T.E.A.L.

Funny story on NPR about a guy who, one day, decided to embark upon a cross-country quest to correct typos. Jeff Deck, the founder of Typo Eradication Advancement League, and his buddy Benjamin Douglas, set out to not just identify, or photograph, but actually fix typos in public signs. It went well, until the duo were busted for “fixing” a historic marker at the Grand Canyon. Vandalism - was the term the authorities preferred instead.

They are back, with a book now, that chronicles their journey. For two and a half months they were out and about, finding 437 typos and correcting more than half of them. While they found some support for their effort, there also was a lot of apathy. Culminating in the run-in with the law.

Now here's the rub - imagine finding typos in this publication. Ah the sweet-sweet irony.

In plain English

On the subject of the English language. Marketplace program had an interesting segment about a non-profit center called the Center for Plain Language. The mission of the center is to make sure we use simple, understandable and actionable language in our conversations.

I am sure we have all seen this before - the use of dense verbiage while writing. Lawyers have been guilty of it, doctors relish it; hell even I love long-winded sentences. If you live in the US, you would have seen a lot more of this because of the need to be politically correct all the time. It is about time, we thought beyond the need to be absolutely politically correct, and instead gave language the greater attention it deserves.

In defence of whole words

Whole words are like whole grains. The difference may be just bran - but bran contains fiber. And we all know what happens when there isn't enough fiber in our diet - posterior occlusion.

The twitter lifestyle has taken its toll on thoughts as well as words. When it is acceptable to yell ideas to the whole world in 140 characters or less, there is little need to keep words whole. What started off as a measure of relief for cramped fingers on ancient keyboards, has now morphed into a dissonant assault on language sovereignty.

Da tru stmts v make wid da cripld words, do lil 2 convy da msg, let alone beauty. Instead dey tnd 2 frstrait n slo u dn. ur readin speed goes down, n da pleasure of readin disappears. When you tend to favor the shortened words 2 regular words, it directly impacts ur credibility. It is easy to judge a book by the cover. And the cover you present the most when you write is the words you choose. Choose the word, and nothing but the whole word.

I make no claims to even remotely being a purist. I have been known to occasionally dab in the forbidden myself. But, lets make a pledge, you and I:

If you have different keys for B, C & A,
we keep the L-O-Ls at bay.

SMS speak and l33t speak are a precious commodity, use them as sparingly - like expensive china.

Chirp in the comments if you agree.