This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29529578
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Why typos and spelling mistakes don't really matter | Why typos and spelling mistakes don't really matter |
(about 2 hours later) | |
We should not get overly obsessed with making spelling mistakes or typos, because they are not what makes our writing good or bad, says author and Financial Times columnist Lucy Kellaway. | |
In a recent column about Sheryl Sandberg, I spelt her first name with a C. I read the piece over a few times before submitting, as I always do, saw nothing amiss, and pressed "send". | In a recent column about Sheryl Sandberg, I spelt her first name with a C. I read the piece over a few times before submitting, as I always do, saw nothing amiss, and pressed "send". |
I have spent 30 years in journalism, and there I was misspelling a name I had spelt correctly dozens of times before. | I have spent 30 years in journalism, and there I was misspelling a name I had spelt correctly dozens of times before. |
Had the mistake not been spotted, the newspaper would have looked ridiculous and I would have seemed sloppy, dim and outrageously unprofessional. | Had the mistake not been spotted, the newspaper would have looked ridiculous and I would have seemed sloppy, dim and outrageously unprofessional. |
The truth is, I've always had a flair for typos. It is not getting better with experience - nor with spellcheck. My ability to introduce mistakes has kept well ahead of the efforts of Microsoft and Apple to eliminate them. | The truth is, I've always had a flair for typos. It is not getting better with experience - nor with spellcheck. My ability to introduce mistakes has kept well ahead of the efforts of Microsoft and Apple to eliminate them. |
Because I know I have a problem, I try to help myself. I print my articles out and read them on paper. | Because I know I have a problem, I try to help myself. I print my articles out and read them on paper. |
I change the font for the final read-through to the hideous Comic Sans as the gawky shape of the letters sometimes exposes a mistake that had been hiding. But even then, lots get through. | I change the font for the final read-through to the hideous Comic Sans as the gawky shape of the letters sometimes exposes a mistake that had been hiding. But even then, lots get through. |
Checking on autopilot | Checking on autopilot |
Given my poor record, I was cheered to read an article in Wired saying we make typos not because we are dim, but because we are clever. | Given my poor record, I was cheered to read an article in Wired saying we make typos not because we are dim, but because we are clever. |
Writing is a sophisticated job and our brains focus on the structure, the sentences and the phrases, leaving the close-up work to be done on autopilot. | Writing is a sophisticated job and our brains focus on the structure, the sentences and the phrases, leaving the close-up work to be done on autopilot. |
Afterwards we are programmed to read only what we think we have written, not what we actually have. If that is the case, it is odd that we make such a phenomenal fuss about them. | Afterwards we are programmed to read only what we think we have written, not what we actually have. If that is the case, it is odd that we make such a phenomenal fuss about them. |
Earlier this summer the New York Times carried a front page story about a speech Barack Obama had given on US foreign policy with a headline referring to his "Cautious Reponse to World Crisis". | Earlier this summer the New York Times carried a front page story about a speech Barack Obama had given on US foreign policy with a headline referring to his "Cautious Reponse to World Crisis". |
The story was much followed up, not because people were worried Obama was soft on terror, but because of the missing S from "response". "New York Times prints glaring typo on front page," crowed the Huffington Post. | The story was much followed up, not because people were worried Obama was soft on terror, but because of the missing S from "response". "New York Times prints glaring typo on front page," crowed the Huffington Post. |
Biblical errors | Biblical errors |
Not only are there typos in the NYT, there are even some in the Bible. | Not only are there typos in the NYT, there are even some in the Bible. |
A Christian blogger in Canada last year unearthed a missing apostrophe in her edition - "If we are crazy, it's for God sake", 2 Corinthians 5:13 - and was so shocked she wrote an entire post about it. | A Christian blogger in Canada last year unearthed a missing apostrophe in her edition - "If we are crazy, it's for God sake", 2 Corinthians 5:13 - and was so shocked she wrote an entire post about it. |
My sense of God is that He'd take this in His stride and would only get steamed up if a typo changed the meaning of His word by, say, omitting a "not" from "thou shalt not commit adultery". Otherwise, surely, He'd just shrug. | My sense of God is that He'd take this in His stride and would only get steamed up if a typo changed the meaning of His word by, say, omitting a "not" from "thou shalt not commit adultery". Otherwise, surely, He'd just shrug. |
Although the indignation of mortals on typos is overdone, it is usually harmless enough. It gives us a jolt of outrage tinged with superiority every time we spot one, and feeling superior does the morale a power of good. | Although the indignation of mortals on typos is overdone, it is usually harmless enough. It gives us a jolt of outrage tinged with superiority every time we spot one, and feeling superior does the morale a power of good. |
Provoking a response | Provoking a response |
Yet sometimes it leads to bad decisions. On LinkedIn a recent blog entry from one of its "Influencers" lists the five sorts of people you should never hire. Number two is "The One with the Typo". | Yet sometimes it leads to bad decisions. On LinkedIn a recent blog entry from one of its "Influencers" lists the five sorts of people you should never hire. Number two is "The One with the Typo". |
I would also disqualify a CV with a typo in it - but only if I were trying to hire a proof reader. If human beings have any remaining competitive advantage over the machines, it is not our skill at crossing i's and dotting t's. | I would also disqualify a CV with a typo in it - but only if I were trying to hire a proof reader. If human beings have any remaining competitive advantage over the machines, it is not our skill at crossing i's and dotting t's. |
It is our ability to write something that provokes a response - and not just because it contains a howler or a spelling mistake. | It is our ability to write something that provokes a response - and not just because it contains a howler or a spelling mistake. |
Lucy Kellaway is an author and Financial Times columnist. Listen to her on Business Daily and World Business Report on BBC World Service every Monday. | Lucy Kellaway is an author and Financial Times columnist. Listen to her on Business Daily and World Business Report on BBC World Service every Monday. |
Previous version
1
Next version