A quick straw poll, boys and girls, if I may.

No names, no pack drill... but it's a question that's been nagging me for a while now, and I'd like to know if anyone else notices or cares?

Do you...

a) notice them and get really irritated?
b) notice them but only get slightly irritated?
c) notice them but don't care?
d) rarely notice them at all?
e) never see them?

Thanks all for your thoughts!

Theo

PS: hmm, that attempt at setting a poll didn't work... any answers to this thread much appreciated instead!

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theopike.com
wandletrust.org
urbantrout.net

The only typo that really REALLY bugs me is the mis-use of apostrophes. Sentences such as 'we all got in our car's' or 'the pond was covered in duck's'. I don't know why this one in particular gets to me, but it does, badly.

My spelling can be pretty awful, so I would perhaps not always notice other peoples mistakes. I would have to go for (c), when I do notice I don't really care a lot.

There does seem to be a higher incidence in one particular magazine, though I don't really let that worry me either.

Theo - a shame you didn't get a poll to load. It would have been interesting.

I'd have voted a).

There was one sea angling magazine that was rendered almost unreadable due to ignorant editorial spell-checking, for example changing current into 'currant' in every article for several months, think, almost every article in a boat fishing magazine carries some reference to tidal flow.
I had to stop buying this publication; this lack of professional standard probably reflected badly on it's contributors too.

Having got this off my chest it was earlier revealed on this forum that even 'The Field' has typos now.


PiB

I would have voted for A. One magazine I read annoyed me so much I wrote to the editor asking if they wanted a proof reader. Never did get a reply nor did they print my letter in the letters page. Strange.....

I'd have to go with C.

Most of the errors I notice are spell-checker misses, wrong word, but spelled correctly, apostrophe misuse, and so on.

The problem is the extreme pressure in the publishing industry in general to slash costs. I suspect that the angling publications know there are errors slipping through, but as with everything in business, they've made a cost/benefit decision. Striving for perfection in punctuation and spelling is a luxury given the costs it would add.

Grouse

If grammar, punctuation and spelling in a magazine article are not perfect, the editor responsible should be replaced.

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Would vote a. Typos drive me absolutely mental, but not as much as misuse of apostrophes. I'm with you on that Brownie. I'm sure a psychiatrist would have plenty to say about that, especially as I've spotted typos in my own posts on this forum but can't always be bothered to change them.

Puss in Boots you were guilty in your last post.......

My posts are typed up in a couple of minutes, and sometimes not checked. Whereas the editor of an angling monthly has almost a month to proof read and correct say 20 articles?


PiB

This episode spawned a "hot" media debate about use of apostrophes.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tHOvVVO2neI

.D.