Dearie, dearie me

[branchandroot]

[scene: Branch's desk, faced by an empty chair]

*faint squeaking noises*

[a hand emerges from floor-wards and flails for the keyboard]

Oh dear.

[Branch hauls herself up into the desk chair, takes one look at her clipboard and collapses over the desk]

*shrieks of laughter*

*pulls self together, wipes eyes*

I just had to share this one. Lois posted it at the Baen Bar, and Ken emailed it to me. Here, for your gratification, Why to be Careful with Spellcheck.

Puts me in mind of how a single misplaced letter vaulted a piece of fan fiction I saw the other day from mediocrity to immortality, in my mind. I mean, I was just reading along innocently, when I hit this literary caltrop... It went, in part, "The muscles in your back ripple, as you move your arms above your head; stretching, for my satisfaction more then your own. I can feel my nipples throb for your touch, my thighs are quacking. Estel, my Estel, how you tease me..."

In the department of, "If it walks like a duck...", one presumes. "A spellchecker is a dangerous tool, Saruman." "Why? Why should *we* fear to use it...?"

;-), L.

*sniggers*

Comments

[annotated_em]

[falls out of her chair]

Quack quack quack!!!!

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Very early in the history of desktop publishing, there was an article about DP explaining why "shifts in authority" meant that proofreading was no longer necessary. Well, five of the six letters in "shifts" appeared in the printed piece.

[branchandroot]

Ow, ow, ow!

Oh, case in point, all the way.

[lunarmommy.livejournal.com]

My thighs have never quacked. Maybe that's something my husband and I need to discuss.

I NEVER rely on spell check. Spell check is evil. I'll run it for words I'm not sure how to spell in the first place, but I ALWAYS proofread because spell check doesn't catch things like when I type "then" when I meant "the" and stuff like that.

[althea]

Hee! I guess, if someone were wearing leather or vinyl or something, his or her thighs could be said to make a quack-like sound.

Waddle waddle

[deliriumsfish.livejournal.com]

That is by far the best example of spell-checker error I have ever seen. I wonder what the word was supposed to be?

I have to email it to all my friends now...

Re: Waddle waddle

[branchandroot]

I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be "quaking", which isn't very good writing, but at least doesn't immediately cause the reader to bust a gut laughing.

This is even better than "we must always strive to reach the pentacles of success."

Re: Waddle waddle

[lunarmommy.livejournal.com]

I've been to the pentacles of success. They're overrated.

Re: Waddle waddle

[deliriumsfish.livejournal.com]

Ah, quaking, of course. I think the erroneous substitution just blew everything else out of the water when I tried to think of what it was.

"Quacking"

ROTFLMAO!