Brain Fertilizer

It seems a day doesn't go by without seeing some misplaced or incorrect word appearing in someone's writing. I don't worry about blogs, because we don't have editors. Heck, most of us don't have funding, much less a staff that should include copy-editors.

So while it bothers me, I don't usually make a big deal out of "tow the line" and such.

But check out this paragraph:

Why did the electoral college survive electing a president who failed to win a majority of the popular vote? Quite simply, we learned from 2000 that no matter what the drawbacks of the current system, it is imminently better than the alternative.

See anything funny? To wit, how could something be imminently better? Try: eminently and it makes sense. Sure, they sound almost the same, but the former is clearly totally inappropriate for the meaning intended.

It's enough to make me fear for the future of American literacy, I tell ya.*

*anyone want to offer me a job proof-reading? I usually catch one or two significant errors per published novel that I read, as well.