Hello sweeties!
As some of you might remember from my Twitter, a few months ago I was purging my blog from an embarrassing series of typos and mistakes. The fact is, until then, I didn't have a spell-check option activated in my browser, so (as it turned out later) I was happily misspelling or making up words in almost every single one of my blog posts 😲😳. Then my husband (who's always experimenting...which sometimes annoys me, but sometimes turns out handy LOL) installed Pale Moon as a browser - which, apparently, came with the spell-check option for the English language turned on...and I started to see a plethora of red signs under my words 😲😂. Well, now "plethora" is a bit of an exaggeration (though the darned thing is so strict it even frowns on words that do exist sometimes, maybe because it thinks they're beneath itself 😂) - but still. So, I decided to undertake the wearisome task of reopening ALL my old posts - and some of the stuff I found threatened to whiten my few remaining dark hair 😵. Some were just typos...some were words I made up in all naivety and whose existence I never checked, because they sounded so good to me that they HAD to exist 😂.
Here are a few of the gems that I found:
COHEXIST (coexist - and...??? Why should "exist" need an H here?)
EMBARASSING (embarrassing...I guess it's because in Italian the verb translates as "imbarazzare", with a single R...)
EMBUE (imbue)
ESPRESS (express...several times, too 😲)
PRECEDESSOR (predecessor...This one is funny, too, because in Italian we actually have its counterpart "predecessore" - but I probably got tricked by the Italian verb, which is "precedere" instead. And I used the wrong spelling MANY times...🙄)
...and the best of all: LENGHT/STRENGHT (length/strength), that I couldn't seem to get right ANY. SINGLE. TIME 😱😂).
Not to mention, I totally invented the verb PONTIFY (which should have been "pontificate" of course...🤣).
But the most hilarious thing (which some of you are already privy of) happily remained on display on my very banner for almost three years..."OFFBEAT YA - REFRESHING BOOKS YOU DON'T OFTEN SEE REWIEVED" 🤣. I was totally oblivious to it for some mysterious reason (I mean, when you see something every day, you end up not seeing it for real anymore...but what about when I was DESIGNING the blasted thing?!?), until Emily from the Summer Blogger Promo Tour pointed it out to me. Otherwise, I could probably still have it on my banner to this day. I wonder how anyone - especially authors - was able take me seriously back then 😂...I can only infer that their eyes switched to autocorrect mode every time they landed on that hideous thing...
Now, I know for most of you English is your native language, but I was wondering - have you ever posted something totally embarrassing (whether a typo or a mistake) only to notice it too late?
Lol I love that you just made up words :-P But those words with multiple double letters? I can never remember how those are spelled anyway, so I wouldn't even notice something like 'embarassed'. And prob no one noticed 'rewieved' because our brains don't process every single letter in words, it's why you can still recognize words as long as the first and last letters are correct, even if the letters in between are all jumbled up!
ReplyDeleteQuote: "you can still recognize words as long as the first and last letters are correct, even if the letters in between are all jumbled up!"
DeleteLOL, really? I didn't know. But that "rewieved" was a bad business card for the blog for sure *cringes*. Though I did have an author I'm close to telling me she didn't even notice it, as you said...
Oh, I relate to this so hard!! I have the spell-check option on, have had it for quite some time actually, but I make weird mistakes. I'd say one of them - not related to spelling - is translating idioms, as in, an idiom exists in Hungarian, and somehow I convince myself it is the same in English, because it sounds right. Ahaha, some weird ones were born this way. Also, when I'm not paying attention to what I'm writing, typing to fast, or am just too tired, I sometimes end up accidentally writing one word instead of another - words that sound similar to each other. I laugh so hard when I proof-read a post, and see a word there that does not fit. lol Also, yes, to inventing words - I do that a loooot, though spellcheck helps with that.
ReplyDeleteGreat post as always!
LOL, yes, there's the "translating idioms" issue as well. I always try and check to see if they do exist in English, because I've learnt that, usually, they don't 😂. I mean, it's funny, because sometimes Italian idioms mirror English/American ones so much (I don't know about Hungarian ones, of course), while sometimes we use completely different turns of phrases.
DeleteI don't suppose you write with only two fingers, right? Because I do 😳, so it saves me some typos...but then again, not that many, because I tend to type fast anyway...
Kevin used to work nights and proofread all my posts and that limited my mistakes. I have spellcheck but so much still slips through. Plus re-reading and editing the posts so often kind of makes it so you don't see the mistakes.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't get too crazy about it. Sometimes I notice in reviews on my blog or on Goodreads when people leave a comment & I give the post a quick read since I forgot what I said lol and I'll notice something and fix it when I can.
When it's a BIG mistake and I'm out without access to my blog it's SO stressful lol Please don't read my blog until I get home!!!! hahaha
Ok, so that blog name one is pretty embarrassing. I do the length/strength one all the time.
I'm totally up for making new words though! lol
Karen @ For What It's Worth
See? Husbands are of some use sometimes 🤣.
DeleteYou need an alert...something like "post under construction - please don't notice my spelling"! 😂
I'm relieved that even native speakers get their -gth messed up sometimes LOL.
"though the darned thing is so strict it even frowns on words that do exist sometimes, maybe because it thinks they're beneath itself" Spellcheckers are awfully pompous, aren't they? 😂😂 I'm pretty sure I spell "embarrassing" wrong every. single. time. Two r's? Two s's? Both? Who can remember? I'm 28, and I finally learned to spell "occasion" just this year (and I still doubt myself on it xD).
