5.23.2006
the last staw (sic!)
It's been bothering me for months now, but I've been able to avoid talking about it much. Until today. Because not only do I see typos everywhere--they are rampant on websites, increasingly common in newspapers, magazines, and books, even cropping up on street signs--but today I found one in the New York Times crossword puzzle. There's no way to link to it online, but if you have the print edition check out 22 Across:
Courtoom figures: Abbr.
I was willing to bend over backwards for Will Shortz (um, that so doesn't sound like what I meant, but whatever). Could this be some alternate spelling of Khartoum? No luck; from the answer, it's clear that an 'r' has been dropped.
So what does this all mean? Well, on the one hand, we all make mistakes; I'm sure there are at least a few errors in this very blog. But I do feel that standards are slipping, and I blame two connected phenomena. The immediate issue is that so many print organizations are trying to save money by cutting back on copyediting and proofreading. A bigger problem, however, is that (while I hate to blame the Internet--the cause of and solution to all of life's problems, one might say) online standards are still not as high as those for published works. But rather than digital media becoming more like print, it seems that print is veering closer to the sloppiness of digital. I used to believe that the NYT crossword puzzle was the last holdout of precision and care. Today, that hope has died.
Courtoom figures: Abbr.
I was willing to bend over backwards for Will Shortz (um, that so doesn't sound like what I meant, but whatever). Could this be some alternate spelling of Khartoum? No luck; from the answer, it's clear that an 'r' has been dropped.
So what does this all mean? Well, on the one hand, we all make mistakes; I'm sure there are at least a few errors in this very blog. But I do feel that standards are slipping, and I blame two connected phenomena. The immediate issue is that so many print organizations are trying to save money by cutting back on copyediting and proofreading. A bigger problem, however, is that (while I hate to blame the Internet--the cause of and solution to all of life's problems, one might say) online standards are still not as high as those for published works. But rather than digital media becoming more like print, it seems that print is veering closer to the sloppiness of digital. I used to believe that the NYT crossword puzzle was the last holdout of precision and care. Today, that hope has died.
