69 Excellent Reasons Why Proofreading is Important

1) Because most people don’t actually know what Grandma tastes like

Slogan reads: "tastes like grandma"

2) Because cows can’t read

Reads: cows please close gate
Is it that the cows are smart or that the ranchers aren’t?

3) Because the sales staff may not be happy to deliver the value-added services

Reads: buy bed free 1 night stand
Sounds like a great offer.

4) Because not everyone can stand up for what they believe in

Poster shows wheelchair-bound adult and the slogan "men standing up"

5) Because people tend to look for more appealing ice cream flavors

 

Reads: "Butt.Finger Blast"
Sounds delicious

6) Because failing to proofread can have tradegic tragic consequences

Tattoo reads "tradgey"

7) Because stating the obvious won’t win you a Pulitzer

Stating the obvious headline says, "Diana was still alive hours before she died"

8) Because your kids will thank you for it

Sign reads: "Kidsexchange" instead of Kid's exchange9) Because you don’t want to be regretting that extra consonant for the rest of your life

The word summer is spelt incorrectly10) Because your new arrival is much more than acute

Funny facebook mistake, "My Angel"

11) Because claiming to be good at something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true

Translation gone very wrong
Source: SMB Savings

12) Because you don’t want to offend Tiger

Tiger woods plays with own balls

13) Because you don’t want to offend Obama

Sign reads: "proofread unless you really don't give a tuck"

14) Because the grammar Nazis are lying in wait

Are you sure that college isn't necessary?
15) Because you don’t want to attract the wrong type of clientele

Bad slogan reads: "the best hand job in the Bronx"

16) Because without the unions she’d be teaching P.E.

17) Because some people just want to pee without the extras thrown in

Sign for male toilet is mistranslated
Source: Awesomeoff.com

18) Because not everyone’s dangerous

Sign reads: "because you are dangerous you must not enter"
Source: boingboing.net

19) Because you might end up giving viewers more than they anticipated

Reads: Catch VD
Do fans need to get themselves checked out?

20) Because if you want to share enlightening facts about Nelson Mandela, you really ought to ensure they are accurate

Nelson Mandela proofreading mistake

21) Because a missing punctuation mark can completely change your bus journey

Sign mistakenly uses a rude word

22) Because one letter can mean the difference between looking cool and a long stretch in San Quentin

Picture that shows the difference between rapper and raper23) Because some words have more than one meaning

Bad translation misuses alternative word for chicken
Source: Turkish Tefl

24) Because James should be remembered for much more than being a geometric term

Sign reads "angle" instead of "angel"

25) Because it’s important to get every day off to the right start

26) Because not everyone wants to know about your embarrassing medical problem

We have worms
Are these for general consumption, or are they referring to an ongoing medical condition?

27) Because there’s always a smart aleck about

Flyer reads: "we are closed due to short staff."

28) Because stories about crazy animal fetishes don’t make for a great morning read

Reads: Women beats off shark

29) Because you don’t want to be accused of discrimination

Reads: black baby cot for sale
A comma between the words “black” and “baby” may have avoided the possibility of the poster being branded racist… or dumb

30) Because there are better ways to let your son know he was adopted

Reads: From "Mom"
Was this guy adopted?

31) Because contradictions cause confusion

Sign reads: "Do not enter. Entrance only."

32) Because girls don’t actually like the smell of colon

User claims that spelling mistakes on facebook don't make any difference

33) Because good old-fashioned mayonnaise would suffice

Reads: Turkey w/cum

34) Because someone may take your instructions literally

A milk carton is stuck next to a flyer that says, "do not place milk cartons on fridge door."

35) Because you’re feeding the grammar trolls

Facebook spelling mistakes are not my fault

36) Because you can make yourself look pretty stupid

The word "appreciation" is spelled incorrectly37) Because chickens aren’t all that good at walking dogs

Why we need proofreaders
38) Because there really is a difference between then and than

The difference between then and than is important39) Because your message of compassion could be misinterpreted

Sign Reads: "don't let worries kill you let the church help"
40) Because your friends are lying in wait to call you out

Facebook status needs spelling check

41) Because the punishment needs to fit the crime

Proofreading fail42) Because people don’t like a bragger

Reads: B.J. Champion

43) Because you could undermine your entire marketing proposition

Oh the irony44) Because a misspelled word can fundamentally transform the job specification

Proofreader needed for spelling mistake

45) Because a placement issue could turn into a public relations crisis

Pepsi jiz poster proofreading mistake
46) Because you may inadvertently incite homicide

Freshly ground black people typo

47) Because your daughter should be remembered for more than having a face like a phallus

Genital face newspaper mistake

48) Because the way you welcome visitors does matter

Because how you welcome guests matters. Proofreading mistake on sign.

