I thumbed through the May issue of POB today during lunch. I didn't read most of it, I just sampled some of the articles. Despite that limited perusal, two errors jumped out at me: the use of "tenant" instead of "tenet" (page 38 sidebar), and the word "sheriff" spelled with 2 Rs (page 44). One might excuse a proofreader from missing the first goof if he/she isn't required to read every word, but a simple spellcheck should have caught the second.
Glaring mistakes like this markedly reduce the respect a reader accords a publication. Has the trade magazines business model become so tenuous that the editors ("compilers" might be a more accurate job title) simply publish the documents as furnished by the authors?
They are trying to relate to an audience of tradesmen, who know that there are 13 ways to spell things.... (Sarchasim alert!)
🙂
N
[sarcasm]Might I refer you to the thread on "irregardless" and the fact that the english language is a constantly changing and fluid language? I mean, you should be glad they didn't do the articles in "tweet" abbreviations.[/sarcasm]
Joking. I agree. I am not a fan of the poor useage of irregardless, nor for professional magazines having poor editing. I sometimes like to watch Jay Leno's "Headlines" where he has hundreds of examples of misused or misspelled words taking a complete different meaning in the concept they were trying to convey.
Jim,
you would have a field day w/ our little local newspaper. while i read it to keep up w/ the news, the comedy value regarding spelling and word usage is probably worth more.
There are people, even in these days of wide recognition that language changes constantly, who remain convinced that the subject and predicate of a sentence should agree in number. For example, a singular subject takes a singular predicate (verb). People of this [sarcasm]persnickety and snobbish[/sarcasm] persuasion have had little to do with the preparation of the 2009 Manual. These examples are from Chapter III only.
3-9: “The survey of the principal meridian and other standard lines (base lines, standard parallels, and guide meridians), require independent verification of the accuracy of measurements made.”
3-85: “When application of the general rules do not meet the due process of law and bona fide rights as to location standards, then exceptions to the general rules must be applied.”
3-140: “The locations depicted on the protraction diagrams are based on the best available evidence; however, the precise location for many claims and special surveys are uncertain.”
3-145: “The inherent imperfection of field survey procedures result in minor variations in positions when corners are established and monumented on the ground during the official survey.”
3-150: “Interagency and intergovernmental cooperation, coordination, and consultation is critical for protraction diagram construction . . . .”
3-158: “Meandering pertaining to resurveys and associated water boundaries are discussed in chapter VIII.” (This assumes “Meandering” to be the subject; sorry you have to guess.)
3-192: “A gravel bar or sandbar is a formation of soil on the bed of a lake or river that rise above the OHWM but consists of loose and unconsolidated material . . . .”
I haven’t checked to see how many of these occur verbatim in earlier editions of the Manual. It ought not to matter.
Happy Tuesday!
Henry
Jim,
I would think that a person that is so anal retentive to find mispelled words is not enjoying life to the fullest... i.e. reid beyond to get the message.
21 Reasons why english is hard to learn, let along rite about...
1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The Dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was valid from the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into the sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
:-O
Traverse on skis; traverse the line.
> I would think that a person that is so anal retentive to find mispelled words is not enjoying life to the fullest... i.e. reid beyond to get the message.
That's just the problem: I didn't have to find them, they were bad enough to find me. We're not talking about ending the occasional sentence with a preposition, but rather misused and misspelled words.
When the writing gets in the way of the message, the message gets diluted or lost.
