InnerEdie: Ouch! Rilla, did you just see that post with the typo in the title?
RillaWriter: Yes, but it’s not a big deal.
Edie: Not a big deal! Imagine if it were your post! How would you feel if no one told you, and it just dangled there forever?
Rilla: I would survive, Edie. You’re overreacting.
Edie: I suppose you’re right. I mean, that blogger isn’t a writer…
Rilla: Exactly.
Edie: See? See! You think you’re superior. Ha! It’s not just me.
Rilla: (gasp)
Edie: Ha!
Rilla: Wow, you’re right.
Edie: I know I am!
Rilla: I should read that post.
Edie: What? You’re going to read it? What if there are more mistakes?
Rilla: (Click)
Edie: “Oh, no. Oh, no. I can’t read it. I can’t.”
Rilla: “Aw. It’s really sweet. It’s about a thoughtful gift from a friend, and—
Edie: Hey, do you think you might comment? Because if you commented, you could slip in something like, “By the way, it’s not ‘their,’ it’s ‘they are/they’re.’” And then you could smooth it over with “Heh, I make that mistake all the time!”
Rilla: No, Edie. I don’t even know that person.
Edie: All the more reason you should say it!
Rilla: No, Edie.
Edie: How would you feel if you were that blogger?
Rilla: I would want someone to tell me if I made a typo in the title of a post, okay? But that does not mean everyone thinks like I do!
Edie: Definitely not. Right now is a good example.
Rilla: Shut-up.
Edie: Just say something about the typo. Say it very nicely, and I will be so, so quiet. I will even give you mental hugs and high-fives, and we will both be blissfully happy!
Rilla: (Click)
Edie: Why’d you leave that blog?
Rilla: Because you ruined it for me. I can’t read it.
Edie, knowingly: You found another typo, didn’t you?
Rilla: No…
Edie: Yes you did.
Rilla: I found three more, okay? Are you satisfied? I’m snobbier than before, and I blame you entirely!
Edie, smugly: Thank you.
…
Edie: Hey, look. It’s another one! He typed ‘form’ instead of ‘from!’
Rilla: Arghhhh. (headdesk)
Rilla Writer 
The dreaded typo. I’ve been horrified to go back and read one of my old posts and find a typo. I’d want someone to tell me. In fact, not long ago I wrote ‘woos’ instead of ‘wuss.’ A commenter pointed it out to me, and I was so relieved, especially since it went on to be Freshly Pressed. Spell check didn’t catch it. But would I be comfortable pointing out a spelling error of a blogger I didn’t know? Probably not. Guess that makes me a hypocrite. 🙂
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It’s like telling someone they have broccoli in their teeth or their pants are unzipped. You say it only to the friends you know will take it well. I’ve made so many typos, and many of them have been on lab reports and specs–which is awwwful!
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I read and re-read my emails to be sure I haven’t missed a typo or some other goof, and still probably have missed some. Since I don’t blog, I don’t know how I would react to someone’s pointing out a blunder like that. I have found a multitude of mistakes in books, magazines, and church bulletins. I have a problem understanding how such mistakes could survive the editing process, but church bulletins with mistakes don’t make me want to report the offender. The ones I want to report are the newscasters on tv who misuse words and misspell words or use incorrect grammar in what is shown written onscreen. These people are supposed to be professional communicators.
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I’ve just finished reading a book that was polished but had grammatical mistakes that weren’t immediately noticeable. That sometimes shakes me up. Are the rules changing? Or don’t they care anymore that this is blatantly incorrect?
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If it’s a blogger I know, and I know they wouldn’t mind the heads up, I’ll mention it in my comment. But someone I really don’t know? I might just let it slide unless it really messed up the meaning of what they wanted to say.
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You’re right. It’s more serious if the typo ruins the meaning. I suppose Edie might persuade me to make a comment then.
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I think people, even editors, miss typos because our minds automatically fill in the blanks to make sense of things (think of optical illusions and cognitive psychology; humans are fallible). I wouldn’t mind if someone pointed mine out (after the initial face-burning mortification), because I know I make them all the time despite my best efforts. My brain is uncooperative that way, and there’s a lot of rules I don’t remember, or never learned in the first place.
Of course, some people never had the benefit of a decent teacher, or the motivation to try. At work, people misspell things for fun, or just because they don’t know any better or care to try. I could only see avocado spelled “avacado” so many times a day, and “role” substituted for “roll” before I had to say to myself, “You know what, self? This doesn’t really matter in this context. You know what they mean, and that’s the whole point of communication, isn’t it? Stop writing corrections on everything, because everyone will just think you’re ridiculous.” Well, that’s what I think at work, and I’ve managed to take that attitude to most interaction on the internet. When it’s a serious publication, especially one I paid for, I get a mite irritated.
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Definately. (:D I couldn’t help it!) But, seriously, I agree.
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