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Word nerds travel the country correcting America's grammar
In his underrated novel Letting Go, Philip Roth describes one character, an English professor at a university, as a man "whose dedication to the principles of grammar could actually cover you with sorrow." Last week, the Boston Globe described two men who fit such a description, lending still more weight (as if it were needed) to Oscar Wilde's old aphorism that life imitates art far more than art imitates life.
Not long ago, Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson embarked on a journey they're calling the "Typo Hunt Across America." Over the course of their road trip, which began in the northeastern US and has hit places like Charleston, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Albuquerque, the two men have searched for misspelled and ungrammatical signs in restaurants, stores, along the road, and everywhere else.
Carrying Wite-out, tape, markers, and pens, the men try to correct the offending signs as unobtrusively as they can. Says Jeff Deck: "We're not going after people in a self-righteous manner, like fashion police. Or trying to make them look stupid. Instead, we're addressing specific errors like confusing 'its' for 'it's' or 'you're' for 'your.'"
Deck added: "Finding and correcting these, even every once in a while, is incredibly satisfying."
Even as someone who has always been finicky about spelling and grammar, I find myself covered with sorrow by the preceding sentence.
This article is further proof that if you come up with a stupid enough gimmick for your next trip, your story might just land in a major newspaper.
Whole thing here.
Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
E. Marchese Apr 7th 2008 4:21PM
These two are trying to educate the public and deal with its ignorance and apathy. The fact that their efforts are being greeted with scorn and derision by the media and bloggers just underscores their point that the U.S. has become a nation of functional illiterates whose only goals are to have fun and/or to become rich and famous. We now prize idiocy over intellect, a sad commentary that reflects badly on us all.
meg Apr 10th 2008 1:44PM
I actually find the story incredibly inspiring. I am shocked at how many typos I see on a daily basis (especially when plural/possessive "ess" is involved) and can't believe that the sign maker didn't proofread it first.