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Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

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Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#31

Post by ndr42 »

visarga wrote: post #14
dspillett wrote: post #5

Because the solution is hidden behind "subscribe to wired to keep reading"! I find reading the text back in a different font often helps, particularly switching from mono-spaced to variable or vice-versa, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps I remember the shape of the words as correct because that is what I just typed, and when all the words have a different shape I'm forced to think about it differently. It is why I of…

Today we can use very natural sounding TTS. I always validate my text with TTS because any problem just stands out immediately, not just typos.

In languages where a lot of errors are due to capitalization as in german it won't help so much as you would have to do 2 passes (read and listen).

Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#32

Post by matwood »

_def wrote: post #16

I'm curious: what is your way of flagging typos or bad grammar to colleagues? I often just do it without much fluff around it, but sometimes some people think that's harsh or nitpicky, but I really don't think anything bad about them while doing so. Any advice? BTW I'm talking about documents/tickets, not in chats or internal mails or something

It depends on your relationship and where you're coming from. If you are using it as some passive aggressive power trip, then there is no good way. If people feel you're being nitpicky then maybe ask them why? If you're going through documentation that's meant to last a long time, then everyone should welcome fixes. But going through tickets, unless it's egregious, maybe there are better ways to spend your time? If you end up in a situation arguing about the Oxford comma, then step back and think about why.

Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#33

Post by KineticLensman »

ljf wrote: post #6

I do a lot of proof reading for my own and other people's papers and decks. When I started out I found I was incredibly hit and miss at spotting issues. I now have a few rules that help me catch (most of the) issues: Start by finding somewhere quiet and reading the document out loud yourself, you will catch so many issues this way (though you still risk your mind filling in blanks or missing your common errors). Idea…

> I find that just concentrating on one thing at a time really helps

Yes, I do this as well, using a multi-pass approach. E.g. quickly flicking through checking that all the bullet points have consistent indentation and terminal punctuation, then checking headings for consistent capitalisation, checking that all acronyms are expanded on first use, etc. Actually reading the words is usually the last thing.

Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#35

Post by beezlewax »

__mharrison__ wrote: post #34

Here's my suggestions (I've written a few books). - Use a tool like grammarly. Use tools to help you. - Print out your book for editing. Don't edit in the same environment as creation. - Read it out loud. Use a different part of your brain.

Reading out loud works very well for me. I often edit mid-parts of sentences and then when I go back and read it out loud I realise I've mangled the grammar or punctuation.

Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#36

Post by bookofjoe »

I'm maniacal about correcting my typos before my blog posts publish, going over and over the final product, and yet about 5% of the time I STILL find a typo the next day when the post publishes.

I've concluded that the overnight clearing of my brain cache — as it were — plus seeing the post fresh in its cleanest version, without the publishing markup functions strewn about the draft box, makes those typos visible to me.

Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#37

Post by lupire »

__mharrison__ wrote: post #34

Here's my suggestions (I've written a few books). - Use a tool like grammarly. Use tools to help you. - Print out your book for editing. Don't edit in the same environment as creation. - Read it out loud. Use a different part of your brain.

- Ask your computer to read it out loud for you.

Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#38

Post by lupire »

clnq wrote: post #19
_def wrote: post #16

I'm curious: what is your way of flagging typos or bad grammar to colleagues? I often just do it without much fluff around it, but sometimes some people think that's harsh or nitpicky, but I really don't think anything bad about them while doing so. Any advice? BTW I'm talking about documents/tickets, not in chats or internal mails or something

Over the years, I have stopped caring about things like these (and many others). Bad grammar in source control, documentation and tickets is very inconsequential in the big business picture. What is the return on investment, so to speak, in business terms, of getting your colleagues to fix their grammar in internal systems? If they take the time to do so, will business goals be better achieved? Will it bring the comp…

Source code and doc is permanent, so fix it. Errors interrupt flow when working.

Ticket comments are ephemeral, so let it go.

Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#39

Post by jghn »

A bit of a tangent but something I've found over the last several years is that my rate of typos involving homophones has skyrocketed. It's become so bad I've started to reread sentences after I type them. I don't need coworkers thinking that I don't know the difference between "to" and "too".

I have no idea why this is happening. I keep wondering if it's tied to aging, our increasingly digital society, something else, or a combination of factors.

Re: Why it’s so hard to catch your own typos (2014)

#40

Post by paulpauper »

"Because we are smart"

Then why is having fewer types correlated with generally high IQ? I am not buying this, sorry. It's an interesting theory but typos tend to be indicative of lower intelligence, all else being equal. The smartest writers I know of have very few typos (talking about bloggers, so no editors).

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