Let us start out by saying that we are not serious collectors of anything, but we do collect two things: sand and typos (the latter never get dusty). Let us elaborate: instead of buying random tchotchkes during beach vacations, we simply bring an empty water bottle or bag, scoop up some sand, and then display it in a nice glass on shelves in our homes. Our parents started this tradition more than 30 years ago with some sand from a Valparaíso (Chile) beach, and we have continued it. We also collect typos, and have hundreds of folders with typos that we have collected over the years, including pictures of horrific street signs and billboards, newspaper articles, press releases from Fortune 500 companies, and much, much more. Most non-linguists thought this was crazy/unimportant/geek/odd/off-putting, but we were having fun. We never thought to do anything with those typos besides collecting them and using them to point out how important language is. Honestly, we didn't think anyone cared. Boy, were we wrong: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129086941 We are not famous, but at least someone else is. Can't wait to read the book!
2 comments:
The authors of The Great Typo Hunt are actually on a nationwide tour right now. I am going to a reading here in Kansas City in a couple of week's time and can't wait for the question-and-answer session afterwards!
That's wonderful, Abigail! We are so jealous; in a good way -- can't wait to hear the report. That surely will be a fantastic event. Will check the website to see if the tour has a Vegas stop planned!
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