Tag Archives: typos

Flaunting, not flouting

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An item in the July 12 News of the Weird column about police confronting beachgoers incorrectly reported what the beachgoers were doing. They were not flouting their breasts, they were flaunting them.”

Thanks, Mary!

Topology, not topography

An article about maths busking said that finding a solution to turning a waistcoat inside out while wearing handcuffs involved topography. It is more likely to involve the mathematics of topology, unless, as a reader noted, we meant that in the topography of London passersby might rush to one’s aid and assist in the struggle (Just a fraction mad, 13 July, page 3, Education). Link

Attack of the spellchecker?

An article on July 13 about new research on the role of microbes in the human body misstated part of the name of a bacterium linked to skin infections in babies delivered by Caesarean section. It is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, not “multiply resistant.” Link

Market shit afflicts NCAA

A couple of unfortunate recent typos to share. First, beware the dropped letter (click for larger):

And another unfortunate letter mix up (click for larger):

Thanks Morgan and Jennifer!

Lose the word, lose the meaning

The word “not” was mistakenly left out of a sentence in the editorial on Page B-6 Sunday about a campaign contributions ballot initiative. The sentence should have read: “And the new summary spells out that the public-money lobbying ban includes school districts and local governments, so that school superintendent Carol Comeau, for example, might not be able to visit Juneau at public expense to seek state money for Anchorage schools — unless invited to do so by lawmakers.”

Antidote, not anecdote

Beauty column: In a Sunday Image article about hyaluronic acid, a skin-care ingredient and injectable filler, Dr. Nowell Solish was quoted as saying that if people change their minds after receiving an injection, there is an anecdote. It should have quoted him as saying there is an antidote. Link

Thanks, Chris!

Reuters collides with large typo

It’s not the first time this typo has happened in regards to the Large Hadron Collider, and it won’t be the last. From a Reuters report (click for larger):

The news service fessed up on its Good, Bad and Ugly blog. Thanks, Bob!

University of what?

Here’s what showed up in a slate reader’s RSS feed (click for larger):

The article has been fixed, though no correction was added.

Thanks, Andrew!

Rushing into misquotes

A May 25 Style review of Zev Chafets’s book “Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One” incorrectly quoted the book as reporting that Limbaugh thought of President George H.W. Bush as “a pretty, country club moderate.” That sentence in the book reads, “Bush struck him as a preppy, country club moderate, an Ivy League snob.” The review also omitted the word “become” in a statement by Limbaugh that is quoted in the book. That quote should have read, “I know I have become the intellectual engine of the conservative movement.” Link

Lose the word, lose the meaning (big time)

In a Commentary page column Tuesday, the word “pro” was mistakenly removed from the first sentence of Eric Zorn’s column. The correct version of the sentence is: In 1995, Yale University law professor Stephen Carter wrote a pro-snooze-fest book titled “The Confirmation Mess” in which he supported the idea that U.S. Supreme Court nominees should be vague and elliptical when coming before the Senate for confirmation.

The Tribune regrets the error.

Thanks, Rhonda!

Credibility issue

Kevin Roderick at LA Observed spotted this recent front page typo in the Los Angeles Times:


As Roderick noted:

If you’re the Los Angeles Times and you want to go top of page one with a story attacking the credibility of the mayor, you probably shouldn’t misspell credibility in the headline deck.

Thanks, Daniel!

Thread, not threat

In an item in the April 21 “Slatest,” Nicholas Jackson misquoted a CNN article, stating that the new $100 bill includes an embedded “security threat.” It includes an embedded security thread. Link

“Freshly ground black people”

A report that was recently published in Weekly Book News (Australia) detailed a typo that caused a cookbook to be pulped:

Penguin pulped 7000 copies of the Pasta Bible (ISBN 9780143011071) earlier this month due to a typo that could be considered offensive … New stock will be available from mid-May. [Sally] Bateman said this ‘was a proofreading error, and we’ll be making every effort to ensure this doesn’t happen again’.

The bloggers at Meanjin have details on the nature of the typo:

We know someone who knows someone who knows an anonymous someone that tells us that the pulped edition included the words: Freshly ground black people.

Thanks, Kevin!

A classic correction that stars Spy magazine, Donald Trump and Bulgarians

The March 1990 issue of late and lamented Spy magazine took note of this correction, which was originally published by the Stanford Daily of California that same year:

A story in yesterday’s [Stanford Daily] reported that Spy magazine publisher Tom Phillips said his magazine consistently refers to Donald Trump as the “short-fingered Bulgarian.” The term Phillips actually used was “short-fingered vulgarian.” The misquotation was not intended as a slur against Bulgarians. The Daily regrets the error. Link

Classic. Thanks, MJ!

Gaffe overload

An earlier version of this article contained its own Memorable Gaffe in discussing Maureen O’Connor’s error on the term chyron. In noting that Ms. O’Connor misspelled chyron, the article said “mispelled.” What’s the old saying? People who (literally) live in glass houses. The earlier version of this article also had an incorrect Web address for Black Book magazine.

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Tinsley Mortimer as Tinsley Mortimer Gaghan; it was Minnie Mortimer who married the filmmaker Stephen Gaghan. Link

Thanks, Cicely!

Freudian slip?

We incorrectly used the word “homocentric” when what we meant was “male-centred” (27 February, p 36). Link

Change the word, change the meaning

A single but significant word was mistyped in a story headlined UK complained to US about terror suspect torture, says ex-MI5 leader (10 March, page 2). Eliza Manningham-Buller was quoted as saying: “After the next terrorist attack, there will be cause for fresh legislation, which should be resisted. The criminal law as it stands is enough.” “Cause” should have been “calls”. Link

Heirs, not errors

Estate planning: The Personal Finance column about estate planning in the March 7 Business section misidentified the book “Trial & Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights!” by Andrew W. Mayoras and Danielle B. Mayoras as “Trial and Errors: Famous Fortune Fights.” Link

Compositing, not composting

Visual Effects Society: An article in Monday’s Calendar about the winners of the Visual Effects Society’s eighth annual VES Awards said that “Avatar” had been nominated in 11 categories. The film received 11 nominations in seven categories. In addition, the article said that “District 9″ won for outstanding composting in a feature. It won for outstanding compositing in a feature. Link

Thanks, Eric!

Punitive, not primitive

In last week’s Hills & Valley Messenger, the article “Tough cat laws close in Mitcham” included a quote from Mitcham Animal Management Committee chair and councillor Diana Gibbs Ludbrook which was incorrect. The quote “It’s not meant to be primitive but educative,” should have read “It’s not meant to be punitive but educative.” The error was made by the reporter.

An explosive musical experience

Spot the typo in this New York Times correction from today (click for larger):

Thanks, Tim!

Tax, not sex

I am sorry to disappoint all the readers who wished to apply for the position, but New Orleans does not employ a “sex assessor.” That was a misprint in Wednesday’s column. It should have read “tax assessor.” Slips don’t come much more Freudian than that. Link

Thanks, Todd!

The aircraft carrier did what in Hong Kong?

Have Coffee Will Write spotted this unfortunate headline typo on Slate’s section, The Slatest:

Thanks, Mary!

Cord, not chord

We lamented that some skiers fail to pull a “chord” to inflate their avalanche airbag systems, a circumstance that could be explained by their being tone-deaf, we suppose (16 January, p 15). Link

Must have misunderstood their Negro dialect

A CD review in the Jan. 15 Weekend section misstated the name of a new album by the Carolina Chocolate Drops. It is “Genuine Negro Jig,” not “Genuine Negro Gig.” Link

Thanks, Deann!

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