Legal eagles (sober or intoxicated) need more than spell checkers.

Proofreading is important, especially if you are writing something that has legal implications. I recently read through a "Declaration of Protective Covenants" for a development in my area and found a paragraph on the second page that contained two typos. Neither of them would have been caught by running a spell checker.

The first statement referred to the size of dwelling that could be erected on a lot in the development. It said that no dwelling could contain less than "one thousand eight hundred (2,800) square feet of living area for a one (1)-story dwelling.

Hm-mmm. If an argument over size ever went to court, I wonder which figure--the one written out in words or the one in numerals inside the parentheses--would carry the legal weight. Obviously, the two do not match.

The same paragraph contained a statement that began this way: "Story and one-half dwellings mush have a minimum of....

I couldn't help but wonder if the typist was drunk and slurring words in the brain as well as on paper!

Crossword Editor not Proofreading Well Enough

I've been working and recommending crossword puzzles for a long time. They are a great way to keep your mind sharp, increase your vocabulary, work with ideas, and fine tune your grammar skills.

Until recently, I have rarely seen a spelling error or a grammar glitch related to a crossword puzzle clue or answer.

This week, however, the USA Today Crossword contained a spelling error one day and a grammar glitch the next. That really surprised me because I had come to think that crossword puzzle editors must be the best proofreaders in the world.

The spelling error--and I might note that it was one a spelling checker would have caught--was in Clue #48 Down. It read "Sherrif's assistance." Hm-mm, I thought. Maybe a "sherrif" is some exotic person I've just never heard of. And then I even considered that maybe the puzzle was asking about Omar Sharif. But, as I worked the puzzle, I could clearly see that the answer was turning out to be "posse." I even checked my dictionary to be sure I hadn't suddenly forgotten how to spell "sheriff."

I chalked this up to the "Everyone is entitled to a goof once in a while" category until I settled in the very next evening to work the USA Today crossword puzzle. This time, I only got as far as Clue #9 Down, which was "Car lot figure." After getting a couple of Across letters, I concluded that the answer was "salesman," which is singular like "figure" in the clue. (You need to know at this point that I often tell my husband, who loves crossword puzzles, and my workshop participants that the grammar in crossword puzzles is always impeccable.)

Unfortunately, that worked only until I tried to fill in the answer for Clue #34 Across, which was "Goalies' specialities." The answer here had to be "saves," and the "e" in "saves" meant that the answer for #9 Down was working only as "salesmen," which is plural. Clue #9 Down should have read "Car lot figures."

You might read this and think that I'm being picky, but then again, crossword puzzle people are people who are interested in words and using them correctly. I think USA Today should expect its crossword puzzle editor to be more careful.

Please send me an e-mail if you come across any other careless crossword puzzle editors. I'm hoping this is a one-time phenomenon.

Job Hunting? Use Grammar Knowledge to Spot Internet Scams

The New York Times News Service reported this week that criminals are setting up "increasingly sophisticated traps" to catch those surfing for job opportunities on the Web. Although your Spam filter offers some protection, many of these creeps are still getting through.

The article suggests that one good way to protect yourself is to notice which of these offbeat ads use poor grammar and bad spelling. Also watch out for e-mails from addresses that don't match that of the company they are supposed to represent.

So--IF THAT THEIR OFFER'S TWO GOOD TOO BE TRU, IT PROBABLY ARE!

Good luck with your job search--on reputable sites from reputable companies!

You Can't Use Spell Checker When You Call 911!

A friend sent this along, and I thought it was a fun way to remind you once again that taking time to be aware of spelling--for instance, the name of the street where you live?--can be useful in everyday life.

Just a thought....

Pink wedding cake sports four tires??

Spell checker is a wonderful tool. However, if you misspell a word in a way that creates another legitimate word, spell checker will not catch the error for you.

Here is a good typo example from the wedding column in The Birmingham News for Sunday, May 31:

Lydia's four-tired, light pink wedding cake was decorated in white fleur de lis.

I would imagine the columnist meant to write "four-tiered." TIRE is a word, and TIER is a word, but my guess is this wedding cake had four tiers rather than four tires. Spell checker would not point out the error.

REMEMBER: After running spell checker, always proofread again with your brain in gear!

Whoops! USA Today Crossword Clue Needs Spell Checker!

