Daily Mail proofreading abilities

Another blunder from the online version of the Daily Mail.

This one spotted by Jon C a few weeks back.

Considering the article is all about people with learning disabilities, you'd think it'd be pretty important for the editor to be able to differentiate between the words abilities and disabilities.

Not seen it yet?

First paragraph, second line.

You're in good company. Even as I write, the article hasn't been changed and none of the comments make reference to it.

Hoist by his own petard

Commenting on typos can be a very risky occupation.

The more you shout about them, the more likely it is that others will point out your own.

Case in point: Peter. He blogs about his life on a narrow boat and occasionally posts photos of signs he comes across on his travels.

Most of them are worth posting again.

Here's one.

And another.

But you know what they say about people in glass houses.

Thanks for comenting, Peter. Your hummiliation is duly noted.

Breacon Becons New Yorkers

A real brouhaha started on the New York subway the other day over a typo on a poster.

The poster formed part of VisitBritain's £25 million 'Great' campaign created by the London agency Mother with the aim of promoting Britain as a tourist destination. It featured a wooded glade near Llandovery.

But the tourism campaign came undone after an eagle-eyed New Yorker spotted that the Brecon Beacons area of Wales had been spelt as Breacon Beacons.

The man, who has friends in the area, shared the mistake on the Brecon Beacons Facebook page, which led to an angry reaction from residents.

It was part of VisitBritain’s ‘biggest ever marketing push’ aimed at reaching more than 90 million people around the world and generating £2.3 billion for the economy.

VisitBritain's Mark Di-Toro blamed the gaffe on a proofreading error, adding that 'It's a regrettable mistake which will not be repeated.'

Really, Mr Di-Toro? I wouldn't be too confident about that.

If you visit Mother's own web page featuring the Great campaign, you'll see this.

The copy to the right of the picture reads:

If you’ve been travelling internationally recently you’re sure to have spotted our new GREAT campaign, which showcases to the world all that is best about the UK as a place to visit and do businesses.

Krispy Krunchy Khicken

From the Associated Press last week and reported widely throughout the US.

School officials in a Massachusetts town are apologising for sending students home with a lunch menu that listed KKK Chicken Tenders as an option.

About 6,500 students in four Methuen schools went home with new menus on Tuesday with the apparent reference to the Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group.

Superintendent Judith Scannell said the menu was supposed to list KK Chicken Tenders, with the KK standing for a creatively spelled Krispy, Krunchy, but a 'long-standing exemplary' employee mistakenly hit the K key a third time while typing the menu.

Scannell apologised if anyone was offended but added that no one had complained to her. The food service director received only one complaint.

However, the typo could have been avoided entirely if the officials hadn't chosen such a korny name for the chicken dish.

As one disapproving student scoffed, 'There would've been no issue if officials just spelled the words correctly, with the letter C.'

So much for winning the hearts and minds of the young with klever marketing.

Not to mention teaching them how to spell correctly.

One-liners

We haven't had any one-liners recently. I hope these make your day more bearable.

I'd love to attribute them to their rightful owners but I really don't have a clue where they came from originally. Some of them are probably from Steven Wright but I (and even he) can't be sure.

A friend of mine recently admitted to being addicted to brake fluid. When I quizzed him on it he reckoned he could stop any time.

I went to the cemetery yesterday and saw four grave diggers walking around with a coffin. Three hours later, they were still walking around with it. I thought to myself, they've lost the plot.

I was at a cashpoint yesterday when a little old lady asked if I could check her balance. So I pushed her over.

A new Middle East crisis erupted last night as Dubai Television was refused permission to broadcast The Flintstones. A spokesman for the channel said, 'A claim was made that people in Dubai would not understand the humour, but we know for a fact that people in Abu Dhabi do.'

My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday so I went to our local pet shop and they were £70. I thought, I can get one cheaper off the web.

Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarves are not happy.

I start a new job in Seoul next week. I thought it was a good Korea move.

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor...

I went to a bookshop and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

What if there were no hypothetical questions?