AC Capehart capehart

Or “How to proofread a job posting”. I came across this posting on the python group I’m a member of on (in?) Linked In. The first typo, was a bit awkward, but I could see how it would happen during an editing/revision session when that session wasn’t followed by a proofreading. “Our client is a leader in the worldwide leader”. So, what you’re saying is they lead? But what actually cracked me up was the simple substitution of a “t” where a “d” should go.

I’m pretty sure there’s a name for this — the discord between the name of something being an inaccurate description. You know several government examples like “The clean air act” or the “defense department”. Yesterday morning on my commute, I had a moment of disconnect until I realized that distinction again. I saw a van a lane or two over with a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge on it, and in big letters, “Bridge Painters.

The radio was an important part of my childhood. I was limited in the amount of (non-PBS) television I was allowed to watch, but there was no such limit on the radio. The 80’s contained the complete range of my teen-hood, and I still have a fondness for ’80’s music. Mostly my parents listened to NPR (WUNC – Chapel Hill), so that was a big part of my childhood too. I have fond memories (to the point of idealized nostalgia) of listening to “Prairie Home Companion” by kerosene lantern after Saturday evening meals nestled in the “shack” in the mountain woods of Virginia.

The theme for this week’s Word-a-Day is interesting. It’s all about the positive versions of words we always hear in the negative. Here are the introductory paragraphs from today’s word (sipid): Why is there so much negativity around us? Open a newspaper, watch TV, listen to the radio, and you find nothing but negative words. Ever wonder why some words almost always appear in their negative

I enjoy puns, and wordplay, possibly to a fault. If I remember, I’ll post some shaggy dogs at some point. I read somewhere earlier today about someone sidling up to a bar, and that made me think about the word sidle. It’s one of those words I only know from context, and that context is alwasy sidling up to a bar. I inferred that the definition was just “to approach”, but I looked it up today to learn that it means to approach or move sideways (or furtively).