Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Witch spell is write?

I considered writing a post on my pet peeves. However, seeing as how that would've been subject matter lengthy enough for the fifty thousand word writing contest, I will limit myself to one particular item today. The lucky pet peeve to be discussed is......drumroll.......spelling missstakes! I am not taking on the world of grammar, as I am just as comma happy as the next person.
I am also not overly concerned with the notes we leave on the kitchen counter, or the casual emails we send. I guess it's the public displays of misspelling that drive me a little bonkers.

My mom is not a fabulous speller. I can say that here comfortably, knowing she will not deny it. She has many other more useful strengths, and knows not to turn spell-check off. I do remember her leaving me a note on the counter years ago requesting that I "vaccum". I was not fool enough to pretend I didn't know what she meant, so I just corrected the note and set off to deal with the carpet.

Again, it is not the casual and informal that get me. Rather, if I am reading a book that has typos, I get agitated. I realize that a lot of times it is not an actual misspelling that I've stumbled upon, but rather the wrong word for the sentence. Considering that someone cashes a paycheck for having the responsibility of checking one's work for issues, I do not consider it a job well done if I notice an error.

Another problem I've encountered, that has disturbed a fine piece of literature, was pages being bound out of order. I realize this has nothing to do with misspellings, but seriously?

Uh-oh...I might have strayed from the initial focus of my one particular pet peeve, so back to the world of public displays of the dictionary challenged. I was recently wandering through the science fair at my daughter's middle school. I was really trying to take in each product for what it was worth, the efforts the students made, and just the general wonder of science. I was doing pretty well until I reached the carbonation experiment. The students had used "rasins" to test the amount of carbonation in a few different types of soda. They used a lot of "rasins" and wrote a lot of sentences on a big display board that included the word "rasins"...so many "rasins"...must leave building.

I was admitting my inner critic issues to a friend, and asked if she thought the dawn of middle school meant that one was no longer to interfere with a child's work. She explained to me that there are parents who are poor spellers (yes, I should know), who might've thought "rasins" was a perfectly fine spelling for nature's candy. I argued that the bag or box from which they procured those "rasins" would have been clearly marked "RAISINS".

As usual, it has taken me a bit to get to the crux of the matter, and inspiration for the post...ta-da!! I live in Cicero and am rather disgruntled about the tax hikes, but my anger has not cost me my ability to spell. Clearly the person who penned this sign is far more agitated about the situation than I am...
I am sure this is just one of many bold steps citizens can make in an effort to be taken seriously.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

4 comments:

  1. Haha you should never come and see any of my students work. I see a lot of there for "their" and where for "were"

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  2. Really?? Vaccum?? That is what you recall from your childhood??

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  3. Miss Caroline, Do they print their signs on large boards and carry them thru school? I am coming to witness if they do!

    Mom, that is just the MISSPELLING I remember from my teen years!

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  4. Er... *shifty eyes* ... ya, spelling mistakes. Terrible. Why don't people take the time to check their work?

    *walks away with a jaunty whistle*

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