Here’s why copy-reading your own writing can be viciously amusing, why relying on spellcheck, A. I. or other programs is not infallible, why copy editors should be treasured, not discarded.
As midnight approached Tuesday night I hastened to compose and transmit a wrap-up the evening’s poker game. Four players, including yours truly, achieved double digit wins. Three players lost more than $30 apiece.
I chose a simple opening sentence: “Big winners. Big losers.”
Only, spellcheck failed to alert me that I had not correctly spelled “winners.” I had correctly spelled “sinners.”
Eighteen hours after sending out the recap, only one caught the mistake or, perhaps, matter-of-factly accepted their respective characterization as a sinner. I know I am guilty of transgressions, at least some of the time.
