If you haven’t yet seen Alejandro Moreno-Ramos’ latest Mox cartoon on Obsessive-compulsive grammar disorder, do not miss it! Even funnier is Alejandro’s reply to the person who pointed out a spelling error in the cartoon. Last year, I wrote a post about my personal struggle with grammar and spelling perfectionism, and I think that nearly every translator can empathize!
Still, there are moments when I wonder if this battle is worth fighting, or just takes years off our lives. Even the mighty New York Times magazine lets typos slip through: witness “You can’t just take a statement and dress is [sic] up in a question’s clothes…” in the otherwise excellent, hilarious and spot-on article How to ask a proper question at a public event (the typo is corrected in the electronic version). Mox is already in therapy, but maybe the rest of us grammar/spelling hawks are soon to follow!
Here’s something that might help take the pressure off. That erudite bon vivant Stephen Fry has some surprising (some might say aggressive!) things to say on the subject.
http://youtu.be/J7E-aoXLZGY
You may even be able to shop guilt-free after watching this.
🙂