I actually thought about sharing this story earlier this week when it happened, to emphasise the importance of proof reading on Hubs. I didn't - through embarrassment - but have decided it might be a useful pointer to others. I promise, this is an absolutely true story and gives (in this instance!) an amusing glimpse of the confusion simple typos can cause.
A few days ago, an editor whom I know fairly well (fortunately!) contacted me and asked me to check an article and resubmit it to him when I had actually proofread it. I read the article and, confused, resubmitted without finding any faults.
He then called me from NYC (I am in the UK) to ask me which particular type of "Sweat" sauce I strongly recommended be served with the dish. He suggested foot sweat, underarm sweat - and more.
Clearly, it was a food article and this was one occasion where a single letter typo made a huge difference. I have been told a million times before - read, re-read, go away and leave it and read it again. We don't always have time when we're publishing Hubs - I know that. We should, however, make that time wherever possible. If this helps you avoid a little embarrassment in future, the post has been worth it.
Good advice. I definitely need to re-edit some of my hubs. What really bugs me, though, is when hubs are so poorly written I can't even figure out what the author is trying to say.
I know what you mean, Betty. Sadly, that is an entirely different situation. I am just casually and hopefully light-heartedly pointing out that these typos can happen to any of us
This is interesting.
I find mistakes in my hubs when I go to them to reply to comments.
I find errors far too often, especially with very long hubs of which I have many.
I am in no doubt, Earnest, that had I not known the particular editor, he would simply have corrected it as a typo and no more would ever have been known of it. He was simply amused by the nature of the typo and testing whether I picked up on it. Probably 99.999% of the time, a one letter typo would clearly show as a typo and be meaningless - I was just unlucky in that it gave a whole new meaning to my piece...
It did sort of change expectation somewhat with a single letter!
Eek, that WOULD be embarrassing! I know I have a really hard time proof-reading my own articles, because my brain knows what it SHOULD say, and tends to tell me that instead of what it DOES say.
A couple of months ago I published a hub about the importance of...well, I can't even remember what was important right offhand. I can tell you, though, that I shared the link on Facebook, where it was pointed out to me that I'd missed a rather important R in the title.
It's not just spelling, typographical and grammatical errors that will get you, either. It's contextual errors as well.
The technical term for the way a piece of music is played is "execution." When I was in graduate school, I had written dozens of papers on musical execution and used the word routinely. However, when I was writing about Mozart, I mentioned that his Paris symphonies were inspired by the execution of the Paris orchestra. Unfortunately it was the 1780s and my paper came back with a number of points off, and a guillotine drawn in the margin by my professor, in red ink, no less. That paper hangs over my desk to this day as a reminder to check for unintended meanings!
I absolutely believe your story and here is the reason why.
My father loves golf and on one visit to Indonesia he was invited to play at a very exclusive club in Jakarta.
As is normal after a few holes there was a rest stop with all types of snacks and drinks. He was offered a drink (it's pronounced POKARI SWEET) but it's spelled Pocari Sweat.
He did not want to offend anyone but was rather disgusted as he drank the Gatorade type drink.
Very good advice. Proof-reading is very important, I always try to make sure that I go over my work for any errors before submitting them. Still, there has been instances where one or two have been able to slip past. Fatigue and lack of sleep are contributory factors to mistakes, and proof reading while in a tired state is more likely to result in having a few mistakes getting through.
I can proofread my work and think it is perfect. Then as soon as I publish I see a mistake jump right out at me...
Yes, same here!
I seem to notice new errors, each and every that time I read my work
I get the impression, though, that some hubbers do not bother with such matters, and consider that there isn't enough time for checking work.
Really, this is very inconsiderate, I think. However, some of them seem to have very good scores and feedback
Yes, it seems like being active on the forum, attracting followers, and creating backlinks works better than writing clearly.
I try to read, re-read, preview, and then proofread. Inevitably, I will still find an error or two. How do those hubs with horrific spelling stay alive? They are there, but how?
Also, I find it is easy to have a hard time seeing spelling and grammar errors when writing late as I often do. I try to wait and actually publish after I proofread it in the daylight. Not sure how much that helps, but hopefully it does.
by Kate Swanson 6 years ago
I wish the editors would stop telling people to post on the forums to get their work proof-read!Most Hubbers are very happy to read an article and offer advice on how to improve it - we've done that for years. We can scan an article and spot "illegal" photos or links, dodgy...
by Nspeel 12 years ago
Who do you have proof read your work? Why do you feel it is important to proof read?
by Jacob 5 years ago
Hi Hubbers,I am from India and English is my second language. Someone whose first language is English please proofread this article and suggest any changes required. I have tried a software to proofread this article and it suggested some changes. Please look for other possible...
by Steve West 11 years ago
Yes, I am a new "hubber." I am also a new writer. It has only been a few months since discovering I really enjoy writing on HubPages. My problem is, since I started writing on HubPages I have been a bit, let's just say, OCD when it comes to my spelling and grammar. Before I hit the...
by Mary Hyatt 12 years ago
How come I can't see a misspelled word in my own Hubs, but I can spot one a mile away on someone else's Hubs? I read one today that had a word used incorrectly (could have two different meanings, but spelled the same). The Hub had about 25 comments, and no one had mentioned the word. I...
by Mark dos Anjos, DVM 6 years ago
Last night I went in an edited a capsule so that it would be full width, which is what HP wants everyone to do. The article I edited has been published and featured since 2012. When I went in and edited, however, the editor that read it decided that it was no longer going to be featured. I was told...
Copyright © 2024 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2024 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |