Signs of the times

I have to give this guy a pass for misspelling hemorrhoids only because he managed to pull off hemorrhaging.

This person, on the other hand, gets no such pass for misspelling hypocrisy.

Signs spotted on Huffington Post.

On the wrong track: personal vs personnel

While waiting at New York’s Penn Station for the train back to Boston, I spotted this little tidbit. It made me really regret not bringing my camera along for the day so that you could also experience the total awesomeness of this wrong word choice:

Passengers and their personnel items may be randomly selected for screening and inspection. Please be aware of the gap between the train and stations.

Okay, here’s the deal: use personnel if you mean the folks who work for an organization, and use personal if you mean something that belongs or relates to a person. Bonus points to any readers out there who make it their personal mission to get a photo of this sign.

When Cupertino strikes

Hat tip to Kasey for this little tidbit by Mark Peters on the Cupertino effect, “How Spellcheckers Wreak Havoc.” And boy, do they ever:

This type of error is called the Cupertino effect because an old version of spell-check (in Word 97) used to offer Cupertino—the name of a northern California city that is home to Apple—as the first suggestion to replace the word cooperation, which in British English is supposed to have a hyphen. That strange replacement produced bizarre phrases that can still be found in places like the United Nations website, which features intriguing phrases (“…teaching and learning methods that stress participation, Cupertino, problem-solving and respect for differences…”) and lofty goals (“…the strengthening of international peace and Cupertino, should emanate from adults and be instilled in children…”). These words would inspire us all if they didn’t sound so batty.

. . .

Speaking of names, they are particularly vulnerable to being Cupertino’d. According to some errors that popped up last year, Barack Obama did not defeat John McCain, but John Moccasin did lose to Barack Boatman. Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, and Sam Brownback occasionally were transformed into Rot Paul, Mike Hoecake, and Sam Blowback, names more appropriate for movie stars in various genres. Visual Thesaurus Executive Producer Ben Zimmer has been a prime Cupertino collector, bringing many whacked-out examples to light. My favorites are Lord Voltmeter (Harry Potter’s Lord Voldemort) and Muttonhead Quail Movement (Pakistan’s Muttahida Quami Movement).

I’ve mentioned one of my favorite examples of this before (the spellchecker turned Rodney King into Rodent King), but here’s another that was spotted in a recommendation: A candidate’s rare ability was turned into her rear ability. Oh my.

Got any favorites? Please share.

All I’s on Obama: me vs I

It’s not just because I can’t get enough of President Obama and his ability to form a complete sentence while speaking that I was especially interested in an op-ed by Patricia O’Conner (author of Woe Is I) and Stewart Kellerman that appeared in The New York Times earlier this week. It’s actually because “An Object Lesson from the Oval Office” covers a topic that’s near and dear to my heart: the seemingly rampant confusion surrounding the usage of me versus I.

WHEN President Obama speaks before Congress and the nation tonight, he will be facing some of his toughest critics.

Grammar junkies.

Since his election, the president has been roundly criticized by bloggers for using “I” instead of “me” in phrases like “a very personal decision for Michelle and I” or “the main disagreement with John and I” or “graciously invited Michelle and I.”

The rule here, according to conventional wisdom, is that we use “I” as a subject and “me” as an object, whether the pronoun appears by itself or in a twosome. Thus every “I” in those quotes ought to be a “me.”

So should the president go stand in a corner of the Oval Office (if he can find one) and contemplate the error of his ways? Not so fast.

Hat tip to One Good Move.

Not your mother’s book report

Hat tip: Married to the Sea.

Sticklers of the world, chillax

Lately, I just want to tell grammar sticklers of the world to chillax. Yes, I said chillax.

It seems that the hand wringing and hair pulling and the bemoaning the fate of mankind in the face of the rapidly approaching Four Grammarians of the Apostrophocalypse is getting worse as the days go by. But maybe it’s just me.

And although (well-documented) MRP is right there with those who believe that good grammar, spelling, and punctuation are important (well, I make a living at enforcing that belief and I do read usage guides for fun), I’ve been wondering if the “grammar nazi” approach—full frontal attacks against those who seemingly can’t figure out the rules of grammar—is really helping the cause.

I’m not talking about where we do it in the safety of our own blogs or in our jobs as copy editors, writers, or teachers. I’m talking about correcting your mom’s grammar over Sunday dinner. In “Correctiquette: Ready to Improve Someone’s Language? Hold On,” Erin McKean takes on the rising propensity among us word nerds for self-righteous indignation and self-appointed grammar policing:

Nowhere is the urge to be right more powerful, it seems, than when it involves other people’s language.

