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.
>