TYPOS FROM HELL

"To be or to be." That's how one of the most famous sentences in the English language began several years ago in a new edition of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Six professional proofreaders failed to catch the mistake, which received national publicity and gave the publishing company a red face.

Similarly, the Wall Street Journal once devoted eight column inches to ridiculing a conference on critical thinking that sent out a press release referring to the conference's "world renown" researchers "in field of thinking" such as our former surgeon general "C. Everett Coop." (He spells it "Koop.")

And more than bad publicity was at stake when L.L. Bean's back-to-school catalog invited people to call a phone number held by a Virginia company instead of the Maine-based mega-retailer. L.L. Bean paid the Virginia company an unnamed sum of money (surely six figures) to immediately take over that misprinted phone number. The cause: someone in the production department who "knew" that a toll-free number starting with "877" should really have started with "800."

Famous typos:

 

“Boeing loses $70 million due to misplaced comma.”

San Francisco Chronicle

 

“Death sentence challenged over typo.”

---Sacramento Bee

 

“This contract shall be effective as of the singing of this agreement.”

---From a customer’s rental agreement; he was not a vocalist.

 

“He used his wench to pull his truck out of the ditch.”

---That’s not the purpose of women.

 

“I know judo, karate, jujitsu and other forms of marital arts.”

---Next time, try love, understanding and communication.

    

 “Sign up now for our Beauty and Fitness Curse.”

--Open Education Exchange

 

“We practice an esoteric form of transcendental medication.”

--A customer’s newsletter

 

“To Whom I May Concern:”

--Oops. Saw that on a letter one day.

 

“We proudly feature some-day shipping.”

--I may need it sooner than that.

 

“Our massage treatments help relive your pain.”

--From a brochure

 

“The penis mightier than the sword.”

--For lack of a space…

 Here are Marcia Yudkin's tips for making certain that your materials are letter-perfect.

• Let your printouts sit at least overnight before   finalizing them. Rereading after even half a day has   lapsed helps you spot errors you can't find when you've just typed them in.
    
• Actually dial all phone or fax numbers to make sure you haven't transposed digits or worse. It's common for people to confuse their own phone and fax numbers, for instance. Test URLs in the same way, and carefully examine ZIP codes and street numbers.
    
• In a recurrent publication, like a newsletter, or a letter you're adapting for a new recipient, make sure you've appropriately changed all dates and no-longer-relevant information deep in the piece.
     
• Confirm the spelling of all place names, company names and proper names. Often the reference desk of a public library will check atlases and business encyclopedias for you over the phone.
    
• Take another look at stated prices. Missing decimal points, switched numbers, shipping costs updated in one spot and not another all bollix up the ordering process.
    
• Double-check your headlines and any corrections or additional copy inserted at the last minute. Mistakes there are hardest to see.