I can’t help it. I see them everywhere.
I suppose it comes with the territory of being a professional editor; yet, I don’t think one needs to be a professional to see (and be bothered by) the typos that appear everywhere in everyday life since fellow word lovers often make me aware and send me photos. Following are a few recent ones.
You have to have a sense of humor.
At the local Dollar Store, some enterprising employee put these extras out on sale, marking them thusly:
Seems like if you are going to misspell a word, you wouldn’t do it the hardest way possible. Overstalk?
Really? Now this is “overstalk”:
Sometimes I wish I could carry a black marker and make fixes wherever I see them. That is, in fact, what Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson did–literally traveling (travelling?) around the United States to correct typos–and wrote the book The Great Typo Hunt–Two Friends Changing the World One Correction at a Time (Crown, 2010). They fixed some, weren’t allowed to fix others, and even got taken to court for defacing property.
Someone’s gotta do it.
My sister found this on highway 30 somewhere in Ohio. I do not understand the whole “let’s make a plural with an apostrophe” thing.
Here’s a brochure for a recreational area near where my extended family lives. There are so many things wrong on just this panel of the brochure. Between spelling and font and consistency issues, my eyes are twitching. And I’m so glad to know that Kinzua (which is misspelled) Dam is so da** near Warren, Pennsylvania. And it’s “Niagara” …
Even our clothing isn’t exempt. I saw these at a local Walmart. After I posted this on Facebook, the T-shirts disappeared by the next day.
Last evening as I trolled Amazon for Christmas ideas, I was looking for stationery — the pretty kind, you know, with pieces of paper and matching envelopes. However, apparently they don’t just sell the kind to write on but also some special kind that stays in place as I use it:
Menus are often hilarious — especially at small mom-and-pop diners. There are at least 8 errors in this menu from the Muncie Gyros and Pancakes House (which in itself is pretty funny) . . . I really want the “frries” and a second “tirp to the sald bar.”
Have you found some good typos in your travels? Send them along and I’ll do a part 2 from my alert readers.
After all, we must protect the world from typos!
Linda Taylor: Teacher, Editor, Publishing Professional 
Arrrgghhhh!!! Overstalk?? That’s really sad.
I constantly see people writing “your” (like “your welcome”) instead of “you’re.” 😞 😔 😟
Oh that’s so true. Your and You’re are constantly being misused!
Linda,
Bwa-ha-ha! Your picture of “overstalk” was the best we’ve seen in a long time!
As an English teacher and a writer who drilled her own offspring in grammar and spelling, I came up with a list of typos from my kids’ texting friends. My kids become exasperated with the kinds of people who text like this. I turned the list into a humor column for a newspaper, laced with some sarcastic comments. Below are excerpts.
“I went to the zoo with my kid in toe.” (Oh really! He must be awfully tiny to fit in there.)
“After thinking about it, Mom decided to go to.” (To where?!)
“Your a great friend.” (Um, did you mean you’re?)
“There not going to like that.” (Did you mean they’re, the contraction of they are?)
“I defiantly agree.” (I hope you meant definitely; you don’t seem like a defiant person.)
“”I’m going to collage in the fall.” (Please learn to spell college before you get there.)
“I pacifically asked for a discount.” (Perhaps you should try “atlantically” the next time, or you could learn to spell specifically instead.)
“He is supposably thinking of coming along.: (You’re supposedly educated?)
“After she presented her idea, we were all gun-hoe about it.” (But we weren’t gung-ho about your spelling.)
“I got a flat tire on the gravil today.” (And your spelling just gave me a headache.)
This is one of my favorites: “I’m filling out a job application. Mind if I use you as a referense?” (Oh boy, I can hardly wait for the call!)
“I left my wallet at your house. Can you make sure not to loose it?” (I’ll be sure to pen it up so it doesn’t run away.)
And a statement at the end of the column went like this:
Its’ know wonder are wurld is goeing two the dawgs. Wee cud fix a fue thingz just bye lurning too spel.
–Not all my columns contain such biting sarcasm. That day was the exception. But I did feel much better after writing it. 🙂
Roberta Sarver
Check out Chinese restaurant menus. Sometimes they’re downright hilarious!