Oh my...

Not that it shows very well on this blog, but I'm a bit nitpicky when it comes to spelling and grammar especially on public documents like newspapers, menus, advertisements, even road signs. I drive Jeremy crazy pointing out mistakes like the one in front of the Westminster Payless shoes that reads Handicaped Parking or the sign that used to be on the way to Dad and Sue's that said Peacefull Valley (it should've been only one l and they fixed it). So last night on 7News they had a story about spelling and grammatical errors that caught my interest. These errors were found in a study guide published by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and used by immigrants studying for their citizenship test. You would think that such a document would be proofread several times to be sure that everything was spot on since the people taking the test need to (according to the test instructions) be proficient at reading, writing and understanding English. However, the 7News team found more than 30 errors! You can see examples of their errors and read more here but I just had to say that this is, sadly, pretty normal. I can't tell you how many "official" forms I've filled out asking for information like my "birthdat." It only takes a moment to either run spell check or have someone read over what you wrote! I know, I'm contributing to the demise of our written language everytime I type LOL or BRB or :) or use too many ellipses instead of proper punctuation so I shouldn't complain. But, I do know the difference between typing in an email or a blog and composing an official document! Sigh...