The Impotence of Proofreading

the impotemce of proofreadingAre you aware of the impotence of proofreading?

Don’t faint at the title; it was written that way deliberately.

Before we get to today’s newspaper goofs, it’s “fess up” time. In the last few  days, two very alert readers found goofs in my posts . . . TWICE! Thanks go to Shenoy U.K. and David Burrowes, both of whom took the time to let me know they saw something I should change. They were right, and I am grateful for their sharp eyes.

shameNow let’s move on to some newspapers’ goofs from around the world with my snarky comments after each in bold and italics):

~ IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are one of hundreds of parachuting enthusiasts who bought our Easy Sky Diving book, please make the following correction: on page 8, line 7, the words “state zip code” should have read “pull rip cord.” (Hmmm. That might be an important thing to know, don’t you think?)

~ It was incorrectly reported last Friday that today is T-shirt Appreciation Day. In fact, it is actually Teacher Appreciation Day. (Hope the teachers appreciate it!)

~ Our newspaper carried the notice last week that Mr. Oscar Hoffnagle is a defective on the police force. This was a typographical error. Mr. Hoffnagle is, of course, a detective on the police farce. (And sharp-eyed readers will see that the “correction” is actually worse.)

~ In one edition of today’s Food Section, an inaccurate number of jalapeno peppers was given for Jeanette Crowley’s Southwestern chicken salad recipe. The recipe should call for two, not 21, jalapeno peppers. (NOW they tell us?)

Lessons learned? READ your work very carefully! You don’t know how it may affect your readers!

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