could be the biggest ego we've encountered in a long time

[spanone]

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Exceeded only by the inverse of her intellectual acument and curiosity

[Tansy_Gold]

5. A-C-U-M-E-N, no T

Unless, of course, you meant acument and curiousity.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Wow, what an ass.

You know, sometimes people make typos, O High And Mighty.

Fucking hell.

Grow up.

[Tansy_Gold]

11. Excuse me, but you made a mistake.

*I* didn't.

If you're not adult enough to admit that you screwed up, even by so little a thing as a typo, and laugh at it, especially when you're making fun of someone else's LACK of intellect, maybe YOU need to grow up.

And if you didn't quite catch it, O low and dense, I added an intentional mistake of my own -- C-U-R-I-O-U-S-I-T-Y -- to indicate that I was being humorous, not only for your precious benefit but for the benefit of all those OTHERS who might be reading your deathless prose.

Grow up indeed, and while you're doing it, thicken your skin.


Tansy Gold, who really should stick to the safe sections of DU where the idiots don't venture

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. I did admit to it.

And I'm sorry I missed the humor in your post - I see that you did misspell curiosity, which might have tipped me off had I noticed it.

Your humor was too subtle, I guess.

Sorry.

Still, you're being awfully damned nasty about it.

[darkstar3]

15. Well, somebody's gotta say it...

JESUS TAP-DANCING CHRIST ON A CRACKER!!!

In a world where Sarah Palin is considered smart enough to be a head of state, a published writer, and a news correspondent (all terms used loosely), it still somehow amazes me that two people can have a full-on argument over a simple and common typo.

And GD posters wonder why Lounge lurkers make fun of them...^^^CASE IN POINT^^^

[Tansy_Gold]

16. Having been, in fact, both a published writer (novelist) and a news reporter

(for reeal), I developed a respect for the English language. Also, having been an online poster since 1991 when I got my first version of Prodigy, I developed an understanding of the vagaries of the internet, where all posts are equal and few are edited. As the internet and then the web grew over the years, I saw how quickly things both good and bad could go viral, even before there was the phrase.

I'm not the only one on DU or any board for that matter, who cringes at the misuse of lose/loose, then/than, and otehr commonly confused words. Very very few of us jump in and correct every maker of ever error; we aren't THAT obsessive, nor do we have the time. Most of us also recognize common typos, which we ourselves often make: that/than, sign/sing, etc.

"Acumen" is not quite as commonly used as, say, "intellect" or "brains" or "wisdom" or "knowledge." It's sometimes misspelled a-c-u-m-i-n or, as in the originator of this sub-thread, a-c-u-m-e-n-t. If you or anyone else reading this sub-thread is familiar with my posts, you'll know that I frequently come right out and say that I am writing for the lurkers as much as for the person or persons to whom I am directly replying. Such was the case with my original response. There's no need for "acument" to go viral, even as the result of a simple slip of the fingers. The suffix "-ment" is common enough that our fingers get into the habit of automatically adding that final T and that's probably what happened.

Could I have ignored it? Sure, I could have. I chose not to. That's my option on a discussion board. I didn't argue with the poster. I didn't call him/her an idiot or immature or stupid or ignorant. I just corrected the misspelling/miskeyed word. And assuming -- there was my mistake -- that the poster and other readers had the intelligence (acumen?) to figure it out, I made a joke of the error by making an obviously intentional one of my own.

It was the response that was angry and, I suppose, defensive on the part of the person who made the original mistake/typo. But I'm not arguing with the poster or with anyone. I'm simply stating facts, again for the benefit of all who read and not just those who, like me or like you, exercise their option to respond. There may be someone or even several someones out there reading this who have never seen or heard the word "acument" and tried to find it in a dictionary to learn its meaning. Online they may have been directed "did you mean acumen?" or they may not. The point is, with a less-than-common word such as this, I felt it might be helpful and instructive to point out the misspelling.

Am I obsessive for writing all this? Perhaps. But as I wrote above, I used to be a novelist. I enjoy writing. This is not a full-on argument and it won't become one because my intention was not to engage the poster but to state a simple fact for the benefit of other readers. I've stated it and now I'm gone.



TG

[Ian David]

2. ...

"Obama, I'm real happy for you, and imma let you finish, but McCain was the best candidate of all time... of all time... and also too for U.S. Americans."

[democrank]

3. Roguery......

Something like Junior Bush`s strategery.

[cutlassmama]

4. nail on head

[virgogal]

6. And it's all John McCain's fault. Who,outside Alaska,ever heard

of her 2 years ago?`

[Capers]

7. I don't see ego there.

I see a child with a new toy.

[tblue]

8. "The Thing that Wouldn't Leave"

I scream at the sight of it.

[ohheckyeah]

9. I wish you would have put a warning on your title.

Gheesh...I can't stand her.

[XemaSab]

12. She's coming to Redding

The evil will be within a mile of my house. :(

[Hekate]

14. Will you take a posse and greet her appropriately?

Could be fun, as long as none of her fan base are packing heat. :D

Hekate

[XemaSab]

17. I was thinking that if I felt like losing my car

I could just go park it across the road to the convention center.

Barring that, I could dig out some Dean stickers and go for the subtle approach.

[David Ippolito]

18. Ego? Nah...