A whole new meaning

[sinkwriter]

I was just reading a piece of fanfic someone had posted online, and came across a wacky, misspelled word that made me laugh out loud.

The character was trying to regain his composure.

However... the author accidentally misspelled that word, and ended up saying the character was trying to regain his composer.

Which seems completely wrong. Then again, it was a Glee fanfic, which is all about glee club and singing and choir and performance, so maybe the character really was trying to regain a composer.

Heeeeeeeeeeee.

That's almost as chuckle-worthy as whenever I see this error: "She just couldn't bare it anymore."

I have no idea why, but apparently there are lots of characters out there who have trouble with nudity.

;)

Thankfully, neither of those errors are as cringe-worthy as this one: "He put his arms around her waste."

Please, for the love of everything Shakespeare, it's W-A-I-S-T. WAIST! NOT WASTE! Unless you really mean for your character to be holding someone else's, well... you get the pitcher. I mean, PICTURE!

*GRIN*

Comments

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

Spelling has always been a challenge for me. I'm fairly dyslexic, and it has never come naturally to me. However I try to re-read anything for such goofs as the ones above before I post anything. I think the issue is that people have come to depend on auto correct too heavily.

That waste one is hilarious.

[sinkwriter.livejournal.com]

I certainly don't mind the occasional spelling error or word glitch. People have reasons for it, everything from (as you point out) dyslexia to the fact that English is not necessarily their first language. Sometimes you just miskey, or your brain spells one word and you're thinking of another so you type the wrong one. Plus, like you say, there are flaws in the system with auto correct and spell check (which only checks for correct spelling, not correct word usage).

Nevertheless, you have to admire people for being creative and putting their work out there on display for others to see (and judge).

I think what amuses me is when authors list that they had betas help them with their stories, the wording, the spelling, what have you. If the author needs assistance for whatever reason, that's totally cool. But if their betas volunteer to help catch stuff and they totally miss this kind of thing, that's a head-shaker. *GRIN*

Seriously, I have seen that 'waste' one more often than you'd think possible. GROSS! (LOL.)

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

I recently downloaded a book for kindle that I had to put down based solely on the fact that it was so poorly edited. The subject matter was interesting and some of the content was new to me, and very educational. However it was so aggravating to try and fumble through that I simply couldn't do it after about twenty pages. Every page had at least one if not many errors, be it grammar, word choice, or spelling. I'm all for self publishing but to me it looked as if this had not even been proofed by the author let alone another living person.

Sad day. Also sad that I spent money on that book. Note to self, maybe I should go leave a polite review on the page noting the editing issues so others don't end up in the same boat as myself. I don't want to make life difficult for the author, but really they need to go back and do a read and edit phase before putting a serious non-fiction book on the market.

[sinkwriter.livejournal.com]

Yikes. That's another thing altogether! I mean, fanfic is one thing; people might not spend a lot of time editing or combing through the piece to make sure they caught any and all errors. But they're not making a cent. People who publish need to make sure their work is properly edited. That really sucks that you spent money on something that looks like no attention had been paid to it. Doesn't make the author look good either, so if they want to look like they know what they're talking about, they really need to get that fixed.

P.S. Soooo much love for your Toby user pic. ♥ Toby would never have let that book be published (for kindle or otherwise) without proper editing. He probably would have thrown it across the room for not being an honor to the writing profession. LOL.

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

I'm glad there are still people around who appreciate a west wing icon thrown in from time to time. :)

The subject (Islam in America, written by an American from birth) is really interesting. It's a shame that the book was so cringe worthy as I really wanted the knowledge contained within.

[krazykitkat.livejournal.com]

One that made me laugh the most was a character who was in a 'comma'. And then the doctor was amazed they woke up so quickly and that it was the shortest 'comma' on record.

So short it was a full stop ;)

[sinkwriter.livejournal.com]

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAAAA

Commas. Boy, I don't know.... that's serious business. ;)

Oh man. Too funny, Kat. I swear, we should start a list of the worst offending errors (even if they are accidental). Comma and waste are pretty bad. :D

[seagray.livejournal.com]

I blame the internet when I see a line like this: He feared when the bandages came off he would lose his site. :D

[sinkwriter.livejournal.com]

*laughing and laughing*

Yes indeed. People, "site" is not a 'modern-day,' shorter way to spell "sight." It's a whole other word with a whole other meaning. And at that point they might want to consider getting themselves a thorough beta reader.

[seagray.livejournal.com]

What's really scares me is that I see a lot of that in stories with one or more beta readers acknowledged! The blind leading..

[ladymidath.livejournal.com]

One of my favourites is,' he reached for a vile of liquid. '

[sinkwriter.livejournal.com]

Heeeeeeeeeee. :D