49) Because some abbreviations have unfortunate consequences

Wrigley's extra fresh what?
But will it freshen my breath?

50) Because Brian’s development is his own business

Brian is evolving

51) Because if you’re going to claim to be perfect, you really should make sure you are

52) Because parking illegally will not be fineProofreading error reads: "Illegal cars will be fine."

53) Because the animals deserve a chance at lifeBurying people's animals in bury

54) Because if you’re going to name your brand after a punctuation mark, you really should know how to use itApostrophe mistake on an advert

55) Because you can’t beat the real thing

56) Because sometimes there’s just no excuse

Business sign grammar and spelling57) Because one misplaced letter can make ALL the difference

Newspaper error

58) Because sheeps don’t go with everythingChips with everything

59) Because font selection also matters

esurance advertising fail

60) Because homonyms can confuse the uneducated

Heal or heel?61) Because if you’re going to brag about what a great writer you are, you need to write well

Donald Trump pour pore error62) Because mistakes can be VERY expensive

Yellow pages proofreading error

Source: moreniche

63) Because tuna doesn’t care

Tunashamed bumper sticker funny64) Because there is such a thing as bad publicity

maria tash mistake65) Because details matters

Details matter spelling mistake66) Because your way of spelling things may get you a reputation

Proofreading error my way of spelling things67) Because you can never quite trust autocorrect

Typo on autocorrect Prius68) Because you can never quite trust Microsoft Word

Grammar errors not highlighted by grammar software
69) And because you can never quite trust grammar checking software

Grammarly error oneGrammarly error two

Why Poor use of Punctuation can Make or Break Your Wife’s Night

Punctuation isn’t important, right?

Wrong… VERY wrong. As one husband’s attempts to market his wife’s cookery blog proves, proper punctuation can spell the difference between a good night in with the wife, a good night in FOR the wife, and a major felony that could well give Hannibal Lecter a run for his money.

Don’t forget… Tell everyone!

Punctuation could save your wife's life

Are your punctuation skills not up to scratch? Take a look at our simple guide to the 14 most common punctuation marks.

And one more thing…

Want to make sure you don’t make mistakes with your written English? You’ve got to try Vappingo.

Could This Be the Worst English Translation Ever Written?

An example of a poor English translationTranslating one language into another can be a challenging endeavor that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Proof of this can be seen in a brochure that a recent visitor to Beijing received upon boarding her hotel’s shuttle bus.

The brochure contained a literal translation of Mandarin to English. The translation may have been a good attempt but it most certainly would benefit from the help of a proofreading service.

Read more

Lesser-Known Proofreading Marks

Wouldn’t it be great if these lesser-known proofreading marks were formally introduced into our proofreading services! It would certainly make life more interesting for our proofreaders.

A funny image of lesser known proofreading marks

 

Need an online proofreading service? Check out our online services now.

Looking for some proofreading fails? Check out 69 excellent reasons why proofreading is important

Free instant quote

 

Humorous Headlines: What A Mistake!

Mistakes happen and, if we’re honest, we quite like that fact. It gives us something to have a chuckle at! This week we put our researcher to the task of finding humorous headlines that would have benefitted from our online proofreading services. Here’s our pick of the best:

war dims hope for peace

Really?


Panda mating fails, vegetarian takes over

Rather him than me!


Mississippi spelt incorrectly

Four simple words will get you by: What you’ll never MISS IS SIP PI!


Students cook and serve grandparents

Tastes like chicken?


Tiger woods plays with own balls

That’s not what I’ve been reading in the press recently!

Looking for more examples of embarrassingly bad English? Check out these funny slogans.

20 Ill-Conceived Slogans That are Unintentionally Brilliant

Advertising copywriting is a hard task. Formulating the perfect combination of words to sum up a product or service while avoiding all innuendos and insults is no mean feat and these slogan writers have failed miserably in their quest to sell a serious product. Luckily, these genius slogans didn’t escape the attention of those of us who prey on mistakes. Here are our favorite slogans of all time. Let us know if you’ve come across any gems.

Read more

Proofreading: The President Will Thank You for It

Writing stories worthy of newspaper print is actually quite challenging and journalists deserve much more credit than they get. Capturing an audience’s attention takes real skill and journalistic flair but, if all else fails, our budding reporters have the option to forgo a proofreading service and make headlines for completely different reasons. This particular gem proves that sometimes just one small letter really can make all the difference.

Read more