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Amusing or Intriguing typos/malaprops
Posted on: Sat, 01/23/2010 - 02:30
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Amusing or Intriguing typos/malaprops
Every once in a while, I come across a fan fic containing some unintentional humor, and I thought I would pass one on I came across today. Considering the big deal JKR made about how awful potions taste, I found it especially amusing.
"she made her way to the kitchen and took out a vile of pain relieving potion"
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Found another that struck me as amusing, from a review.
"look at Tom Riddle's dairy"
Evil cows? Poison milk?
"she made her way to the kitchen and took out a vile of pain relieving potion"
Ironically enough, I came across one the other day in which a potion tasted "vial" (sic).
Some of these people are lucky they're not posting on a wiki, or else they'd be edited to shreds.
You've set out a fine lure, so I await more responses with baited breath.
There is a word processor file called 'irritating mistakes' that sits on my desktop. I open it and add to it every time I encounter a new one. Vial/Vile was just added. I now submit for your perusal a few of my favorites.
Understanded - Yes, I actually read a story that used this… word.
Regime / regimen - I forget the story, but a character referred to his training regime.
Raise / raze - I'm sure the author didn't mean to have the characters raze their children.
Diffuse / defuse - There was talk of how to diffuse the situation.
Yoke / yolk - I don't remember the exact wording, but there was talk of throwing off the yolk of oppression.
Presents / presence - There was talk of opening Christmas presence. This one I think came from 'Erasing The Future' by Moxterminator.
These next two, I know came from 'Erasing The Future'.
Suspect / expect -- Come on… Seriously? Not once was expect used in this story. Suspect was always used in its place. Something along the lines of "I suspect you to have that room clean by the time I come up there." Multiple instances of the word 'suspect' being used instead of expect.
Definitely / defiantly --- Um… What? Again the author did not once use 'definitely'. Instead the word 'defiantly' was always inserted in its place.
Come to think of it, that story was rife with many such errors. There are a few places where the author mentions his/her betas. I wonder what those betas have caught, considering what they let through.
There is a word processor file called 'irritating mistakes' that sits on my desktop. I open it and add to it every time I encounter a new one. Vial/Vile was just added. I now submit for your perusal a few of my favorites.
Understanded - Yes, I actually read a story that used this… word.
Regime / regimen - I forget the story, but a character referred to his training regime.
Raise / raze - I'm sure the author didn't mean to have the characters raze their children.
Diffuse / defuse - There was talk of how to diffuse the situation.
Yoke / yolk - I don't remember the exact wording, but there was talk of throwing off the yolk of oppression.
Presents / presence - There was talk of opening Christmas presence. This one I think came from 'Erasing The Future' by Moxterminator.
These next two, I know came from 'Erasing The Future'.
Suspect / expect -- Come on… Seriously? Not once was expect used in this story. Suspect was always used in its place. Something along the lines of "I suspect you to have that room clean by the time I come up there." Multiple instances of the word 'suspect' being used instead of expect.
Definitely / defiantly --- Um… What? Again the author did not once use 'definitely'. Instead the word 'defiantly' was always inserted in its place.
Come to think of it, that story was rife with many such errors. There are a few places where the author mentions his/her betas. I wonder what those betas have caught, considering what they let through.
Well, I don't beta for Moxy (the author of Erasing the Future), but I beta for Mrs. Sniffy. I usually end up kicking myself after seeing the chapter after she posted it because I tend to find things that I overlooked. On more than one occasion I've asked her to get at least one other beta so that if something does get through, I don't feel so bad.
A fish without a bicycle cannot contemplate his navel.
SSHenry is also prone to using the wrong word consistently through her stories... the most glaring was her use of the word detrimental where I believe she actually meant essential...
-SC
Well, I don't beta for Moxy (the author of Erasing the Future), but I beta for Mrs. Sniffy. I usually end up kicking myself after seeing the chapter after she posted it because I tend to find things that I overlooked. On more than one occasion I've asked her to get at least one other beta so that if something does get through, I don't feel so bad.
Perhaps being an editor isn't a career path you should consider?
There is a word processor file called 'irritating mistakes' that sits on my desktop. I open it and add to it every time I encounter a new one. Vial/Vile was just added. I now submit for your perusal a few of my favorites.
Regime / regimen - I forget the story, but a character referred to his training regime.
Well, over here, that is what you'll hear.
From OED for regime:
1. Originally: {dag}the regulation of aspects of life that affect a person's health or welfare (occas. without article) (obs.). Hence: a particular course of diet, exercise, medication, etc., prescribed or adopted for the restoration or preservation of health.
Under regimen:
Regimen rather than regime is now the usual word in the United States and in Med.; in British English regime is more usual.
Well, I don't beta for Moxy (the author of Erasing the Future), but I beta for Mrs. Sniffy. I usually end up kicking myself after seeing the chapter after she posted it because I tend to find things that I overlooked. On more than one occasion I've asked her to get at least one other beta so that if something does get through, I don't feel so bad.
Perhaps being an editor isn't a career path you should consider?
Well, usually I find a lot of mistakes but betaing for Mrs. Sniffy is hard. English isn't her first language. She's getting a lot better since I first started betaing for her but occasionally she still makes serious mistakes that are really hard for me the catch unless I am completely focused which is extreme hard for me to be with living at home with both parents who don't seem to get it that I can not stand a person talking to me when I'm trying to concentrate. When someone talks to me when I am trying to concentrate on something, it literally feels like someone has walked up to me a slapped me across the face and I go into deference mode (as far back as I remember, I've been like that). I have tried not lash out but its so hard. At least with instant messaging I have a chance to get a hold of myself before replying.
