There’s a lot going on in the news. But one of the stories that seems to keep bubbling up over the...
It has been described as a “mortifying bungle”.
And as a “very embarrassing error”.
Yes, we could not ignore the story of the chocolate bar and the spelling mistake that left a bitter taste.
Attendees at the Conservative Party conference have been handed a goodie bag containing a chocolate bar in a wrapper that reads, "When Labour negotiates, Britian loses” - a quote attributed to leader Kemi Badenoch.
Can you spot the gaffe?
Spelling the name of the country you want to run wrong is not the best way to kickstart your conference.
And putting it in the name of a leader who has previously said “I never have gaffes” only adds to the humiliation.
The mistake was first spotted by LBC journalist Natasha Clark.
And since she shared it on social media, it has been widely covered by mainstream media.
It is an error that will undoubtedly come up during our business writing skills courses.
While Conservative politicians have scrambled to play down the “printing error”, the high-profile blooper has been a gift for rivals, who have battled to get as many chocolate references as possible into damning quotes.
One Labour source has been quoted as saying: ‘Yet another Tory Flake. They can't proofread five words on a bar of chocolate. This conference really isn't proving to be the Boost Kemi needs.’”
Nice work.
Printing error or not (and passing the blame on to others during a PR disaster is not an approach others should follow), it is quite the attention-grabbing mistake.
But there have been other memorable typos and spelling mistakes.
Last year. ride-hailing company Lyft made headlines after a press release stated the company’s profits were projected to rise 500 basis points, or by five per cent in 2024. The real prediction was for a 50 basis points rise or 0.5 per cent.
Earlier this year, a Labour MP spoke of his regret after a leaflet riddled with spelling mistakes was sent to residents about a project to establish a learning hub for life sciences and artificial intelligence in his constituency. Education, survey, artificial intelligence, announced, guarantee, and Britain were among the words spelt incorrectly.
One of my favourite writing errors came from The Guardian. A correction in 2007 said: “We misspelled the word misspelled twice, as mispelled, in the Corrections and clarifications column on September 26.”
And I’m quite fond of the children’s learning software that claimed: ‘So fun, they won’t even know their learning”. Ouch.
Even your author has a bit of a back catalogue. I once reported on the “£50 redevelopment” of Walton town centre for the good people of Surrey. And told them about a robbery where the offender entered a shop with a “fireman under his arm”.
The same paper once ran the frontpage headline “Total Choas” on a story about ongoing problems with a level crossing. I can still remember the chaos in the newsroom when that edition hit the shops.
While these mistakes can be amusing, there is a serious side.
We all make mistakes. But high-profile spelling blunders and typos can impact reputation and credibility.
Can a party that appears to have trouble spelling Britain take care of the detail in government? Would it cut corners?
It feels sloppy. And that’s not a good look.
But what can you do about typos?
It’s too easy – and not particularly helpful – to say the Conservative Party should have double checked the wording, carried out more proofreading, or gone with a different supplier.
We need to go a little deeper than that.
Here are some proofreading tips we recommend during our writing skills training to reduce the chances of errors slipping through the net:
Leave time between writing and proofing
You will spot many more mistakes if you leave a decent gap between the writing and proofing stages. Make a brew, tackle the next thing on your ‘to-do’ list, make the phone call you’ve been putting off, or join that Zoom meeting before you start to check your work.
Read backwards
When you read your work, you can become blind to your mistakes. The brain automatically corrects wrong words inside sentences. One way to tackle this problem is to read your copy backwards, word by word.
Read aloud
This one might feel awkward in a busy office. But another way of avoiding the automatic correction problem is to read your work aloud. Your ears spot things your eyes miss. If you stumble over your words and struggle for breath, you need to simplify and rework your sentences.
People read differently on screen and on paper. So, print out a copy of your writing.
Change the look
If you can’t print it out, change the font and size of your text. Making your content look different will help you identify the errors.
Re-check the facts
Every fact, statement, date, and name in your content must be checked. Go back to the source of the information and ensure you have got it right.
More eyes
Make sure someone else reads it – once you are happy with your copy, ensure someone else proofreads it before it goes live. Another pair of eyes will invariably spot something you have missed.
Liz Truss’s time as the Conservative Party leader – and Prime Minister – was ended by a lettuce.
Could a chocolate bar gaffe signal the beginning of the end for Ms Badenoch?
As for me, I’m saying a prayer to the writing gods that there are no glaring typos in my blog about glaring typos.
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