Huckleberries Online

KR: A Few Of My Favorite Typos

Posted by DFO

Dec. 18, 2009 10 a.m. • 6 comments

I generally despise typos. I certainly contribute my share to the global supply, but I don’t like typos anyway. Especially when they make it into print. But some select few typos make me laugh out loud — partly because we catch them while editing. Like the one from the Statesman letter writer describing then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wearing “high hells.” Or the writer warning against the “potentially deadline” West Nile virus. I’ve come to count on our letter writers to engage in free-wheeling debate on issues large and small. But sometimes, in the rush to have a point of view, a mistake sneaks in that is even beyond the reach of spellcheck/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Can you recall any typos that made it into print that gave you a belly laugh?

Six comments on this post so far. Add yours!

scootermom on December 18 at 10:13 a.m.
As an attorney, I constantly see pleadings called “Notice of Hearing” in which an attorney notifies opposing counsel that there is some kind of hearing in the case.

The language is usually, “Plaintiff’s Motion for blah, blah, blah is scheduled for 10:00 am, or as soon thereafter as counsel can be heard.”

I received one that said, “Plaintiff’s Motion for blah, blah, blah, is scheduled for 10:00 am, or as soon there after as counsel can be hard.”

I knew opposing counsel, and for some reason, I really didn’t want to have to attend that hearing.
Arpie on December 18 at 10:30 a.m.
It isn’t a typo, but my favorite mistake in a letter to the editor occured a few years back when a letter writer in the Statesman wrote against a levy where the money was goig to go to buy and protect land in the foothills. He was against the levy because he was sure a levy in the foothills would break and homes in Boise would be flooded.
JeanieSpokane on December 18 at 10:30 a.m.
scootermom - I had to put in autotext corrections for every time I typed “public” in a pleading - which originally was “pubic.”
Sisyphus on December 18 at 10:35 a.m.
Those are instant classics. I’ve seen the ‘pubic’ one many times. I’m still lmao on scootermom’s.
BandR on December 18 at 1:24 p.m.
I often end business correspondence with “Regards” or “Kind Regards” and there has been many a time where I’ve mistyped the G as a T. As politically incorrect as it may be, I always laugh to myself, and even more so when both bosses will be signing the letter. Fortunately I’ve always caught the mistake…so far…
Don_Sausser on December 18 at 6:20 p.m.
My favorite grammar gaff committed by most wordsmiths, “I am going to try AND go”. When modifying the verb TRY, it should be, “I am going to try TO go.

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About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.