Typochondriacs

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Sarah Jessica Parker's much-hyped fragrance may be "Lovely," but there sure are a lot of ugly typos in the ads and web site. On the SJP home page, a key brand word is misspelled "lovliness." In her online "journal," SJP muses about her "life long dream." And in print ads running in October beauty and fashion magazines, Lovely Liquid Perfume Serum is called "a perfect scent accessory to backless, strapless and skin bearing fashions." How much of a load is the skin supposed to be bearing, and couldn't it use some help from a hyphen? (A serial comma would help, too.)

A person who cares about language could easily be driven to tears, or strong drink, by the unproofread state of copy everywhere. The Mirror Mirror Imagination Group, a beauty branding agency, seems to have forgotten how to spell "and," the only explanation I can find for the rampant ampersands. And any client who signs up for Mirror Mirror's "copywritting" services gets what he or she deserves.

Misspellings are one thing (the ubiquitous "loose" for "lose" is one that sets my teeth on edge); eggcorns--usually described as mis-hearings--are another. Recently I've come across "tithe you over" instead of "tide you over" and "exuberant prices" instead of "exorbitant prices." (Do we have Alan Greenspan to blame for the latter?)

Brother Michael forwards this document from the California Public Utilities Commission in which he found, on the bottom of page 10, "Fourth, we tentatively flush out details..." I hear "flush out" (which means to drive something out into the open, as a hunting dog flushes out a covey of quail, or a plumber flushes out the pipes) instead of "flesh out" (to give substance to an idea, as flesh is added to a skeleton) at least once a week. It's common enough to be cited in Paul Brians's indispensable Common Errors in English, a copy of which I'd like to send to all of the offenders I've mentioned here.

Thanks to Astera for the SJP ad copy.

Comments

[Steve S]

My favorite is, "The point is mute." One day I will find this mysterious muted point, and that will be a grand day indeed.