If you think you have a keen eye for grammar, well fuhgetaboutit. Two men, Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson from Somerville, MA, and both Dartmouth ’02s (yay!), will out “find a typo” you any day, any time, anywhere. Literally. Jeff and Ben seek to do for America's public signage what spell-check software has done for interoffice e-mail: smarten it up and make it easier on the eye. Their weapons: Wite-Out, markers, ink pens, tape and nerves of steel. See “On the road looking for typos: Grammar-conscious pals set signs straight” (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/03/29/on_the_road_looking_for_typos/). How are they doing this? By schlepping in a ’97 Nissan Sentra across the country of course. Jane Connolly, Jeff’s girlfriend, is managing the team’s Web site (jeffdeck.com/teal), which traces their path and where Jeff and Ben are blogging (http://www.jeffdeck.com/teal/blog/). TEAL stands for typo eradication advancement league.
According to the article, the idea came to Jeff while he was in the shower. At that moment, he said, he thought about how irritated he'd become at the profusion of grammatically challenged signs. Here a "they're," there a "their," everywhere a "there" but where it ought to be.
My point…Although I might not go to this length to reform the world of its grammatical flaws, I have been known to offer solicited and unsolicited corrections to just about anything that crosses my desk, home and work. I have toned it down a bit, but I feel people should not live in the dark about proper spelling and grammar. Jeff and Ben, you go guys! Maybe we have the next “Strunk & White” in the making.
According to the article, the idea came to Jeff while he was in the shower. At that moment, he said, he thought about how irritated he'd become at the profusion of grammatically challenged signs. Here a "they're," there a "their," everywhere a "there" but where it ought to be.
My point…Although I might not go to this length to reform the world of its grammatical flaws, I have been known to offer solicited and unsolicited corrections to just about anything that crosses my desk, home and work. I have toned it down a bit, but I feel people should not live in the dark about proper spelling and grammar. Jeff and Ben, you go guys! Maybe we have the next “Strunk & White” in the making.
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