As a child, I remember hearing people say that “The cobbler’s bairns are aye the worst shod” – only in those days, I did not fully appreciate what this meant. I hadn’t heard the expression for some time, but it came back to haunt me the other day when I was earnestly explaining to one of my clients the importance of posting regularly on one’s company blog.
“Having a blog on your website is an ideal way of providing useful information for your customers and showing them how your product or service can help them,” I heard myself say enthusiastically.
As soon as these worldly words of wisdom were out of my mouth, a horrible nagging doubt arose in my mind as to how long ago it might be since I had last blogged on my company website. And I suspected (rightly, as it transpired…) that the answer wasn’t one I wanted to hear.
A quick check revealed that I’ve been so busy these past few months writing copy to populate other people’s websites and blogs that I’ve been neglecting my own. That’s what brought to mind the poor shoemaker’s offspring, whose shoes never received any attention because their industrious dad spent all his time repairing his customers’ footwear.
My sudden realisation galvanised me into immediate action and it wasn’t difficult to find inspiration for a relevant post, having only this week come across another host of examples of why it’s dangerous to rely on the Spellchecker function when you’re writing a document in Word.
Some philosopher (possibly the same one who coined the cobbler analogy) once suggested that a picture is worth a thousand words, so to prove my point I’m sharing several photos of real-life examples that highlight words to watch out for when you’re typing your next report or sales pitch.
As you’ll see, just one missing or incorrectly positioned letter can change what you’re saying entirely, and because the words in question here are still recognised dictionary words, such errors have to be spotted by the human rather than the automaton eye – particularly if you’re reading an article that you’ve been slaving over for hours and can hardly focus on any more.
If you come across any other examples of similar words in cunning disguises, feel free to share them on our Euroword Facebook Page. After all, forewarned is forearmed!
