Today I was having a long leisurely lunch with some retired public health nursing friends (reminding me I'll be in that club in another decade!) when I got a call on my mobile from a guy from the Irish Times. He called to tell me I'd won a €50 book token prize for my typo submissions in a competition in the paper last Saturday week in the Weekend supplement related to a book review on some geeky guys in the States who've written a book on the topic - The Great Typo Hunt.Those of you who've been following this blog for some time will know that I've got a fetish about typos, grammar glitches and gremlins, and greengrocer's apostrophes, to the extent that I've photographed some gems on my daily rounds. Little did I think they would bring me the celebrated 15 minutes of fame when they'll appear in tomorrow's paper!
I did ask the reporter to ensure I couldn't be sued by the offending parties who might now become the offended parties with this unwelcome notice of their grammat
ical illiteracy. Of course the winner was the night classes "Enrole Now" which was supremely ironic and a cause of much local mirth - by the time the Principal of the college discovered it and had it removed the damage had been done. I also entered the "Dog Fowling" one.I've written a few blog posts on the topic of typos in the past and for all my newbie followers who might like to look back at them - here are the links to the posts with a Grammar label.
Read the article here and check out photos 5 and 11 - my entries - and go forth and spread the word - the typo vigilantes are still on the prowl!
PS - who can spot the "Greengrocer's Apostrophe" in the article? Wonder was it a plant?
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9 comments:
You have such a fun blog! Thanks for stopping by to check out mine, I truly appreciate it.
You have such a good I for literary catastrophe and eye adore reading about the items you capture.
Well done on winning that prize ! I'm sure that from now on you'll keep your eyes peeled for more mistakes - I really should start photographing some of the signs we get here in Africa !
Hi Catherine, well done on the win and in The Times, no less!I read about Sophie's Christening on FB, she has grown really fast and looks gorgeous in her heirloom Christening gown.We have had a brilliant summer for BBQs instead of the usual plan B in the house when it rains.
Congrats, Catherine, vigilance does indeed pay off.My favourite is still your "dogs fowling", though I'm delighted to see the Louise East typo there too, as I had spotted it on the paper and was disappointed with the I.T.
Guess what? I went to Karen's BBQ (thanks for letting me know about it, had a blast), then entered a competition on the blog of someone I met there, and WON CHOCOLATE! Where now does that leave the trail - you tag Stephanie, Stephanie tags me, I blog about giving chocolate to 50th follower, you win the chocolate, you tell me about the BBQ, I go there and enter a comp of a fellow guest, and I win chocolate!
Funny world, even virtually, eh?
Ha ha! Congratulations! It's always nice to find a compatriot in the battle against punctuation/grammar errors. You might enjoy this blog -- it always makes me laugh: http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/
Thanks for the comments girls!
Julie - glad you like the blog and hope you continue to visit and enjoy it! I will try to keep in touch with yours.
Rudee - these things are such fun aren't they? I was thinking of you today as I found a lovely wool shop in Buncrana in Co. Donegal where we've been for a few days - and I have started knitting socks again! So I get inspiration from your blog and other knitters!
Lynda - thanks a lot - I was delighted and very surprised to win! I will post the article from the paper as it's nicer than the online one! There are brilliant ones in Africa I'm sure - there was one in Iringa at a garage - Penal Beating!! We had a great one in Dublin years ago - Curtains made to customers own sizes"!!!
Peggy - thanks and yes quite a thing to win the times one and all the mistakes they made in the article and then the number of misprints and typos that were in the actual paper - including one on the day of that competitition!Yes, Sofia was a beautiful baby and we had a lovely day - the BBQ was a real bonus as we had thought just think salads and rice and charcuterie platters and then the day was so fabulous we were delighted we'd marinated the meats - they wouldn't have gone waste anyway!
All the best, Catherine
Well done on your win. Typos are such fun, aren't they.
Thanks WildThymeKnits - they are fun indeed! I am following your blog now and hope you reciprocate - I love your knitting projects and that lacy one looks great - I'm into socks right now just to see if I could! And I love knitting anyway. Thanks for dropping by!
All the best, Catherine.
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