Richard Laermer did everything right. In a PR News (print version) column about sloppy grammar and spelling, he got the tone right, found some good examples of dumb mistakes by editors and others who should know better, and voila -- a thoughtful bit of writing for busy PR folks to read.
But there, hiding in paragraph 15, is the misuse of the word "there", when "their" was intended.
Ouch. It's bad enough when that happens in a regular bit of writing, but when you're castigating people for being sloppy, that sort of gaffe is ... cringeworthy.
Lest you think I take joy in Richard's (or his editor's) usage slip-up, I'm much too prone to typing errors to throw stones in this glass house. I merely cringe in sympathy.
;-)
P.S. RIchard is co-curator of The Bad Pitch Blog. Check it out.
I thought everyone knew this rule:
If your probability of making an error is X%, then when you write about accuracy or quality it rises to 5X%.
If the result is greater than 100%, then you are at risk of making TWO errors.
And yes, I have checked THIS post very carefully. I fixed three typos and there may well be one I missed.
Posted by: Tim Hicks | February 17, 2006 at 12:09 PM
I had about six typos in my post before fixing them, but that's partly because I was using an unfamiliar keyboard.
I like your formula. Is there a similar one for blog postings criticizing articles criticizing typos? I'm assuming things get exponential the smugger you are...
Posted by: Eric Eggertson | February 17, 2006 at 12:30 PM