On Proofreading

Various friends have on occasion asked me to read over various things for them to make sure they were clear, had all the necessary information, and to also check for grammatical errors. I’m hardly Conan the Grammarian but I get by. (The role of “Conan” falls to one of the Karens — yes, they’re a collective. Much like the Jens.) The most important rule I’ve learned is this:

Always proofread carefully to make sure you didn’t any words out.

Piracy

Recently, I encountered a fellow who was wearing a black T-shirt with a skull and crossbones emblazoned across the front. Beneath that was the text, “Arrrrrrrrrrr.”
Looking at the shirt, I commented, “Y’know…. there are 25 other letters in the alphabet.”
That stopped him in his tracks. It wasn’t anywhere near the reaction he’d been expecting.