Usually, crossword puzzle clues are correct when it comes to spelling and grammar. In fact, I often recommend them as good practice for workshop participants who want to improve their writing skills.

Unfortunately, today's USA Today crossword puzzle has a glaring spelling error in the #11 Down clue.

Remember that old elementary school rhyme, "I before E except after C"?

Most of the time, it is a good rule of thumb.

Kevin Donovan forgot the rule and forgot to check spell checker before he wrote "Student acheiver" for the #11 Down clue. Then Timothy Parker forgot to correct it when he edited the puzzle.

The clue should read: "Student achiever." In case you check out the puzzle on page 7D in the Life section of USA Today, the answer is "letterman."

Proofread Even When You Run a Spelling Checker

A friend just sent me the latest version of the Church Bulletin Bloopers that make their rounds each year. Several of the examples involve simple proofreading that could save embarrassment.

I've printed a few below. Before scrolling to the bottom, try to spot the typos yourself. Remember, a spell checker would NOT catch these because they are also correctly spelled words--just not used correctly

1. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

2. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

3. The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment, and gracious hostility.

4. Potluck supper Sunday at 5 PM--Prayer and medication to follow.

It is very easy to leave endings off words or to confuse them with similar looking words that have completely different meanings. It is also easy to grab the wrong preposition when you are in a hurry.

1. Wrong preposition choice in this first one. It is the sick IN the community, not those who are sick OF the community. And, as you can see, there is a huge difference between "Hell" and "Hello."

Remember in prayer the many who are sick in our community. Say "Hello" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

2. Be careful about the FORM of a word. These Scouts want to HELP CRIPPLED children. "Cripple" needs a "d" on the end of it to turn it into an adjective (participle if you want to be technical) that describes the children who need help. The active verb needs to be HELP, not CRIPPLE.

Proceeds will be used to help crippled children. NOTE: In current usage, "crippled" is considered old-fashioned. A better word choice would be "physically impaired."

3. In case you didn't notice, there is a huge difference between "hospitality" and "hostility." In fact, these two words are just about opposites. It is highly unlikely that the church would serve up great food and great entertainment and then add "hostility"-- especially gracious hostility. "Hostility" describes the way a person feels about an enemy, NOT a fellow church member.

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hospitality.

4. The only reason you might need "medication" after a potluck supper might be poorly cooked turkey stuffing. My guess is that this writer meant "meditation," which is quiet thinking that goes nicely with prayer.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5 PM--prayer and meditation to follow.

A little common sense and a lot of proofreading would have caught all of these bloopers. You want to be remembered for what you said, not the silly way it came out!

If you come across any bloopers in your own work or work that you read, please send them along. I'd love to share them with our readers.

Thanks!

Spell Checker Disaster in Utah

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Be careful using a spelling checker. If your spelling checker catches a misspelled word, it will give you several choices for a correction. Be SURE the correction you choose is not a word that means something entirely different.

The student newspaper staff at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah learned this lesson in dramatic fashion last week. A caption on the front page of The Daily Universe identified leaders of the Mormon church as apostates instead of apostles.

Whoops! The student copy editor caught a spelling error in the caption. The word "apostle" was misspelled, but the computer spell checker offered "apostate" as a correct replacement.

Unfortunately, the definition of apostate is "a person who has abandoned religious faith, principles, or a cause."

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is a governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so it is highly unlikely that that quorum would be made up of apostates rather than apostles.

Here is one your spell checker won't catch!

Many of us no longer worry much about spelling because we know we can run a spell checker and catch most things. However, we still must be careful that our misspelling does not turn out to be another correctly spelled word. If it does, spell checker will not know the difference.

I enjoy reading the Wedding feature in The Birmingham News on Sundays. It's fun to see how couples met and planned their lives together. Here is a sentence from the one last week, in which the bride describes what she thought the first time she met her husband-to-be in a desktop publishing class:

He's very charming. He's a gentlemen."

I'm sure the reporter who wrote this wedding column knows the difference between GENTLEMAN and GENTLEMEN and simply made a typing error. However, if she ran spell check, she didn't catch the error because GENTLEMEN is also a word.

Since we are talking about one "he" in this sentence, it should read as follows:

He's very charming. He's a gentleman.

I do hope they live happily ever after!