Typo Eradication Advancement League Stamped Out?
Radical Grammarian Duo Went Too Far but Have a Marketable Plan
WAVY-TV reported that the brains behind the operation -- Jeff Deck of Somerville, Massachusetts, and his cohort Benjamin Herson of Virginia Beach -- admitted to their conspiracy and complicity to deface a historic marker because it contained a typographical error. Restitution and probation were ordered, and in addition the dynamic duo of grammarians with a purpose is banned for one year from national parks.
A Google cache screenshot of the Typo Eradication Advancement League shows a slightly different face of the organization. A mix of a game and a grammarian on a mission, TEAL had issued a 2008 Typo Hunt across America. An apparently even more dynamic trio has plotted its course across the nation and highlighted areas where it plied its volunteer trade. Adding to the disdain the group has for typos of all kinds is the occasional comic it posts, this one pertaining to a spelling error on a tattoo.
I am reminded of the Mike Reed caricature depicting the grammarian warrior as the one person whose lack of contribution to any discussion is made up for by his outward obsession with pointing out the spelling and grammatical errors of others. He appears self righteous, self serving, and seems to look down his nose at the mistakes made by others. Does this describe the Typo Eradication Advancement League?
I would like to believe that it does not. Perhaps Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson simply snapped at the signs of a growing grammatical incompetence paired with typographical ineptitude. Maybe they set out on a noble mission to help Americans reclaim their dignified linguistic heritage. Then at some juncture something went terribly wrong, and rather than fixing the errors of the masses, they decided to become graffiti hacks with a purpose; instead of contributing to America, they simply took away from it.
It would appear that reactions are mixed. Readers of the Bostonist, which took an entirely negative slant on the warrior grammarians, seemed to support as well as decry their actions, leading me to believe that - although misguided - TEAL is fulfilling a very real need.
Ever helpful, here is my suggestion: Messrs. Deck and Herson will be better served to not look down their noses at those who make mistakes. It's that whole thing of "he who is without blame" should cast the first stone. Instead, why not use the mistakes of others as teaching opportunities? I see signs all day that contain copious mistakes, and I wonder how you two would do as a business that takes youngsters (with parental permission) on field trips to identify and then fix (with the business owner's permission) the signs.
Imagine the public outreach! Imagine the impact on the next generation! Imagine the favorable write-ups and television coverage! Imagine the filthy lucre you could earn from such exploits! I envision grammarian summer camps across the nation!
Whatever you decide, quit your self-righteous exploits to fix that which is not yours to touch.
Sources:
http://www.jeffdeck.com/teal/
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=8883188&nav=23ii
http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:IC2NjvzyE1AJ:www.jeffdeck.com/teal/+TEAL&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/grammarian.htm
http://bostonist.com/2008/08/22/typos-mary-colter-sign.php
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Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing -- full-time -- since 2005. SEO-optimized Internet copy includes news analysis, political Op/Ed and parenting as well as a... View profile
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18 Comments
Post a CommentI think their mission is great! I have always loved the English language and it bugs me to see commas and apostrophes misplaced. Even worse to me is the current fad of trying to make irregular verbs into regular verbs, such as "digged" for the proper "dug" or "lighted" for "lit"!
I loved T.E.A.L.'s mission; they were fed up with the country's overall language-laziness and decided to do something about it. True, they went too far here in altering a "historical landmark," but I think it's a bit odd that it would happen in the first place. (Throughout their tour across the country, they ALWAYS asked the permission of the signs' owners BEFORE correcting the errors.) It seems very uncharacteristic of them that they'd failed to do so in this instance, and whether they slipped, or they simply failed to acquire permission from the appropriate park authority, something just doesn't add up. Their entire message was, "Spot the error, ask first, correct accordingly."
What happened here?
Very funny post!!
I read a local flashing light sign set out by the local police department yesterday. It read, "School's are open."
I am glad those two individuals got fined and into trouble, they broke the law.
It is plain and simple, a law is written to be absolute and if you want to get something corrected like a sign at a public park or national park, tell them. I am sure that something could have been done but to just go around and "fix" it is not the correct way to go about things.
Vandalism: willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property. To deface something refers to marking or removing the part of an object (especially images, be they on the page, in illustrative art or as a sculpture) designed to hold the viewers attention.
You are actually defacing, vandalising, something if you are marking on it without the owners permission.
With all this buzz about grammar, I better learn to write more better.
Hey, the Liberty Bell WAS fixed more than once. Fixing it again is not a bad idea.
Why not fix that big crack in the Liberty Bell? It's one thing to point out typos on signs, and another thing to alter (improve or disfigue) someone else's property, especially if it is an artifact appreciated for its historical value. Plus, I read a quote from one if his blogs, in reference to an error he didn't change: "I was reluctant to disfigure the sign any further. ... Still, I think I shall be haunted by that perversity, emense, in my train-whistle-blighted dreams tonight." He seems a little obsessive with his "mission," and more concerned with his poetic self-righteousness than making any real improvement in the grammatical state of America.
I can't see why two men in love would even care about grammer
I love it!! They need to be on the current presidential staff.