Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Spelling ZZZZ

It's a well-known fact that spelling skills have gone by the wayside. Not having to know -- spellcheck software -- and the need for speed -- txt abrv8x -- have caused a certain amount of WCA when it comes to putting the correct letters in the correct order.

For IM among friends it doesn't matter as long as your message gets across.

But there are times when you should pay more attention. Your organization's URL, for example, is a word you really want to get right. Especially on the PowerPoint deck you're showing to an audience of 250.

During her presentation to the Colorado Green Tech Group Susan Innis from the Governor's Energy Office talked about the Colorado Carbon Fund. The fund is actually financed by consumers who purchase carbon offsets, which support clean energy projects in the state.

Embedded in one of her slides was the organization's URL, www.coloradocaronfund.org. Missing a crucial "b."

Personally I liked the typo because it looked like the money would go to support me. Well-meaning heckler that I am, I pointed out it out to the audience with the suggestion that they see me afterward to hand over their checks.

The spelling error was far from the only one during the evening, although the folks who shouted out that "fluorescent" was misspelled in another presentation were mistaken.

I admit I'm a stickler, and that's why I get paid to edit other people's writing.

But when the word presents a call to action, like "go to my web site," there's really no excuse for not getting it right.

2 comments:

san tan valley obgyn said...

Especially to kids now, it's kinda ignored now.

Denver Accountant said...

Nowadays, teens tend to shortcut words which they are the only ones can understand. Its kind of sad that sometimes what they've learned in school has long been forgotten. It has advantages and disadvantages in short cutting the words but I believe it has more on the disadvantage side.