Professional Typos Sent From Mobile Devices
Doesn't it just break your heart?
Within a minute of his saying that, I found a typo and raised my hand to collect my reward. Upon announcing my discovery, my professor said, “Typos in English don’t count.”
What?!
You’re a tenured English Literature professor and you think you should be exempted from the Laws of Spelling?
With that caveat, any subsequent typos that appeared in the workbook were pre-sanctioned.
Would you agree that this is not so in the business world?
While I wish it were so, I’m afraid it isn’t.
With the widespread usage of mobile devices to conduct business, I’ve noticed that messages sent from such sources, while not necessarily shorter in length, come with a pre-typed apology in the signature and thus, a sanction on typos. Here’s an example from a colleague of mine:
Please excuse my brevity or any spell-checked typos.
And here’s another one:
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry. Please excuse any typos.
So my question is this: Should we excuse them? Should we excuse ourselves? Should we care that much about sending messages that aren’t worthy of our so-called professionalism?
Or is it enough that we confess our potential for error up-front and without guile or puffery?
I know what my snooty copywriter answer would be.
And I also know what my “shit happens” answer would be.
What’s your answer?
I think typos due to the autocorrect function ought to be excused. Sometimes people just don’t notice them. Anything other than that ought to get a full dose of grammar Nazism (although I prefer to consider myself a “grammar guardian” rather than a “grammar Nazi”. The latter has a negative connotation).
I like “grammar guardian.” Let’s capitalize it! Grammar Guardian. Very nice.
I don’t think typos are “excusable” in the sense that they should ever be encouraged, even in such a roundabout way. But even if it’s not an “excuse,” context is important. Let’s say you receive a curt email from your significant other, who’s normally quite warm even in online communication. A signature like the above might not necessarily excuse the behavior, especially if it’s a repeat offense, but it does help provide context to the content.
No, we should not excuse them! Being a grammar/spelling freak, maybe I’m the minority here… but I always take my time to check my spelling and proofread for any typos! If I send out a message with a typo… I’m embarrassed! And when I receive a message peppered with misspellings and incorrect grammar… I’m almost insulted. I am a firm believer that the power of proofreading goes a long way (http://nicolemathew.com/2011/11/30/the-power-of-proofreading).
Depending upon the writer, many of the errors are typos; so, I’m not very forgiving. Everyone has the opportunity to review and correct, even on electronic devices. It’s the gracious thing to do and shows pride in one’s output.
I believe we should not excuse them. I’ve never heard of “grammar indulgences” of any kind… Have you?
Hey.. nobody’s perfect. I, more often than not, find typos in the things I write (that’s why I proofread! – and even so…). But apologizing in advance sends the message of “I don’t care about the way I write; I shall be forgiven.” I don’t think so….
There simply aren’t as many tools for correcting errors on a mobile device. By its nature, a message sent from a mobile device is ad-hoc.
But then what’s the excuse for the sender of the message? Sure there’s no mobile device spell-check safety net, but how lame of an excuse is that? That’s like saying, “I wasn’t wearing a diaper so I peed my pants.” Take your ass to the bathroom and handle your business.
At what point, nobilisreed, do we take responsibility for our misspelled words, and as professionals, eliminate them in our professional communications?
Bravo Amber, what a clever and appropriate response! You had me laughing (or should I say ‘LOLing’”) as I read. I agree, spell check is nice, but what about just actually learning to spell?
Even in a text message, with the advent of QWERTY keyboards, we can at least attempt to write in something that resembles the English language.
Now that I think about it, I should not say ‘LOL’ ever again. Ever.
While I generally try to be a correct as possible, you have to look at the context. I’ve noticed that I just can’t maintain the level of precision I would have with, say, an article for publication, as I do in exchanges in emails and texting. With touch screens and auto-correct, It just takes up too much time! (This comment is probably evidence of that).
I recently retired after 15 years of working for a woman whose command of the English language was woefully inadequate, even though she was a native speaker. Once she was equipped with a blackberry her missives were often unintelligible. It was a challenge to figure out what she was trying to say. So, I say, no. There should be no excusing typos and bad grammar in business communication just because one is using a mobile device. Clarity of information should be of paramount importance.
I see mistakes everywhere! I barely can stand to read much of anything on any screen. It’s a credibility issue. I don’t forgive much. Clients and friends have told me to lighten up and get off my high horse. This is what I added to my email signature line in their honor:
Disclaimer: I participate fully in the destruction of the English language via email.
This email does not benefit from my editing expertise. Speed trumps perfection. Let’s go.
So, Heidi Jo, based on your disclaimer you have lightened up and dismounted from your high horse? Or does it only apply to email/texting communications?
I used to correct my mother and friends quite a bit…and then stopped when I realized how personally they were taking my corrections. I empathize with you. Caring about correct spelling and grammar is a blessing and a curse.
“…when I realized how personal they took my corrections”??? I’d rather see a typo in a communication from a mobile device than an adjective used in place of an adverb.
