It’s not often that proofreading – or lack of – becomes a front page news story, but that’s exactly what happened last week, thanks to a slip of the keyboard by Labour leader Ed Miliband. It seems everyone is on Twitter these days, even shadow PMs, and in a tweet about the death of . . . → Read More: Proofreading in the news
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Almost all businesses use the written word to promote themselves and most people rely on their spellchecker … but that can be a big mistake! See, spell checkers are okay, but they’re not infallible. Much of the language we use is based on context, so a spell checker will not know if you’ve used . . . → Read More: 5 Tips to help you with proofreading I know I probably bang on about the importance of proofreading a little too much but it really should be a vital part of the process whenever you create marketing materials – and not just an afterthought. Time and time again I find evidence that proofreading after the event can be an expensive exercise! . . . → Read More: Make proofreading part of the process, not an afterthought! While you can learn to proofread, the vast majority of professional proofreaders would probably agree with me that the ability to spot typos and errors is actually a gift, something you’re born with, rather than a learned skill. In fact, it’s probably more like a curse – because when you are a natural proofreader you can’t just switch off the eagle eyes! . . . → Read More: A good proofreader is never off duty! As a professional proofreader, most of the errors I pick up are fairly unexciting, but there have been a few high profile ones recently that bring home just how important proofreading really is. I hope the following will bring a smile to your face – and also make you double check your work from now on (or, better still, send it to me!) . . . → Read More: 3 examples of why proofreading is so important This poem proves perfectly why you should never ever rely on a spell checker. A basic one will allow through all these words, even though over half of them are incorrectly used. A more sophisticated spell checker will pick up that words are wrong within the context … but would everyone know what to . . . → Read More: More proof that spell checkers aren’t perfect Yes, you did read the title right! This video, featuring American poet Taylor Mali, is a great example of why you should never trust the spellchecker! Tweet
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Copyright © 2012 The Proof Fairy - All Rights Reserved |
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The Proof Fairy is the alter ego of me, Alison Neale, and I have always been fascinated by the written word. As a child I spent hours locked away in my bedroom, book in hand. English was my favourite subject at school and I often wrote stories and articles, some of which were published in the local press. My mum taught English as a Second Language (ESL) and was my main critic, so sloppy spelling or grammar was not allowed!
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