Friday, July 16, 2010

Affiction

How important is good spelling?

Well, bad spelling can lead an imaginative mind down both amusing and abstract paths.
I'll show you...

At least three times I've seen a guy in the neighborhood wearing a tshirt that says on the back: AFFICTION.
Every time I see the misspelling across his back I want to correct it. But since I know such a conversation is never going to happen, I begin to think...
What if it isn't a misspelling?
What if it's a message someone was trying to send?
Such as:
Affection is a fiction.

Or maybe:
Affection is an affliction.

Perhaps there was a deeper message intended other than someone just misspelling a clothing brand name.
Maybe it's only me who wonders about these things.

Earlier this week I was asked to proofread something for someone. It was giving instructions for framing a good shot with your camera. One of the sentences read, "Make sure your subject doesn't have a poll running through his head."
For me, this sentence conjured up the image of a man thinking about the latest Gallup survey data and not paying any attention to the instructions of the photographer.
Ha.
A "pole" through his head would have been a much different image.

Ah, Spelling. It's a good thing you are with us. I love words and you make sure we keep thinking about them.

No comments: