# Faulkner and typos **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 1, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580 "2010-04-01T15:21:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![signal11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@signal11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/signal11)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/1 "2010-04-01T15:21:42Z")
In [this](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/261/why-did-author-william-faulkner-change-the-spelling-of-his-name) Straight Dope Classic Cecil finishes with the kicker: Faulkner decided to live with the new spelling rather than hassle to correct the error. He’s lucky his name wasn’t Friar Tuck. I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/2 "2010-04-01T16:02:47Z")
Because then he might have ended up as “Triar …” At least the printer didn’t also drop the _al_. ---
**Author:** ![signal11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@signal11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/signal11)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/3 "2010-04-01T23:14:41Z")
Yeah, but that doesn’t fit the typo pattern. If you saw this on the analogy section of the SATs (do they even have that section anymore?) you’d be all "huh? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/4 "2010-04-02T00:43:31Z")
> [@signal11](#): > > If you saw this on the analogy section of the SATs (do they even have that section anymore?) you’d be all "huh? If this made you all “huh?” you really shouldn’t be taking the SATs in the first place. Maybe a career on an MTV reality show, though. Or Miss South Carolina if you’re a girl. ---
**Author:** ![signal11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@signal11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/signal11)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/5 "2010-04-02T15:18:40Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > If this made you all “huh?” you really shouldn’t be taking the SATs in the first place. > > Maybe a career on an MTV reality show, though. Or Miss South Carolina if you’re a girl. LOL. My SAT scores were fine. I’ll bet money that mine were higher than yours. Percentile or score. Point is, the typo example doesn’t follow the pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/6 "2010-04-02T15:35:49Z")
You are correct, it was a different kind of typo. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/7 "2010-04-02T15:36:58Z")
Since you’re probably young enough to have taken a three-part SAT I’ll bet you’re cumulatively right. Individually? 99th percentile is the highest, right? Or does that also make you go “huh?” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![signal11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@signal11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/signal11)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/8 "2010-04-02T16:54:32Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Since you’re probably young enough to have taken a three-part SAT I’ll bet you’re cumulatively right. > > Individually? 99th percentile is the highest, right? Or does that also make you go “huh?” 😛 Nope, two parter, before the first re-centering. 99th percentile on both sections? I threw the percentile in there just in case you took the three parter, post re-centering, which would make a comparison based on scores invalid. But we could compare GRE and MCAT scores instead, if you’d like. Or you could just get your head out of your rear end. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/9 "2010-04-06T16:22:10Z")
\ **MODERATOR WARNING** **signal11** , learn the rules of this board before you post again. Personal insults are not allowed in this forum. The rules state “Attack the idea, not the poster.” Don’t do it again. \ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/10 "2010-04-06T17:13:45Z")
Friendly advice, meanwhile: Even in the general population, one person in a hundred is in the 99th percentile (by definition), and there are thousands of members here, so even if the SDMB were a cross-section of society as a whole, we’d still have plenty of folks in the top percentile. And the SDMB is not a cross-section of society as a whole. I think you’ll find, if you hang out here, that there are a lot of folks here who scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT or equivalent tests. ---
**Author:** ![signal11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@signal11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/signal11)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/11 "2010-04-07T15:07:00Z")
Did **Exapno Mapcase** get a warning, too? Because he started with this nonsense: > [@](#): > > If this made you all “huh?” you really shouldn’t be taking the SATs in the first place. > > Maybe a career on an MTV reality show, though. Or Miss South Carolina if you’re a girl. Let me report his post and see what you do with it, considering Exapno Mapcase starts with a personal insult regarding my lack of intelligence, equating it with Miss South Carolina and MTV reality shows. Where’s his mod hat warning? ---
