson and by the client. Nothing...absolutely not a single, solitary thing...went out without a sign-off by the client. There's no way anything that blatant would have gotten out of our office. That something like that is on the back of a bus says a lot...not only about the agency that designed it, but about the client who approved it.

Redwolf

Redwolf

[Innocent Bystander]

It's the Giant Saguaro Cactuses that seem to appear in every desert on Earth, not to mention every planet in Space, as well.

And the lack of hats, of course!

[HDSarah]

Typos are like everything else in the western world - not enough time to notice them all. I would say relax and enjoy them for what they most obviously symbolise - the human touch.

I do enjoy the unintentional humor of proofreading lapses sometimes. I excuse those lapses in quick, informal writing such as most email and message boards like this, but things like an ad on a bus, or a printed poster, (or a TATTOO! That was amazing! ) really ought to receive a bit more attention before being published.

[BrassBlower]

I've seen two good ones perpetrated by our local school system:

One was on a poster in a local discount store and had to do with our Grade 1-6 "Shinning Stars".

The other was on a sign outside a school for the whole world to see. It said "Word of the week: Deliberateness."

No wonder Johnny can't read.

[fearfaoin]

The other was on a sign outside a school for the whole world to see. It said "Word of the week: Deliberateness."

What's wrong with Deliberateness? It's a perfectly cromulent word.

[Coffee]

http://www.onelook.com/?w=deliberateness&ls=a