I’ll start by excusing mobile users. Small screens with small characters, small keyboards, (and age-related vision loss) can contribute to typos.
Continuing with that reasoning, we should not excuse desktop and laptop users.
What about iPads, Andy? It’s a bigger keyboard, it’s still a mobile device, and the keys are probably pretty sensitive. Would you excuse those users?
Proofread it and fix ‘em. Proofread everything you write. period.
Have enough pride to spell correctly and to use correct grammatical constructions.
I’m willing to excuse typos made on mobile devices (given the up-front confession) especially if that means I don’t need to excuse typos made on other devices. That’s the implication provided by the “excuse my typos” tag line, right?
That’s an interesting point. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen these disclaimers on emails sent from laptops or desktops. If the issue is the difficulty that comes from typing on a keyboard that is woefully small (for our fingers and our aging eyes), then I think laptops and desktops would be excluded from this exemption.
Also, I know for a fact that the guy who has the first disclaimer–”Sent from my mobile device. Please excuse my brevity or any spell-checked typos”–was using his iPad when he sent his latest message to me. Isn’t that keyboard quite a bit bigger?
I agree and am exceedingly grateful that someone pointed that out. I rarely (if ever) send emails or postal communications that contain typos but the advent of touch screen phones is making that very difficult (fingers too big, keys wayyyyy too small). So when I receive an email or text message with a misspelled word or awkward phrase that is sent from a phone, I usually excuse it. If the entire message is unintelligible, I’m quick to respond and ask for clarification. However, messages with typos and grammatical mistakes sent from iPads and computers. . .that’s much harder to excuse. Actually, there isn’t an excuse.
As a court reporter, I am daily reminded of the grammatical blunders when I log onto Facebook. “Your welcome.” Oh, that drives a nail into my eyeballs. The constant misuse of they’re, their, and there makes my toes curl. These are third grade lessons that should be carried throughout the rest of our lives. No, no, no, we should not excuse people for their lack of concern. My children are learning the correct way to use English, and I am creating monsters. I love it!
Learn them children good, Amy!
Shit happens. The recipient’s impression matters. If you want to appear careless and dismissive, don’t worry about typos or spell-check errors.
Otherwise, you have the responsibility to remain professional in professional correspondence.
Brevity is often professional.
Have _you_ typed on a mobile device that automatically spell-checked? Clarification—have you used a mobile device in a professional capacity for an extended period of time, which included an automatic spell checker, coupled together with a small keyboard and large thumbs? If so, you would understand why one might append the caveat, “Sent from my mobile device. Please excuse my brevity or any spell-checked typos,” knowing full well that it may not be technically required in your circle of friends, but included as a mere courtesy.
Hey klincos,
I have indeed typed on a mobile device, and no, it didn’t spell-check. I have an Android and the keyboard is tiny, I agree. I also agree that it’s extremely difficult to type a clean message with the large thumbs we humans are graced with. You know what I do in response to that difficulty? I don’t send messages from my mobile device.
Because I write for a living, I feel that I should be a role model of sorts when it comes to grammar and spelling. Like 4rkain3 said, I give myself the honor of being a Grammar Guardian.
Besides, who wants to work with a writer who can’t write? For that matter, who wants to work with a business professional who can’t write?
Forgive me, but isn’t it, “Within a minute of his saying…”?
I was taught to use the possessive before participles. Maybe that is an antiquated rule.
As far as typos on mobiles, the keyboard is difficult, especially when one is dashing a text. I could forgive the first few.
Right on, Mia. I was taught that the “-ing” ending can be a gerund, so that the “-ing” word is not a verb in this case. It’s treated as a noun.
Also, “him” can’t take action; action happens TO him. So him can’t say anything. His saying we could get extra credit by finding typos . . .
Have we really become so lazy that we can’t proofread our messages before sending them? Back in the days of paper one would never send anything out before checking for errors, so why does the use of an electronic device excuse us from that? Whenever I receive a message riddled with errors (whether by user or device), I just wonder why the sender wouldn’t do me the courtesy of putting forth the effort to go back and read what they wrote.
This reply is sent from my mobile device, and while it may have HAD typos that were a pain to change, I took an extra thirty-seconds to correct them before I clicked to submit.
There is really no excuse for typos or spelling errors in mobile communication. If there are errors, the sender is either lazy or rushing, and in either case, the response should have waited.
I don’t think we should. Simply because I think if you are going to insist on using a mobile device to conduct business then you should learn to proofread and take some time to look over your response before hitting send. It’s only fair.
I can excuse typos when I make them, but I have trouble excusing the typos of other people. I think this is called being human.
When we humans communicated on paper, we proofread, and when an error was found, we turned the pencil around and erased carefully, then brushed away the little rubber erasure “dust”, then made a correction that attempted to meld into the rest of the writing. Or, we used correction fluid or tape on our ink, and tried to hide that error, and match the correction up with the rest. Or we simply threw out the page and started over. Why, now, can we not be bothered to respect others by using our best grammar and spelling? Why do we trust that task to a machine, and blame the machine?