A fish without a bicycle cannot contemplate his navel.
Parakletos beat me to it. I was going to say um, it is regime, pronounced ray-sheem.
Well, over here, that is what you'll hear.
From OED for regime:
1. Originally: {dag}the regulation of aspects of life that affect a person's health or welfare (occas. without article) (obs.). Hence: a particular course of diet, exercise, medication, etc., prescribed or adopted for the restoration or preservation of health.
Under regimen:
Regimen rather than regime is now the usual word in the United States and in Med.; in British English regime is more usual.
I have been enlightened.
The following is from merriam-webster.com:
Main Entry: re·gime
Variant(s): also ré·gime \rā-ˈzhēm, ri- also ri-ˈjēm\
Function: noun
Etymology: French régime, from Old French regimen, regime, from Late Latin regimin-, regimen
Date: 1776
1 a : regimen 1 b : a regular pattern of occurrence or action (as of seasonal rainfall) c : the characteristic behavior or orderly procedure of a natural phenomenon or process
2 a : mode of rule or management b : a form of government c : a government in power d : a period of rule
George Bernard Shaw is quoted as having said, "England and America are two countries separated by a common language." This would be a decent example, though one of the less extreme ones. Here in the U.S., number 2 is the only one I have ever heard used. Though if I had thought about it, I would have realized that both words come from the same root. I am curious if any others on my list are actually not errors. I was quite irritated by an author's use of the word 'disorientated' until I looked it up and found that it was actually not wrong. Now I only find it annoying. Mainly because it sounds so strange to my ears.
I'm reading a crack-fic titled "Never Piss Off A Potter". I assume it's supposed to be a crack-fic, because otherwise the author seriously needs to go and lie down for a couple of decades ;-)
Anyway, I just stumbled across this rather wonderful comment:
Because of the unique nature of this wedding, the couples have decided to write their own vowels.
I could go on all day quoting ridiculous stuff from this story, but I won't. If you want to read the whole thing, hold on to your hat, you will need it:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4911079
The others you quoted look correct, jediprankster. I hate orientated or disorientated - I prefer oriented/disoriented. It sounds better. *shrug*
Here's one that's annoyed me lately - pot plant.
That's what we call a plant in a pot here in Australia. Americans always think I am talking of marijuana *headdesk*. Potted plant just sounds ridiculous to me! I put it in a fic once and I had a well meaning reviewer try to correct me. "I think you mean potted plant"
No. I don't.
The others you quoted look correct, jediprankster. I hate orientated or disorientated - I prefer oriented/disoriented. It sounds better. *shrug*
Here's one that's annoyed me lately - pot plant.
That's what we call a plant in a pot here in Australia. Americans always think I am talking of marijuana *headdesk*. Potted plant just sounds ridiculous to me! I put it in a fic once and I had a well meaning reviewer try to correct me. "I think you mean potted plant"
No. I don't.
I remember like seven, eight years ago one of my British friends and I were in a chat room where nearly everyone except for him was from the US. He went to go say his mother woke him up at 5 in the morning except he didn't say it in a way that Americans would understand. He said, "My mum knocked me up at five this morning." I think I was the only American in the chat room that knew what he meant. Everyone was like, "WHAT!!!???" and he was confused. I had to explain to him what knocked up meant in American. His reply was, "What is it with you Americans and sex?" You just got to love differences in cultures.
A fish without a bicycle cannot contemplate his navel.
Well we use knocked up here! LOL
Up the Duff is more Australian though *evil grin*
Its best to avoid using slang because of differences in culture. Just because we all speak English doesn't mean we all use the same slang, idioms, etc.
A fish without a bicycle cannot contemplate his navel.
Is there a culture out there where loose is the opposite of win instead of lose? It seems to me that I see loose more often (and not in the sense of not tight) in fan fiction. I also see an inordinate use of to for also instead of too. Is this correct anywhere?
Is there a culture out there where loose is the opposite of win instead of lose? It seems to me that I see loose more often (and not in the sense of not tight) in fan fiction. I also see an inordinate use of to for also instead of too. Is this correct anywhere?
The answer to both is, not that I'm aware of.
Its best to avoid using slang because of differences in culture. Just because we all speak English doesn't mean we all use the same slang, idioms, etc.
A fish without a bicycle cannot contemplate his navel.
Wouldn't it be appropriate to use the slang, colloquialisms, idioms etc of the culture of your characters? A character who speaks without some slang or colloquialism is probably going to seem stiff and unnatural.
Besides, it is very easy to use a colloquialism without even knowing it's peculiar to your region, thinking all English speaking people use it. I recently discovered that the USA is probably the only place in the world where 'Disco' is considered a theme and not an event. A whole bunch of Americans got distressed when the Australians and Europeans made 'the disco' into a luau because the theme was disco. We're all standing around scratching our heads going, dude, disco just means it's a dance with popular, contemporary music. There was quite the standoff until we realised that the word has a different meaning in the US ... like pot plant.
I'm reading a crack-fic titled "Never Piss Off A Potter". I assume it's supposed to be a crack-fic, because otherwise the author seriously needs to go and lie down for a couple of decades ;-)
Anyway, I just stumbled across this rather wonderful comment:
Because of the unique nature of this wedding, the couples have decided to write their own vowels.
I could go on all day quoting ridiculous stuff from this story, but I won't. If you want to read the whole thing, hold on to your hat, you will need it:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4911079
This is really not a good fic. I would only bother reading it to feel superior about my own writing (which I'm pretty sure ranks in the suckish category).