Because I'm a copyeditor by trade and because I'm a nerd by nature, typos really piss me off. I don't mind them too much in e-mails and such, but typos on menus, road signs, and even Pete's kindergarten registration forms (ARGH! It's true!) really put me over the edge. As far as I can tell, the #1 misspelled word on menus is "prosciutto" (usually seen as "proscuitto," which would be pronounced "pro-squee-to"). It's not an easy word for English-speakers to spell, which is all the more reason to just look it up before you have 60 zillion take-out menus printed and distributed all over the city. (For the record, the #1 mispronounced word on menus is "bruschetta." The "ch" sounds like "k," folks.) Other "favorite" typos on menus include "mescaline salad" (Whee! Look at the colors!) and "mold sauce" (for "mole"—now doesn't that sound appetizing?). Stephanie's school lunch menu for April provides for a Passover meal; however, the misplaced line breaks present it like this:
Matzo HardI think she'll brown-bag it that week. It's gotten so I want to stand outside Kinko's all day and offer—beg!—people to let me proofread their stuff before they get it printed. Sheesh.
Boiled Egg String
Cheese Carrots
P.S. I'm fully aware that I will eventually make my own typo in this blog, if I haven't already, and everyone I've ever known is going to send me a nasty nyah-nyah e-mail about it. That's OK, I can take it.
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