Thursday, November 24, 2005

Two Kewl Too Spel

I've become a bit of a spelling and grammar nazi. I'm guilty of most english language crimes myself, and whilst my grasp on the language is not as thorough as some, I do believe that my grasp is a lot better than some.

Take Rick, the older of my two younger brothers. He's currently excelling himself at maths in Nottingham University. I've never known a brain like his, who eats, breaths, and sleeps maths. He's got books full of numbers and number theory. Is mental arithmatic is amazing, and can grasp concepts on second order differentials a hell of a lot better than I can (the bane of my A-Level maths was 2nd order differentials).

He also cannot spell the word "pretty", spelling it with an "i" instead of an "e".

I'm sorry, but even if it is an MSN chat, that's 'pritty' inexcusable. Much mocking was done by me, he said "he's a maths brain", I continue mocking. It's the relationship we share.

If my brother has trouble grasping even basic spelling, that's fair enough. When a corporation does it, and it affects us, then that's bad.

Enter itbox, a company that manufactures quiz machines for pubs. One of the most popular games is based on the classic "Hangman", with questions answered. Last night, the clue was "Popular Australian Soaps.". The answer, no word of a lie, was 'Nighbours'.

We luckily managed to work it out so even Mr. Itbox's shoddy spelling meant that we still won the princely sum of £1. However I was a bit miffed, and - if it wasn't for the fact that we've been busy today - I would of written a very angry email regarding the situation.

Linked to this, I spoke to Amazon recently to sort out and order, and they sent me back a generic response:-

I always thought it was spelt "enquiry"? Can anybody confirm one way or another?