How Does Puget Sound?
Tacoma, WA
We departed Portland today, though not before procuring some final rations from this excellent city. Josh and I made a trip to Voodoo Doughnuts, apparently the favorite doughnut haunt of a band that I revere, the Decemberists, and were sure to get a variety of their products, including the vaguely anthropomorphized doughnut men impaled with a pretzel stick as an implication of bad juju. Then we stopped by a stand at 3rd and Glisan for what turned out to be succulent burgers. I was already familiar with the concept of good food delivered from a truck, having worked at MIT, but the guy working at this stand really raised the bar. As we discussed our mission with him, he said, “Hey, you should check our menu for typos. I’ve got one right here for you.” I supported this, someone making my job easier by actually directing me toward the mistake. And here it is for your consumption:
This was an easy one to fix, obviously, though it has not been addressed at the institutional level.
We drove up the two and a half hours or so that it took to get to Tacoma, Washington, and met up with my friend Chris. Chris and I have been friends since kindergarten… he is my oldest friend, if such a statement can be understood with context differentiating the truth from false notions such as those that might imply that Chris is 95 years old. Damn the treacherous byways of English misconnotation! Chris has been friends with me longer than anyone else has been. Through some grave oversight, I realized that I may not have actually seen him in person for a good seven or eight years.
He took off for a soccer game back on his Air Force base shortly after arrival, and Josh and I took a walk around Chris’s beautiful neighborhood, which overlooked Puget Sound. Since today is rather thin as far as typos discovered, I’ll throw in a little scenery. I hope my cherished readers will forgive me for such slacking of my duties.
I did an interview with an Australian radio station (will the media attention never cease?), and then Chris came home and grilled up some salmon for us. He also started the wine flowing for us– never a good idea in terms of productivity, but always a congenial factor for the renewal of essential male bonds. And here I write to you now, a man wearing a cowboy hat in a situation that does not necessarily call for it, just trying to keep the lines of communication alive. I can’t wait to see Jane on Saturday. Before then, we will have further adventures, tomorrow’s involving Vancouver, making this a truly international endeavor. Stay tuned, faithful consumers of the blog, and I will provide you with the sustenance you so crave.
Totals
Typos Found: 192
Typos Corrected: 116
April 17th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Does your keeping count mean I can look forward to a overall summary and ranking at the end of your trip? It’d be interesting to see if there are patterns geographically.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Australian news? Crikey!
Your public is hungry for more typo-fixin’. Are you sure you couldn’t find any out on the Sound?
April 17th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I might have capitalized Rip City *G*rill as well. I assume they don’t intend to grill-cater my next event.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
“Does your keeping count mean I can look forward to a overall summary “.
I would hope they you will correct your egregious error forthwith.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
NPW, the search would have interfered with drinking three bottles of wine and watching as many hours of Comedy Central. But not to worry, over-the-border typos await. Though we won’t be crossing out any u’s from colour, etc.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
This is the best line you’ve ever written: “And here I write to you now, a man wearing a cowboy hat in a situation that does not necessarily call for it, just trying to keep the lines of communication alive.”
April 17th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Blue cheese doesn’t sound very appetizing, especially not as something I’d have to pay extra for. Bleu cheese, however, might be worth it. I know it’s pretty much accepted as Blue because we’re not in France, but what’s wrong with spelling it Bleu? We don’t change the spelling of éclair, crépe or risqué…
April 17th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Vancouver! I’m in Vancouver. Can I tag along with you? I’ve been posting, but not correcting, detected errors on a blog of mine for a month or two now. No doubt you’ll find plenty of errors/typos. Contact me..?
April 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Watch out, eh? Here comes TEAL!!!!
BTW: can you give me a mnemonic device for using affect/effect??? Those little motherf*ckers always trip me up, despite how many times I refresh on their proper use!!
Keep on rockin’, guys!!
April 17th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Why didn’t you correct the capitalization mistake in ’swiss cheese’?
April 17th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Hey dumbass, that restaurant is in PDX not Tacoma.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
um: Posts that start with “Hey dumbass” almost always reflect the maturity level of the person posting.
If you could actually read the post you’d see that he makes it clear they ate BEFORE they headed to Tacoma.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Semicolons are a matter of taste, but are considered a separator for disparate lists in the same sentence. Instead of:
> Tillamook cheddar, pepper jack, swiss, or blue cheese. Fresh avacado or bacon.
You could have removed the comma before the “or” and inserted a semicolon instead of a period between “cheese” and “fresh”:
> Tillamook cheddar, pepper jack, swiss or blue cheese; fresh avacado or bacon.
Cheers and good travels to wandering grammar fetishists.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I’m glad someone is taking this on!!!! It drives me crazy to see the typos and grammatical errors that abound today in every venue. How about starting with the Valley News in Lebanon, NH ?
April 17th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
What a great project. How is it financed?
I’m a writer and have worked as a journalist and editor for state government, so I’ve been on the typo watch for years.
I write a blog for boomer consumers called The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide at http://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com.
Rita
April 17th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
A typo in my lexicon is different than a misuse of grammar which would be misplaced colons, apostrophes and the like. What are you doing?
April 17th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
If you want typos, come to Hawaii. You’ll never leave.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:58 am
… a band that I revere, the Decemberists …
Well, that just about does it. You are a grammar geek and you love the Decemberists. There aren’t many people like us. If I weren’t married already, I would propose to you immediately.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:55 am
MonaLisa: Think of “thE Effect”. “Effect” is usually used as a noun, while “affect” is usually a verb.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I can’t believe that you let the name of the restaurant go unchanged!! “Let Rip City grill cater…” Are you letting the Rip City Grill cater your next event, or letting Rip City grill (and) cater your next event?
Also, blue cheese invokes the wonderful image of stinkiness and wonder, no matter how it’s spelled, but I agree with Kimberley above. If you’re going to make the effort to correct signage, go all the way. You’re just as bad for leaving typos uncorrected as those making them in the first place.
Sheesh!
June 16th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Does Chris’s neighborhood no longer overlook Puget Sound….?