The Slice: All’s fair in love and spell check

Quite a few years ago, a Slice column included an item about a mistake in a locally produced in-house publication dealing with health care.

In one of that publication’s articles, the word “prostate” was spelled “prostrate.” Several times.

I wasn’t particularly mean about it. But I did hold it up to ridicule.

After the column appeared, the editor of that publication sent me a note that said something like “Thanks for the public spell-check.”

She might have had a few other things to say. I don’t recall. But she was entirely civil.

Still, I had to assume that she now hated my guts. And that her husband hated my guts. And her children hated my guts.

Comes with the territory. But sometimes I think about the “prostrate” editor when I’m about to write something that has the potential to embarrass someone.

Which brings me to my subject for today.

Friday morning I opened an email from a friend. It dealt with a possible misspelling in the wording of an area county fair’s theme.

Oh no, I thought. Not again.

A few years ago, a similar tip about another local fair’s promotional literature prompted me to phone the folks in charge of that event. I subsequently heard from a reliable source that my call had the result of reducing some poor woman to tears.

I’m not especially eager to have that happen again.

And yet, it’s not my job to ignore miscues just to spare someone’s feelings. So let’s do this.

Let’s suppose, hypothetically, mind you, that you were running a fair celebrating its diamond anniversary. And let’s further imagine that you wanted to come up with a play on words combining an allusion to diamonds and agricultural imagery.

Well, you would first want to be sure to remember that there are two ways to spell the word that sounds like “carrots.” One of them refers to gems, of course. But the other actually pertains to gold.

That’s all I’m saying.

See you at the fair.

Today’s Slice question: Did you have to come up with special Wiffle Ball rules because of the peculiarities of your yard?