A cautionary tale about not checking with experts

In my book of the month post about the autobiography of Billy Meredith, I included this picture of a Wales team for a fixture that my great uncle, Tommy Matthias, played in.

However, when I sent the link to blog post to Anthony, who I've recently met through a vintage soccer memorabilia group, he almost immediately told me that the player I thought was my great uncle was someone else.

Anthony also said the photo was mislabelled in the book, as it was taken at the Racecourse in Wrexham. The pub in the background is The Turf, which is still present right next to the stadium. 

In hindsight, I should have known something was off because Fred Keenor should have been in the line up and he had a very recognisable face. 

I'm not sure who the guy I circled was. Anthony said he hadn't seen that photo before (so at least it was something new for him!) but it most definitely isn't the line up for the game in the caption. 

All this is a cautionary tale - I could have checked with an expert before posting. Next time I will!

Apostrophe catastrophe

In terms of apostrophe misuse, this feels like hitting a new low...

Also, when I shared this someone pointed out the word "vistor". Maybe the i dropped down a line to make the word iVisit. Who knew there was a scarcity issue with the letter i?

2 gems from the WSC Weekly Howl

The first rule of proof-reading - always check the headings!

Secondly - whose idea was THIS?



Available on Amazon

New Star Wars character? Or just terrible proofreading

We all make mistakes. But sometimes they slip through the net.

I saw this t-shirt in Tesco and quite liked it, until I looked at it up close.

(Note the official merchandise tag)

OH DEAR....

Hitting the backspace in your head

At Roundtable last night one of the kids, James, coined a good phrase - "hitting the backspace in your head". He was talking about how when you write an email or a text, you need to review it and then decide not to send it, or edit it. But when we speak we don't always use the 'backspace' button.

Maybe we should. There are many, many things I've said where I wish I could just hit the backspace button and delete them. My words are less 'seasoned with salt' and more 'drenched in chilli dust' sometimes. I'm not always kind. I'm not always gracious. I'd like to be, but I'm not sure that really counts for anything.

I also made a classic 'mis-speak' last night. We were talking about emoticons and how they've become vital aids to communication in a digital age, because actually our tone of voice and our body language convey 92% of the information when we speak to someone. Strip that out and people are bound to misunderstand you.

'So we need emoticons,' I explained, 'to help people realise what we mean. Like if I say something harsh, I'd use the...' - I meant to say 'winky one'. (Semi-colon, closing bracket.)

Unfortunately I said '...I'd use the wanky one.'

I don't know what keys you'd press to create the 'wanky one'. But as everyone fell about laughing, and Tom immediately updated his Facebook status, I was thinking 'Backspace key, backspace key!'

Look wot I winned in Shcool, mum! I got given Prize's!

This letter was pinned up in my local Tesco Metro. Here's a question Mr Headteacher, when are you going to teach the kids about the correct use of apostrophes?



I'm sure the kids loved their prize's.

I was also confused by the school motto on the letterhead, and I quote...

"Our Mission is to be the best I can be and proud I am me."

I'm all for motivating and building self-esteem into young people, but I also want them to be able to construct sentences that makes sense. How can 'our' mission be something 'I' do?

Something I never thought I'd hear my Dad say...

"If you didn't see it, you can always catch it on i-Player."

Seriously, if you knew my Dad you'd have had your flabber totally gasted just like I did.