Not the BBC this time...

[threegee]

...or even the Guardian, but the MAIN headline of the Sunday Express HOME page:

It's like spelling checkers aren't built in to practically every bit of WP software these days!  That's only the start; I hardly get to read any substantial piece where I don't have to reread a sentence several times to try to figure out what the writer intended to say.

[mercuryg]

Love it. However, I should add that a spellchecker would not necessarily highlight chould; It's one of those combination words - 'could' and 'should' - that is deemed acceptable in many quarters, and has likely been used by the paper before. The sub-editor wants a good kicking for not noticing it, though. And I agree that the standard of writing is often appalling. 

[Malcolm Robinson]

Merc...........standards young man standards!  

The levels of both spoken and written English these days are dismal.  

[mercuryg]

28 minutes ago, Malcolm Robinson said:

Merc...........standards young man standards!  

The levels of both spoken and written English these days are dismal.  

Couldn't agree more! I was making the point that a spellcheck may not have picked this up, and that no journalist should be relying on one anyway! What happened to proofreading? More to the point, what are they teaching kids these days? I am often asked by friends to help them update their cv's; these are often initially produced under the guidance of a 'tutor' on a compulsory course for Jobseekers over one day. The tutor signs the finished product off as usable. One lad brought me his to look at and see if I could improve it. I threw it away and started again. To be honest, I was furious as, having been involved in recruitment and the process of weeding out those to interview from a few hundred applicants, I assured him his cv would go straight in the bin within five seconds. His opening personal statement began: 'Ah am a hard worker....' - yes, 'ah', not 'I'; that's how he speaks, and it went on to get worse in a couple of lines. Who taught him English? More to the point, who is this idiot 'tutor' who signed this - and many others - off as usable? For the record, the lad hadn't had an interview for two years; with my revised cv, and a simple, clearly written cover letter, he had three out of three from his next applications.