Typos happen. But when they’re particularly creative—like the seven typos I wrote about earlier this year—they deserve the spotlight. Here are five more illustrated typos to make you smile.
Gold [Golf] course
A golf course attracts gold diggers and is a gold mine for landowners, but no matter how exclusive a golf course is, it’s not made of gold.
Distinguished [Distinctive] pattern
There’s a difference between distinct, distinctive, to distinguish, and distinguished. For example, each zebra has a distinct pattern that distinguishes one zebra from another. Zebras’ distinctive patterns help the animals confuse their predators.
Distinguished means “eminent”, and you wouldn’t say that about a pattern, but about a person.
Face [Phase] closure
There’s a term called phase closure in project management. A face closure is something that reminds me of Hannibal Lecter.
Genetic [Generic] brand
Whether they contain genetically modified organisms or not, generic brand products are those that help you save some money if you don’t care about brand names. Genetic relates to genes. Generic relates to general.
Cancelled sponsor [sponsorship]
If your research project’s sponsor was cancelled out, you may get a new sponsor. But if your project’s sponsorship was cancelled, you’d better be good at writing grant applications.
Do you need to have your document professionally proofread to make sure it’s free of typos and other errors? Send me a message at editor@languageediting.com.
Related posts:
- The funniest typos of 2017 – Part 1
- The funniest typos of 2017 – Part 2
- The 7 funniest typos (so far this year)
Last revised on 17 June 2022
