Reader Deborah drew our attention to an unfortunate typo in a Nov. 23 story in the San Antonio Express-News. Headlined, “Art to go,” it was about a program that “sends teaching artists into schools and social-service agencies throughout the community.” And:
The goal is to encourage students to be creative in an era when funding for the arts has been slashed to the bone.
“We’re like a finger in the dyke,” says Paula Owen, president of the Southwest School, about the program.
Oh dear.
(We looked for a link and couldn’t find one, but the text was verified in Nexis.)
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I was amused when I saw a local billboard for Knology Cable, which said
“We have operators standing by, 24/7.
Don’t worry; they’re wearing comfortable shoes.”
You *know* someone in a creative department somewhere is rubbing their hands together in glee…
From the Oxford English Dictionary:
“dike, dyke, n.
7. a. A ridge, embankment, long mound, or dam, thrown up to resist the encroachments of the sea, or to prevent low-lying lands from being flooded by seas, rivers, or streams.”
I think, then, that dyke is a perfectly legitimate spelling for what Ms. Owen was referring to. For the other, colloquial definition of the word, the OED lists “dike” as well as “dyke” as possible spellings. For that reason I would say no error was committed.
Agreed w/ Patrick–this sounds more like a little kid giggling at a double entendre than a typo.
Surely you can’t be this ignorant? You have never heard the story of the little dutch boy who saved his town by putting his finger in the leaking dyke until help arrived? This is nothing more than a Beavis and Butthead snigger.
I understand the objections expressed here, as “dyke” is on its face a legitimate spelling. However, the pejorative use of the word has taken over to the point that newspapers and the vast majority of other types of media use “dike.” So while “dyke” is valid in a literal sense, it was in fact a typo. For example, if you search for “dyke” in the NY Times, you get lots of Van Dyke’s, but you need to search for “dike” in order to find references to the little Dutch boy etc. That said, I appreciate the comments.
Well, just as a data point, the Guardian’s style guide specifies “dyke, not dike”. British rather than American, I know - but worth pointing out that for some, at least, “dyke” is not merely a deprecated variant, but is actively preferred.
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oxford english dictionary…
I’m not sure about that one, it seems a little fishy, but I suppose anything is possible……