**Author:** ![signal11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@signal11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/signal11)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/12 "2010-04-07T15:33:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Friendly advice, meanwhile: Even in the general population, one person in a hundred is in the 99th percentile (by definition), and there are thousands of members here, so even if the SDMB were a cross-section of society as a whole, we’d still have plenty of folks in the top percentile. And the SDMB is not a cross-section of society as a whole. I think you’ll find, if you hang out here, that there are a lot of folks here who scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT or equivalent tests. Truth be told, I don’t really care about standardized test scores. I issued the challenge because here’s what I see happening. I see Exapno Mapcase, clearly a veteran member of the SDMB, deciding to ridicule, humiliate and otherwise insult someone who he/she thought didn’t have the ability to fight back, based on his/her reading of the diction I chose for humor. That’s bullying and straight up poor form. I responded in kind. Exapno Mapcase initiated this action. Exapno Mapcase drew first blood. If I were the type to jump to conclusions, I’d assume that newbie posters, such as myself, are being held to a different standard that vetern/charter posters, such as Exapno Mapcase, but I’m not going to presume that’s the case until I see a response. As for SDMB’s make-up, given your argument of its self selecting intelligentsia, which of the following do you believe is more insulting/offending, given the context: > [@](#): > > If this made you all “huh?” you really shouldn’t be taking the SATs in the first place. > > Maybe a career on an MTV reality show, though. Or Miss South Carolina if you’re a girl. or > [@](#): > > Or you could just get your head out of your rear end. As for the lecture, thanks, but not necessary. I know my reasoning was flawed - I did my MPH at Hopkins. And for what it’s worth, in the early 90s, when it was actually hard to get an 800, I managed 800s in math and verbal. In separate sittings. And that’s when I was 15. IOW, I’m not exactly a person who’s easy to intimidate. I’ve been a nice guy in all the other threads I’ve participated on, until this Exapno Mapcase fellow decided to come along. Quite frankly, and this isn’t addressed to you, Chronos (I’ve enjoyed reading your posts for years) this type of bullying by long time/veteran posters is exactly what the mod system should be trying to nip in the bud. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/13 "2010-04-07T16:02:48Z")
Gotta agree with **signal11** here. **Exapno** actually insulted him twice before he retaliated. **Exapno** first said: > [@](#): > > If this made you all “huh?” you really shouldn’t be taking the SATs in the first place. > > Maybe a career on an MTV reality show, though. Or Miss South Carolina if you’re a girl. To which **signal11** responded benignly by saying: > [@](#): > > LOL. My SAT scores were fine. I’ll bet money that mine were higher than yours. Percentile or score. > > Point is, the typo example doesn’t follow the pattern. **Exapno** then responded with: > [@](#): > > Since you’re probably young enough to have taken a three-part SAT I’ll bet you’re cumulatively right. > > Individually? 99th percentile is the highest, right? Or does that also make you go “huh?” It was this second comment which drew **signal11’s** suggestion that **Exapno** could pull his head out, and even that was couched in relatively polite terms as opposed to simply telling him to pull his head out of his ass. I didn’t read **signal11’s** retort as an insult so much as a mild bit of chiding to stop with the insults and get back on topic. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/14 "2010-04-07T22:20:27Z")
\ Let’s not get all snuggly puppy here. The rule states “No Personal Insults” in the forum. I do not see a personal insult in what **Exapno** said, other that a mild give and take that goes on in the discourse of any forum. But “get your head out of your rear end” is a different story. We can get too picayune in what consists of a personal insult. I did not see a major insult in **Exapno** ’s repsonse. His response is “Dope-worthy.” **Signal** ’s was just basically “shove it up your ass” - and THAT’s the insult. Look. It’s a warning. I didn’t go all “mod” and ban or suspend. I simply issued a warning. A strong one. But a warning nevertheless. Move on. Learn from it. But don’t give me the “Dad, he did it FIRST” whine. Or I’ll let you out at the next corner and you can walk home. 😃 \ ---
**Author:** ![signal11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@signal11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/signal11)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/15 "2010-04-08T03:35:00Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > \ > > Let’s not get all snuggly puppy here. The rule states “No Personal Insults” in the forum. I do not see a personal insult in what **Exapno** said, other that a mild give and take that goes on in the discourse of any forum. But “get your head out of your rear end” is a different story. > > We can get too picayune in what consists of a personal insult. I did not see a major insult in **Exapno** ’s repsonse. His response is “Dope-worthy.” **Signal** ’s was just basically “shove it up your ass” - and THAT’s the insult. > > Look. It’s a warning. I didn’t go all “mod” and ban or suspend. I simply issued a warning. A strong one. But a warning nevertheless. Move on. Learn from it. But don’t give me the “Dad, he did it FIRST” whine. Or I’ll let you out at the next corner and you can walk home. 😃 > > \ Nope, don’t see your point. This is a double standard. So let’s be “Dope worthy.” Exapno insulted my intelligence twice. This IS an insult upon my person. You don’t consider this an insult. I told Exapno that he was being obtuse. I’m making a point about his actions, not the person taking them. This is not technically in insult. > [@](#): > > Personal insults are not allowed in this forum. The rules state “ **Attack the idea, not the poster**.” If you’re going to give a warning and issue an infraction, why not actually follow your own rules? ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/16 "2010-04-08T04:50:32Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > **Signal** ’s was just basically “shove it up your ass” - Actually, just the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faulkner-and-typos/534580/17 "2010-04-08T12:26:47Z")
Seems the typo story may be a [myth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Faulkner#Biography) anyway. Surely Cecil himself wouldn’t have fallen for a tall tale?