About Me
The Manifesto
That's totally a word
Good Stuff: 7/31/08
DNC beers and legislative acronyms
Wundergrammar: A North Carolina rule
Good Stuff: 6/30/08
Nice-nice
In defense of the humble ecdysiast
Roughly equal to 50 brownie points
Good Stuff: 5/30/08
[sic]
Back to Main
Bartleby
Common Errors in English
Netvibes RSS Reader
Online Etymology Dictionary
Research and Documentation
The Phrase Finder
The Trouble with EM 'n EN
A Capital Idea
Arrant Pedantry
Blogslot
Bradshaw of the Future
Bremer Sprachblog
Dictionary Evangelist
Double-Tongued Dictionary
Editrix
English, Jack
Fritinancy
Futility Closet - Language
Language Hat
Language Log
Mighty Red Pen
Motivated Grammar
Omniglot
OUPblog - Lexicography
Style & Substance
The Editor's Desk
The Engine Room
Tongue-Tied
Tenser, said the Tensor
Watch Yer Language
Word Spy
You Don't Say
Dan's Webpage
Friday, August 8, 2008 3:59 PM
In the meantime, enjoy this soul-crushing Stet of the Week, reproduced with only slight alterations from an actual message board transcript:
Our Bold Hero: On the image for [this product], soffit is spelled incorrectly, as sofit.
Project Coordinator: Checking with client.
Project Coordinator: Correct spelling for Sofit is Sofit. On the items listed below, can you correct Soffit to be Sofit? I've bolded the spots in the long description and name.
Our Bold Hero: Are you sure? Soffit is the spelling for the word meaning "A material which covers the underside of an overhang," according to everything I looked at (newspapers, Wikipedia, and dictionaries).
Apologies in advance if Sofit is some word I've never heard of that means something else...
Project Coordinator: Client wants it spelled w/one ''f'': sofit
I know it's wrong, but...
This is something I've just never understood. Why, client? Why do you want to be wrong? Especially when it's something as silly and pointless as this.
Jon Boy at
August 8, 2008 9:30 PM
I'm w/ Jon Boy--Why do you want to look silly?
If it's a BRAND name, and you've dropped an "f" in order to differetiate your product, OK.
Frankly, the fault lies w/ Project Coordinator, who should be protecting the client from him/herself.
Of course the P.C. has to ultimately answer to the client, but stuff like this, why even check w/ the client? You don't give non-word people an opportunity to contradict the dictionary. You don't do ANYTHING to imply they have that sort of power.
I had to use "Staycation" in a web page I was creating for a client at work (it was at the client's request, of course, and I wasn't allowed to "forget" to include the phrase...sigh). It made me want to hurl--that pseudo-word sounds soooooo cheesy!
Think reactive, not reactionary