Them ones' spellen misteaks

Two people sent emails to me with grammatical errors today.

Firstly I was informed that…

A list of the boards are provided below.

List is singular! It should be ‘is provided below’ And let's not forget that apostrophe for the boards i.e. boards'.

And then a senior legal officer sent me this asking…

What is there status? Their status!! That phrase would only work if I was a Roman named Status during the time of the Caesars and my questioner was asking, “Why go to Adelaide for a holiday? What is there, Status?

Not to mention the fact that the stationery cupboard’s name is Stationary Cupboard.

Breathe deeply David. Breathe deeply.

Why Move Forward when you can be Pens and not move?

In the 2010 Federal Election much has been made of Labor's Moving Forward slogan. Perhaps the Coalition's unofficial slogan, befitting their backwards-looking conservatism, is Stand Still. Be Stationary. That could explain why parents can claim for 'stationary' but apparently not pencils and rulers in the Coalition Education Tax Refund policy.


I hope Labor's Moving Forward package includes funding for much needed spelling and proofreading lessons for political staffers.

ABC! It's as easy as 1, 4, 3.

A senior colleague sent me a Minute requesting legal advice using the following paragraph numbering sequence:

3.2

3.3

3.3.1
3.2.1
3.3.2
3.4.1

3.4

3.4.1

3.5

-----

Inaccurate, if not inventive.

Surely this person knows that 3.3.1 should be followed by 3.3.2 which in turn should be followed by 3.3.3. Also, if there is not a 3.4.2 then there is no need for a 3.4.1. It is hardly rocket mathematics.

In the same Minute it was requested that I provide my advice within the next moth, which might be quite difficult to achieve, but then again, at least I was not given a date to complete this by…



Anyway I cannot sit here blogging all day – I need to try and trap that all important ‘next moth’.

Coveting Coverture aka Chocolate and U

Just last week I was reading a cooking with chocolate discussion forum in preparation for a clutch of chocolate Easter Eggs I was attempting to create. One lady, a serial poster on this forum, was becoming increasingly vehement each time she posted her comments about the utmost importance of using couveture chocolate for glossy frosting/icing on cakes. She exclusively spelled this word without the first ‘u’ (as many Americans do) i.e. ‘coverture’ which is another word entirely meaning the out-dated legal doctrine that states that the very being or legal existence of a woman is suspended during a marriage, or at least incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband: under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs everything. Ha! There is proof I did pay attention in Law School!

So considering those two words have very different meanings imagine the pedant's smile that spread across my face when reading the following post from the same woman in response to fellow poster BoBaker27’s decision to not use couverture;

“BoBaker27 you MUST use Belgian Coverture Chocolate. It is the BEST!! My husband is just like you and says it does not really matter but what would he know I say! He does not control me!! HAHA I love Coverture”

Insert wry smile here.