At the grocery store this morning, I found a city bus in the parking lot with this ad on the back, including this absolutely inexcusable spelling error.
Why does this tick me off so much?
I don’t know, I always enjoy a good brew http://www.hbd.org/kbs/
It actually never occurred to me that “bidal” might be a real word, but dictionary.com doesn’t know about it.
Because it’s stupid. You just can’t accept that someone along the line wouldn’t have caught it and said “uh…no.”
Probably because you get annoyed by shoddy workmanship. I’m wondering if this is the same mistake repeated seven times.
The copywriter and the proofreader both missed something that was immediately obvious to you, and yet got paid as if they were doing a good job.
I think some people (you and me included) just have an eye that picks up these details, while many are programmed to gloss over them and fill in the blanks.
It’s the same quirk that has Beth and me rewinding at continuity errors on TV and wondering how the producers missed what was so glaring to us.
There are a lot of bads ones in a show we’re currently watching called Merlin.
In one, Prince Arthur had an asymmetric shoulder guard as part of his costume, and they reversed a shot for a few frames of a scene. The asymmetry made the reversal very obvious, yet they let it through.
In another, people are talking on a balcony while watching troops march out of Camelot. It’s the same troops on the same stretch of road re-used in several shots. We lost interest in the conversation, and were counting the number of times the same horseman passes by a certain tree.
The errors detract from whatever atmosphere was being created in the show, and now we watch it with half an eye out for the next mistake.
Is the error is in the not spotting, or in spotting it and letting it through anyway?
Having worked for two years in an advertising agency, it’s absolutely inexcusable for something like this to happen. These ads (at least at the agency I worked for) went through many, many proofreading hands before actually being printed and placed–and that’s not counting the people who do the printing and placing. I hope the customer got their money back or at least free placement of future ads.
Every time I see something like this it makes me think less of the organization–not just the advertising agency–because they have to be approved by clients as well. And this one’s so OBVIOUS!
When I take my dog for a walk on a certain route, there’s a large truck sometimes parked in front of one of the homes. I can’t even tell you what all the advertising on the side is for because each time I get distracted by the word (in several places) “commerical.” I want to go to the door and ask them if they realize the mistake and just don’t care.
Susan
Perhaps you are upset because, as a young adult, you had a traumatic first experience with a bidet, and it haunts you still, even in the daytime when you believe yourself to be awake.
djm
There’s an error in there…
Oh, good. I thought my parser was broken.
I must admit I did not notice that there was an error in the ad until I read
fyffer’s text. Then it was pretty easy to spot. I think I read the work “Bidal”
as a whole rather than as a series of letters. I’ve been practicing that as a
speed-reading technique. Also, I think if it weren’t in script it would’ve been
easier for me to spot.
that if funny! They are actually hurting themselves by their careless mistake.
You should see the warning looks I get from my wife concerning any show that has wildlife sounds, nature scenes, etc. There is an institutionalized Red Tail Hawk Buteo jamaicensis call that is used for every bird of prey the world over or for some unseen menace. I remember some show years ago that was suppose to be taking place in Australia, except no Australian vegetation and there was a Yellow-Breasted Chat,Icteria virens, calling non-stop in every scene. It’s tough always being right, I guess someone has to do it. 
I can’t even watch Nature and keep my mouth shut!
I’ve been wondering how a weapon wielded often with two hands and having no hand guard could be called a light_saber_.
Of all the things those six movies did, that irks me?
Yeah, like in the opening credits of the old Northern Exposure TV series. They show a bald eagle flying around, but the call you hear is a hawk. I enjoyed the show, but that bird call mix-up always bugged me.
Yup. Bald eagles have a wimpy mew which belies their appearance.
-As to language quibbles its amusing to see misuse of “compliment” where “complement” should have been used.
“The walnut end table compliments the houndstooth check sofa nicely.”
Wow! That end table is something. Is the voice chip extra?
I have found that the Willow warbler - a UK summer visitor which winters in Africa - is used on nearly every continent in TV progs as the standard woodland songbird noise. Following years of work related biological recording I unfortunately cannot walk through a wood and hear birds singing, I hear various species holding territory! Shame really…
A man walks into a bar. The bartender is in the back, so the man sits down to wait. Soon he hears a tiny voice say, “Nice shirt!” The man looks around and can’t figure out who said it; no one else is in the bar and the TV is off. Then he hears “You’re looking great. Have you lost weight?” Soon after, “I like your haircut!” The man is getting pretty confused at this point.
The bartender returns and asks what the man wants. He says, “I was going to have a drink, but as soon as I sat down I started hearing voices. Maybe I shouldn’t be drinking.” The bartender replied, “Oh, you heard a little voice saying nice things to you?” The man nods. “Don’t worry. That’s just the complimentary peanuts.”
Sorry; Brian’s comment reminded me of that joke.
But back on topic: I am greatly annoyed by misspellings and other proofreading errors. They jump out at me. One of my all-time favorites was a huge poster on a bookstore door, advertising a new dictionary as “The best in it’s class.”
Oh, I’m sure they started off with a hand guard, but since the dang things
appear to slice through anything, it didn’t serve much purpose. The name
just stuck even after the hand guard was removed. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
and sabres are curved… better for use from horseback.
Typos are like everything else in the western world - not enough time to notice them all. I would say relax and enjoy them for what they most obviously symbolise - the human touch.
On a related vein, on a less than human touch, the craik wae ma windaes live mail almost pit paid tae ma dubble glazin! Seriously though, I was really rather perturbed when on a daily basis my newly downloaded ‘windows live mail’ kept telling me that my spelling was incorrect. Had I inadvertently ticked the ‘swahili’ box? No, I had ticked the only ‘english’ box available and it was US english. Infuriating being told that words had Z’s instead of S’s and such like. I had to download a patch that some poor sod in blighty created.
Language and spelling is such an evolutionary thing - wait till the next generation start writing books - ho ho ho… mind you, maybe they won’t.