
Everyone has their grammatical pet peeves. At Asylum, for example, we've made our feelings about some forms of punctuation quite clear.
But even our hatred of the exclamation point pales in comparison to the aversion Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson have toward poor spelling and grammar, in general. In fact, their obsession is so intense that the two college buddies set out on a grand journey across the U.S. to hunt for and correct misplaced apostrophes, typos and other syntactical atrocities.
"I threw together a 'typo-correction kit' with markers and correction fluid, began planning the journey and saving up, and in March of 2008, The Great Typo Hunt began," Deck tells Asylum. He and Herson (who dubbed themselves the Typo Eradication Advancement League) loaded their equipment into an old '97 Sentra and set out on their ostentatious adventure, now documented in their new book, "The Great Typo Hunt."
"We'd stroll into a neighborhood and just check out their signage," says Deck. "Places with high text density were usually where our assistance was needed."
Each time the self-appointed grammar police spotted a typo-eyesore, they'd pull over, hop out of their car and determine whom they needed to speak to in order to make a correction. Continue reading for more on the hunt, as well as a list of their top 10 grammar/spelling mishaps in America.
"Many of [the people we talked to] proved informative, fun and fulfilling, making that my favorite part of the experience," explains Herson, who met Deck in a creative writing class 10 years ago. Though reactions were positive for the most part, Deck and Herson were sometimes met with resistance when confronting people about their poor grammar. Common responses flung back at them included "It's not a typo -- that's how you spell it"; "Fixing it will make the sign look bad"; and "No one's ever noticed it" (aka "No one has ever actually mentioned my sorry grammar to my face").
On the other hand, some of the more agreeable the grammarians confronted actually fixed the signs right on the spot.
Deck and Herson's voyage took them from New Mexico to New Orleans to South Carolina. Naturally, we figured we'd ask which state needed the most assistance when it came to spelling and grammar.
"The truth is that across the board, everyone could really use an editor," says Deck. "The bigger difference wasn't by region, but more along the division between big chain stores -- which have pre-printed signs that all the stores have to put up, and independent businesses, which don't have the professional signage and so, of course, have more typos."
Deck and Herson compiled a list of the most frequent errors encountered along the way:
Top 10 Most Common Typos in America Today
10. Subject-verb disagreement: Lemons sure is tasty.
9. That place where you go to eat: Restaraunt, restauraunt
8. The double-letter fumble: They're shiping dinning room furniture.
7. The A-for-E sabotage: America loves its independance.
6. The confusion of tasty treats and arid sands: Try our homemade deserts.
5. The misplaced apostrophe: womens' secret society.
4. The wrong "your" or "you're": Your the best at you're job.
3. The wrong "its" or "it's": Its in a class of it's own.
2. The missing apostrophe: mens fashions
1. The unnecessary apostrophe: We sell hundreds of car's!






























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Comments:
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Tuesday 17 August
By Sky
The worst is spelling things how they are mispronounced!
Like Sherbert instead of Sherbet, Gingko instead of Ginkgo, are instead of Our, fur instead of for, etc. etc. etc.
Reply
Thursday 19 August
By pinsolomons
You mean like "nookular" instead of nuclear?
Thursday 19 August
By Jeremy
Your boyfriend thinks you need help with spelling and grammar? I'd say he's right!
Friday 20 August
By Amy
The worst spelling errors are when they become mispronounced!Just a little correction!:D
Like Sherbert instead of Sherbet, Gingko instead of Ginkgo, are instead of Our, fur instead of for,and so forth.
Thursday 19 August
By Spence
Wikipedia says both ginko and gingko are correct...
Thursday 19 August
By Julie
Sherbert is also correct ... look it up!
Thursday 19 August
By N_Dogg
Dis is how the obsessive compulsive impose themselves into our world.I'd run 'em off with a shotgun.
Thursday 19 August
By Scott
Saw a sign on a beat up pickup truck some time ago in Florida, the lack of education capitol of America. "FOUR SAIL"
Thursday 19 August
By Doug
Good luck on your quest for proper spelling, Donkey Hote!
Thursday 19 August
By Bob
"sherbet" - check the Ice Cream aisle at Stop and Shop.
They have little overhead signs hanging in the aisles with more
definitive product names : SHERBERT is one. I don't know if this is true in all of their stores, but I have seen it in several.
Interestingly it is difficult to find the Sherbet - only Friendly's brand has it. Everyone else makes Sorbet these days. I have yet to seeb that spelled sorbert.
Thursday 19 August
By Lou A
How about, "Smoky Joes BBQ", near Fort Smith, AR?
Thursday 19 August
By Howard
The mistake that drives me craziest is a math typo. "99 cents" can be written as "$0.99" or "99¢" but not ".99¢". The last one is less than a penny. Now you're going to see that misplaced decimal point everywhere.
Thursday 19 August
By golfinkatiekat77
I don't know why they thought they had to take a road trip. Just log onto AOL and read the comment section. Here you'll see multiple mistakes in not only spelling but grammar too!
Thursday 19 August
By Sean
When I was in college, as I was driving by a country bar, the sign said, "Free dance lesions on Wed. nights". I wondered how much they charged for traumatizing your skin or organs on the other nights.
Thursday 19 August
By Dave
Or chimlee for chimney
Thursday 19 August
By New York
Bet these were all graduates of our 10 Top Colleges.
Friday 20 August
By Roy
How about fur instead of fir? One that really bugs me is the use of further when farther is meant.
I've heard people describe an object as "100 times thinner" than another item. Excuse me, but doesn't "1 time thinner" equal zero? So, how can something be 100 times thinner?
How about "97' Toyota" for sale? Is it really 97 feet long??
Thursday 19 August
By kit
Love it! The UN-dumbing of America!
This past year at Graceland parking : No parking allowed IN side shopping center. I posted that on the web last year and within a month someone managed to beat me to the punch and get it corrected.
Comfort Suite in Florence Kentucky (need I say more?) "Hot Tub Use: Please fill only to above jets. Over filling will casused water to overflow onto floor. Thanks Clarion Management." Yes, Clarion owns Comfort suites but what is bad is that this was typed by management! sheesh!
At our local grade school last summer. "Have a safe summer. School starst Aug 28." Looks like the janitor who put up the sign is dyslexic.
Thursday 19 August
By NRS
the lack of education capitol of .....
The correct spelling is "capital". You only use "Capitol" when referring to the Capitol building.
Thursday 19 August
By Rei
You can't really fault people for mispronouncing words that aren't English to begin with though...