Case and point: a well-known fashion magazine. I won't specifically mention the name, but I will say that their recent cover had a very poorly Photoshopped cover of Gwyneth Paltrow. As I sat getting my pedicure last Friday I picked up this magazine and started reading. Just because I'm a journalism junkie, I tend to read the masthead and the Letter from the Editor. Well, this letter from a well-known editor-in-chief had a typo! The word sculptural was written as scupltural. I do not understand how, in a day of spell check and copyeditors, this typo made it all the way to print.
Such is also the case with road signs, storefronts, and other highly visible catchphrases. GB sent me this article from the Chicago Tribune about these two guys who have been going around the country with Sharpies, Wite-Out®, red pens, and more trying to fix typos. Their mission, says the article, is "to raise typo awareness." How great is that! And they're known as grammarphiles.
A comma really can make all the difference in the world. That's like the book Eats Shoots and Leaves. The wrong comma placement can make it like this panda bear eats, then he shoots (at something presumably), and then he leaves. But without commas, it is implied that he merely consumes shoots and leaves.
While these two guys (known as TEAL - the Typo Eradication Advancement League) go around the nation trying to better the grammar of the world, they aren't always met with happy, compliant storeowners. In fact, many just scoff at TEAL and make it out like the error is no big deal. (But it is!!!)I don't believe that TEAL is trying to be snobby at all. One of the founders, Jeff Deck, says that he wanted to use his talent for the good of others. That's amazing. That's always the way I feel and I've often spoken about the problem I have expressing through a cover letter or resume that I actually have this typo-spotting ability. It's crazy but I love it! It certainly makes sense why I'm part of the Comma Crew!
