Proofreading Booboos!

Newspapers are a daily marvel, and sometimes they can even be considered a miracle. There are over 1700 dailies published in the United States alone, with a readership of over 60 million people. Despite the careful proofing, the possibilities for error are almost endless, especially when you consider the added pressure of deadlines. Most editors will print corrections, although they, too, have been known to add to the confusion. Here are a few samples:

1. Important Notice: If you are one of the hundreds of parachuting enthusiasts who bought our Easy Skydiving book, please make the following corrections: on page 8, line 7, the words “state zip code” should have read “pull rip cord.”

2. It was incorrectly reported last Friday that today is T-shirt Appreciation Day. In fact, it is actually Teacher Appreciation Day.

3. There was a mistake in an item sent in two weeks ago which stated that Ed Burham entertained a party at crap shooting. It should have been trap shooting.

4. From a California bar association’s newsletter: Correction: the following typo appeared in our last bulletin: “Lunch will be gin at 12:15 p.m.” Please correct to read “12 noon.”

5. We apologize to our readers who received, through an unfortunate computer error, the chest measurements of members of the Female Wrestlers Association instead of the figures on the sales of soybeans to foreign countries.

6. In Frank Weston’s March column, Rebecca Marney was erroneously identified as a bookmaker. She is a typesetter.

7. There are two important corrections to the information in the update on our Deep Relaxation professional development program. First, the program will include meditation, not medication. Second, it is experiential, not experimental.

8. Our article about Jewish burial customs contained an error: Mourners’ clothing is rent—-that is torn—-not rented.

9. In the City section of Friday’s paper, firefighter Dwight Branson was misidentified. His nickname in the department is “Dewey.” Another firefighter is nicknamed “Weirdo.” We apologize for our mistake.

10. Just to keep the record straight, it was the famous Whistler’s Mother, not Hitler’s, that was exhibited. There is nothing to be gained in trying to explain how this error occurred.

11. Our newspaper carried the notice last week that Mr. Oscar Hoffnagel is a defective on the police force. This was a typographical error. Mr. Hoffnagel is, of course, a detective on the police farce.


The moral of this blog, then, is to say, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE proof your work before sending it out. It could save a whole lot of embarrassment.