In which I am cruel to those unfortunates who are h00ked on ph0nix

[fenlings]

I don't like to make fun of people, but I think it's hilarious that 29 people have "the oddessy" listed as an interest. (I actually googled it, thinking that I was out of the loop. Self, I said, perhaps this is the name of an awesome new vacuum cleaner brand or some such.) Then there are the 15 people interested in "the odessey," 15 in "the odessy," 10 in the "oddessy," 7 in the "odessey," 5 in the "odessy," and the *Glenville State College* is interested in the "odyssy." Wow, that one looks really dirty for some reason.

(Hi! My name is Jane and I'm so fascinated by those sweaty Greeks in that movie. Hey, that interest looks totally smart and high-brow in my profile - what? A dictionary? Reading?)

Let me clue you in here, folks. If you were really interested in it, you'd know how to *spell* it.

And I now feel kind of mean and guilty. But my English major, family-of-editors brain just couldn't let it slide, man. Typos and spelling mistakes (and hello, stupid things like having the 3rd person narrator use "was" for the 1st/3rd person singular subjunctive - I mean, come *on*) really torment me, especially in an otherwise good fic, *especially* when I know that telling the author about them would seem way too rude to contemplate. I have this compulsion where I fix errors in text no matter who owns the book or paper, no matter if it's already been fixed in a later version or whatever. But when I save fics, I feel that in the vein of historical preservation or wtfever I shouldn't change the author's text, because then it's not a true representation of her work. So every time I reread, the mistakes taunt me with their little dancing letters... Damn my archivist soul.

Comments

[c-regalis.livejournal.com]

is interested in the "odyssy." Wow, that one looks really dirty for some reason.

Hee, you are right! But why? Hm. Too close to pussy maybe?

[c-regalis.livejournal.com]

But see, I googled too. And Google has 81,900 hits for oddessy, 332,000 hits for odessey, 152,000 hits for odessy, 81,000 hits for oddessy, 332,000 hits for odessey, 152,000 hits for odessy and even for odyssy I get 21,900 hits.

So, at least these guys are not alone?

[fenlings]

Yeah, maybe it's like dyke and pussy. Oh, dykish pussy?

So, at least these guys are not alone?
And you know? That makes it even *sadder*, when people have things like this where they want to read the "book" but can't spell the title.

OMFG the illiad and illiad are even more popular. No seriously, spellcheck is your friend. ::weeps::

[c-regalis.livejournal.com]

Oh, dykish pussy?

*cracks up* Yes, I think it sounds exactly like a short form of Oh, dykish pussy. Hehe.