Before The Age Of Spell Checkers

[MR.MAGOO]

Was cleaning out the closets and found this paper from 1945 about FDR's death. I suppose the typesetter was in mourning that day and didn't have Siri to aid spelling the big headline.
See if you can catch the error.

 

[j_garcia]

AWIATS

 

[Speedskater]

I was only 3 on April 12, 1945 but I remember his death.

 

[shadyJ]

Sometimes spelling can subtly change over the years. I don't remember seeing the word awaits having a different spelling, but that might not be an invalid spelling for its day.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Sometimes spelling can subtly change over the years. I don't remember seeing the word awaits having a different spelling, but that might not be an invalid spelling for its day.

Thanks shday!

 

[highfigh]

Sometimes spelling can subtly change over the years. I don't remember seeing the word awaits having a different spelling, but that might not be an invalid spelling for its day.

From Wiki, "Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French awaitier, from a- (from Latin ad ‘to, at’) + waitier ‘to wait’.". It was misspelled.

 

[slipperybidness]

Internet news sources and the proliferation of shorthand for texting has killed the proper grasp of how to use the English language in print.

Even respected news outlets online, I constantly find mistakes in grammar, subject/verb agreement, and spelling errors! And the misuse of two/to/too, they're/there/their. A simple spell checker will never catch these errors.

If I were the editor of such publications, I would not tolerate that. Likely, the editors nowadays are not up to the task of even identifying the problems themselves.

On a side note--I constantly have spell checkers mis-identifying scientific words as misspelled, simply because those scientific terms are not in the database.

 

[highfigh]

Internet news sources and the proliferation of shorthand for texting has killed the proper grasp of how to use the English language in print.

Even respected news outlets online, I constantly find mistakes in grammar, subject/verb agreement, and spelling errors! And the misuse of two/to/too, they're/there/their. A simple spell checker will never catch these errors.

If I were the editor of such publications, I would not tolerate that. Likely, the editors nowadays are not up to the task of even identifying the problems themselves.

On a side note--I constantly have spell checkers mis-identifying scientific words as misspelled, simply because those scientific terms are not in the database.

I guess they feel it's necessary to pick their battles, rather than nit-pick every error. OTOH, using an apostrophe when adding the s to make it a plural is just bad. I don't understand why someone would misspell get's- when did they forget about contractions? The misuse of lose/loose is pathetic, too.

 

[slipperybidness]

I guess they feel it's necessary to pick their battles, rather than nit-pick every error. OTOH, using an apostrophe when adding the s to make it a plural is just bad. I don't understand why someone would misspell get's- when did they forget about contractions? The misuse of lose/loose is pathetic, too.

Ah, but correcting errors is not nit-picking, in my opinion! Publishing work error-free is a fundamental priority.

 

[lovinthehd]

I guess they feel it's necessary to pick their battles, rather than nit-pick every error. OTOH, using an apostrophe when adding the s to make it a plural is just bad. I don't understand why someone would misspell get's- when did they forget about contractions? The misuse of lose/loose is pathetic, too.

Apostrophe abuse is rampant Lose/loose definitely up there on the abuse ladder too.....

 

[davidscott]

Thanks Magoo - I'll have to re examine the old newspaper headlines I saved. None anywhere near that old though.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Thanks shday!

He gives me the Sweetest Taboo

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Apostrophe abuse is rampant Lose/loose definitely up there on the abuse ladder too.....

Yep. Love those. people should defiantly losen up to. To much times I expesially hear that to. I could care less...

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

He gives me the Sweetest Taboo

Lol

 

[highfigh]

Yep. Love those. people should defiantly losen up to. To much times I expesially hear that to. I could care less...

Irregardless,.......

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Irregardless,.......

Ooh, nice one
I think people should mind there business and stay over their. Than we’ll be safe.

 

[herbu]

Agree with y'all. It is due to the dumbing down of schools. And that is due to the misunderstanding of "equal opportunity" to mean "equal result". As long as we believe that any unequal outcome is our fault, we will continue to decline until the lowest common denominator is finally achieved.

 

[panteragstk]

Yep. Love those. people should defiantly losen up to. To much times I expesially hear that to. I could care less...

Reminds me when a former boss told me to be more pacific...she was so confused when I said "like the ocean?" I'd never heard anyone misuse that word before.

Another time a girl I worked with that, for some reason touted her English degree, used the word irregardless (which, holy poop, google corrected my spelling of) and I advised that she used a word that doesn't exist. She was also very confused.

I'm horrible at grammar, but some people take it to unpossible depths.

 

[lovinthehd]

Agree with y'all. It is due to the dumbing down of schools. And that is due to the misunderstanding of "equal opportunity" to mean "equal result". As long as we believe that any unequal outcome is our fault, we will continue to decline until the lowest common denominator is finally achieved.

Like our president?

 

[slipperybidness]

Reminds me when a former boss told me to be more pacific...she was so confused when I said "like the ocean?" I'd never heard anyone misuse that word before.

Another time a girl I worked with that, for some reason touted her English degree, used the word irregardless (which, holy poop, google corrected my spelling of) and I advised that she used a word that doesn't exist. She was also very confused.

I'm horrible at grammar, but some people take it to unpossible depths.

My favorite is Nucular!

I use it as often as I can, I have to force myself to use it instead of the proper "nuclear".