Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 12:33:13 -0500

From: Tom Creswell creswell[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CROWN.NET

Subject: Re: sea change



Of the three "boners" cited, only one _inneffective_ is an obvious aand

incontestable simple typo.



_Prostrate_ for _prostate_ is what I call a Spelchek error--the kind

resulting from having copy run through a computer spelling checker, which

accepts any "word" it finds in its dictionary, regardless of context or

meaning, and not having it subsequently checked by a live human copy

editor.



About _helmut_, I can't be sure; it is most likely also a typo, but its

source is problematical. It is unlikely that any spelling checker has

_helmut_ as an entry, so tt seems most likely that it arises from a faulty

transcription of a voice message, as the syllable has a schwa vowel in

normal pronunciation, but of course a live copyeditor would have caught it.



The frequency of Spelchek errors in presumably edited printed material

suggests that the downsizing frenzy has extended to the copyediting

department of many newspaper, book, and magazine publishers. .

-----Original Message-----

From: Carol Andrus CLAndrus[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

To: ADS-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UGA.CC.UGA.EDU ADS-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UGA.CC.UGA.EDU

Date: Friday, October 24, 1997 9:45 AM

Subject: sea change





Can someone enlighten me about when the expression "sea change" came into

our

language? It's a common buzzword in corporate writing...a sea change in

management, etc.



Also, some words in English have a separate meaning for the plural, as in

premise and premises (Macy's recently had a big sign at the 34th St.

entrance: "No Solicitation on the Premise!") Daily, the NY Times uses the

term "ground" as "he sued her on the ground that"...Isn't this a legal term

and used in the plural? On the grounds that? I also see the singular usage

in

the CSMonitor. Even the most respected newspapers are coming up with

inexcusable typos: the CSM recently described a new hairstyle as designed

to

resemble a Roman centurion's helmut, which my German friend Helmut loved!

and

the NYTimes had a headline: Study of Prostrate Cancer Proves

Inneffective --

2 boners in one headline! Sorry to ramble.