ReplyDelete"Espress" is an interesting one! Usually people mistake "espresso" for "expresso", but you got the reverse. I wonder if they're related? I catch mistakes in my old reviews all the time. It happens to everyone! And if Shakespeare can make up his own words, you totally can. <3
I think my issue with "express" is because we have the Italian verb "esprimere", which means the same thing. I do think in English when I write my posts, but I suppose you can't escape your roots 😉.
DeleteYou're just trying to make me better about my typos, aren't you? 😉 Because honestly, I never spotted a single mistake in all the reviews of yours I've read. And mind you, I may often overlook my typos, but I'm a champion when it comes to spot someone else's 😂. Of course, maybe you're talking about your old reviews, the ones you wrote before we met...but I still can't believe it 😉.
I will keep in mind that I'm a modern version of Shakespeare LOL. Thank you for the validation! 😂
That makes sense! Haha, always. Typos are no big deal. Never? I feel jinxed. I'm going to make some future hideous grammar mistake in my next reviews now. The pressure is on. xD I DID notice when I was going back over my Caraval review that I had mistaken a minor character's name completely. It's Tella, but I was calling her Della, which seems more offensive than some made-up words. Apparently, I couldn't be bothered to check my accuracy? Oops.
DeleteQuote: "I'm going to make some future hideous grammar mistake in my next reviews now. The pressure is on. xD"
DeleteI FORBID YOU. You're my mentor - remember? You have to live up to the title 😂.
Ah, well, I couldn't spot THAT kind of typo, not having read the book...
Just so you know REWIEVED was and remains to be the greatest typo ever. 🤣🤣🤣
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can imagine all those authors stumbling upon my blog and thinking "OK, so you want to REWIEV my books? Good luck with that" 🤣.
DeleteBut apparently, some of them never noticed and did ask for reviews - thank goodness for autocorrect mode LOL.
Okay, pontify TOTALLY sounds like it should be a word. If it makes you feel any better, I noticed exactly none of these. Also -- there are three typos in the finished copy of my book! I'm convinced that a certain number of mistakes is inevitable. :)
ReplyDeleteI do think that "pontify" has a nice ring to it, and it's a pity it doesn't exist. Thank you for validating my creation LOL.
DeleteOops. Three typos? So, apparently, I did the same as you, while beta-reading and then reading my ARC copy - I didn't notice them...which means that, probably, no one else will 😂. But seriously, I'm afraid you're right...
Reviewed is a word I often type with the I and the E reversed. Autocorrect always catches it, but it must be something with the combination of letters, which makes me flip those letters every time. I think it's awesome that you can write fluently in another language, so if you spelled a word wrong, I know I would let it slide. English is my native language and constantly have to google words (yet I spell quite well in German - because Germans know about phonics, but I digress).
ReplyDeleteThank you! I've been studying English since I was 14, but still - embarrassing typos LOL. And reversing letters is a constant for me, at least with certain words - I tend to type "becuase" and stuff like that. German is a difficult language, or so it looks/sounds to me - all those consonants and long words! And googling words in your own language is not weird at all - we can't possibly know every single word in our own dictionaries, can we? 😉
DeleteThat's hilarious that you had a typo right in your banner. Glad you got it all figured out!
ReplyDelete--Sam @ Sharing Inspired Kreations
Heh - it was a whole new level of embarrassing when that fellow blogger pointed it out to me. Then again, it sounds like no one I know noticed...I suppose their eyes switched to autocorrect mode! Just like mine...
DeleteI used to be an editor for my school's newspaper, so I totally get what you mean about embarrassing typos. I would read an article a thousand times for copy-edits, but then there would be an error in the headline when we published it. Everyone is fallible when it comes to English, regardless of whether or not it is your native language.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, back to blogging, there are definitely some major typos in some of my posts (especially the older ones) but I don't have the stamina to go back and check all 400 of them. Even as an English major (or maybe because of my major), I have come to accept typos as an inevitability. I don't think that they are a measure of intelligence or anything, just an honest mistake that everyone can make. (Though I have to admit that REWIEVED is pretty funny). I am more of a stickler when it comes to grammatical errors (like sentence structure and stuff) than with simple spelling errors. In short, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!
Quote: "I would read an article a thousand times for copy-edits, but then there would be an error in the headline when we published it [...] I don't think that they are a measure of intelligence or anything, just an honest mistake that everyone can make."
DeleteI agree about that (not because I make typos LOL). Our eyes can be so deceiving, switching to auto-correct mode all the time. Then again, as you said, grammar is important, though people seem to have become REALLY lenient about it. When I see someone using "it's" as if it were an adjective, I shudder (and maybe, a few words later, they proceed with using "its" when they need a verb). Even authors fall in this trap, for goodness' sake. You read one of their tweets or a blog post and you're like...😱😂
My second language is French, and I am grateful I am not blogging in it...there are some things I can never get straight in my head. For example, for an entire year I forgot how to say "because" and I kept saying "to the cause of" since it was the closest thing I could think of!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I suppose you got more than one person confused!
DeleteI got some very funny looks for sure! My other problem with posts is that I tend to use the same kinds of phrases, so if I have written a post over a few days I can sometimes repeat the same phrase two or three times in a post! Thank goodness I usually re-read them.
DeleteSome phrases stuck...it happens to me as well sometimes.
DeleteIt might be surprising but I somehow manage to make the most embarrassing of typos EVEN with spell-check activated. Blame it on my fast typing xD Some of yours are perfectly normal though, and it might be of some consolation to you that I never did notice that typo in your banner!
ReplyDeleteI suppose you don't type with only two fingers like me, do you? 😉
DeleteLOL, it is! Of course, one doesn't expect to see a typo in the darned banner 🤣.