photo from someecards, who has made it very difficult for me to include this picture. screenshot workaround!
I am very nit-picky when it comes to spelling and grammar. Mostly when it concerns other people...I mean, I am all about making things up on my blog and in gchat conversations (srrrrsly), but a misplaced apostrophe in a theatre program? Heinous! Atrocity! Sheild! Your! Eyes! This may make me a hypocrite (though I am currently trying to think of another word for it). I really liked what Lyz, of Rag and Bone (the newest blog in my Google Reader) said:
"While, I eat up delicious new words like “bootylicious,” I wanted to punch a kitten when my sister sends me text messages without vowels. But maybe I am not a Pharisee, trying to white wash my sepulcher until it shines, maybe this is just the way English is..."
Amen, sista. I mean, don't even get me started on "text speak" (or "txt spk") and the language of Facebook and Twitter. I am just getting used to the fact that people think it's ok to type emails without using capital letters (and I'll admit to doing it myself, out of sheer laziness...or the need to dash something off with extreme speed, but sometimes I go back and fix the email anyway). It drives me berserk (which I always thought should be spelled "bezerk," by the way) to see messages like "omg i wish i cud cu! want 2b der w u 2nite" all over the place. Ok, I made that one up. But it could happen, people, and you know it! I think things like "your so cute" are my least favorite. My so cute what?
More than this common butchering of English that is (sigh) just becoming commonplace online, I am irked by errors in publications. Apostrophes turning possessives into conjunctions (whose vs. who's, for example), or improper use of their/they're/there. In publications. That have (presumably) been edited. By someone who is getting paid. To check for grammar mistakes. WHY GOD WHY?!?
In several of the recent books I've read, I have found mistakes in spelling, grammar, or just silly things like the word "the" being typed twice in a row. Or missing letters here and there. Now, call me crazy, but if you are PUBLISHING A BOOK, don't you think your editor should catch more errors than even your most nit-picky reader? Maybe I have books on too high a pedestal, but seriously, folks. It's a published work. That you expect people to take in exchange for their hard-earned money. Don't you think maybe, just maybe, it shouldn't contain a bunch of errors? I'm not talking one book here. I've noticed it in at least 3 books I've read recently. WTF.
These are the things that keep me up at night. No, not really. But they do often toe the line between "ha ha let's get a little laugh out of that error" and "I want to pull my hair out; this is that frustrating to me." I feel like a big snob and a jerk and all, being so incredibly nit-picky about these things, but honestly, if your job is to edit something, you should notice these things! Rant over.
In closing, please check out these "stupid-awesome" protest signs. Thank you for Tweeting it, Nicole! My favorites are this one and this one, because of the mistakes, obvz.
PS - how many parenthesis can one blog post use?! I think I've reached my quota (but maybe not).