We’ve all encountered it, and we’ve all felt the compulsion to perform it – the quick aside (“Um, don’t you mean infer?”), the snarky online comment that ignores the substance of an argument in favor of pointing out a misused “that” or “which.” Some people proudly travel the country “correcting” road signs and billboards.

If you judge these correctors by their presumed intent—a helpful and permanent improvement in another person’s language—then most fail miserably. Why, then, do we do it? And when should we, if ever?

Maybe  the problem is that I’m reading too many blogs and message boards where commenters use pointing out grammatical or spelling errors (heaven forfend you should leave out an apostrophe!) to put others down. Check out Danny Brown’s discussion about blog comments. McKean talks about online comments, too:

Online, of course, the urge to correct someone is magnified: The intermediaries of keyboard and screen seem to lend correctors a bravado they might lack in real life. So ask yourself: will posting a comment just to tell someone they misspelled “contiguous” really win anyone over? If you are correcting someone else just to prove yourself the smartest guy in the room, that automatically disqualifies you from the contest. Most annoying guy, maybe.

Along this vein, I read the article, “Fastidious Spelling Snobs Pushed Over the Edge: Books, Blogs and Obsessiveness Mark a Brand-New War of the Words,” with some interest (hat tip to Kasey). (Featured are two words nerds we admire here at MRP: Martha Brockenbrough of SPOGG and Mignon Fogerty of Grammar Girl.)

The general thesis of writer Diane Mapes is that today’s stressful climate is causing peevologists to step up their game somewhat:

Stress can affect how forgiving people are of spelling and punctuation errors, says Pauline Wallin, a clinical psychologist from Camp Hill, Pa.

“When people are under stress, they have less tolerance for minor frustrations,” she says. “Think of the harried mother rushing around trying to get her kids ready for school who loses it when one of them can’t find his homework. Spelling is something concrete and has a definite right answer so it does make you feel temporarily in control.”

But there are plenty of other principles at play as well.

An obsession with proper usage may be related to some kind of perfectionist streak, she says, or it could have to do with childhood patterns of wanting to please adults or teachers by doing things right. Putting somebody down by pointing out their bad spelling also could be a power thing. Or it could simply be part of the brain’s natural function.

The comments section of this article was a perfect example of how quickly the usefulness of a conversation around language can devolve.  In one hypercorrective comment after another, commenters delighted put each other down for typos and punctuation errors. They railed against friends, family members, and coworkers who constantly disappointed them, both in making mistakes and then not showing gratitude for being corrected. Where’s the dialogue in that?

To me, talking about language is fun. That’s why I write this blog, enjoy your comments, and read other word nerd blogs as often as I can. Spotting a usage error is amusing, reading an article about language is informative. But does it serve any purpose to personally go to town on people who have made a mistake? Instill fear in others that the grammar police have come to town every time you walk into a room?

Hips don’t lie: Meringue vs. merengue

MRP was disappointed to see this particular typo in the December/January 2009 issue of Hispanic magazine in an article called “A Family Affair” about actor Freddy Rodriguez.

Okay, here’s the deal. Meringue is a tasty confection made from sugar and egg whites that you might eat on its own as, say, a cookie, or you might enjoy as a delicious topping for, say, lemon meringue pie. On the other hand, if you find yourself shaking your booty to a lively Latin rhythm, then you might be dancing merengue.

It’s that time of year again

Oh, it’s one of MRP’s favorite times of the year: when Lake Superior State University releases its annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.

Tops on the 2008 list are words referring to the economy (bailout), the presidential election (maverick), and the environment (green). Also making the list were staycation, Wall Street/Main Street, and First Dude. And, oh yes, it’s that time of year again. Check out the complete 2008 list.

Hat tip to Captain Moondog.

The best candidate for the job?

MRP received this mailing from the campaign of Kelly Timilty, who is running for re-election to the Governor’s Council here in Massachusetts.

Here’s the typo that caught my eye. Compare:

Not just any typo. A typo in the candidate’s name.

I think you can see why it would be hard to vote for such a candidate.

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Bonus MRP moment: Be sure to check out The Editor’s Desk, for “anyone who loves words and the news,” and also welcome to new kid on the block, Wordsplosion (a nod to SteamedPenguin for that tip).

Like a word nerd

Apparently, turning into a part of speech is a sign that you have arrived.

“She’s become an adjective. Friends will go shopping with each other and say, `It’s so Madonna.’ That’s what you want in fashion.”

–Stylist and tv personality Robert Verdi on Madonna, who turns 50 this weekend

But really, adjective, schmajective. I say becoming a verb is the height of fame (just ask Mr. Verb). When they start saying, “I madonnaed that outfit!” then we can talk.