# I (Mildly) Pit Poor Editing in a Good Book **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 12, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794 "2004-07-12T22:48:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/21 "2004-07-14T01:38:16Z")
It drives me nuts when I read a book with a native Spanish speaker character who uses Spanish throughout the book, and the Spanish is totally incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/22 "2004-07-14T02:25:07Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > I think the point might be that it’s unfortunate that the random error appears in a place where it makes character who’s supposed to be better than that make a really stupid error. Some typos you just ignore, but that one gives you a momentary “Typo? Or in-character mistake?” moment of uncertainty. I know of some editors who can make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/23 "2004-07-14T10:37:09Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > I know of some editors who can make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. Maybe Han Solo is just a bit cavalier with terminology 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/24 "2004-07-14T10:46:36Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > Maybe Han Solo is just a bit cavalier with terminology 😃 Or George Lucas thought “parsec” was a cool spacey word but had no idea what it meant. It’s impossible to tell if the error lies in the writing, or is a deliberate error to demonstrate ignorance on the part of the character. If it was meant to show Han Solo as a bit of a goof, then it has the same problem as a film in which the director deliberately shoots a scene out of focus for artsy reasons. He might have some artistic point to make, but most of the audience will just blame the projectionist. In the OP’s case, though, I could easily buy that “statue” is a mere typographical error which wouldn’t get picked up by spell-check software and that a human proofreader could easily overlook it, even if the proofreader knew the correct term was “statute”. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/25 "2004-07-14T10:46:37Z")
> [@Achren](#): > > There were some books a friend loaned me that are published in Austrailia. Fun books, but with the errors and (at times) laughable plot, I’d never think about buying them. Oooh! Ooh! Let me guess! Traci Harding, right? Do I get a cookie? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/26 "2004-07-14T10:55:14Z")
> [@Achren](#): > > There were some books a friend loaned me that are published in Austrailia. Fun books, but with the errors and (at times) laughable plot, I’d never think about buying them. I was thinking more along the lines of Matthew Reilly… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/27 "2004-07-14T16:17:58Z")
> [@Go You Big Red Fire Engine](#): > > I was thinking more along the lines of Matthew Reilly… :rolleyes: It would seem we’re really spoiled for choice in the semi-literate author department, eh? 😉 Aussie Aussie Aussie! ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/28 "2004-07-14T20:47:00Z")
Damn! I misread the thread title, thought it said “…Poor Editing in **The** Good Book,” and really wanted to see that debate. Anyway, carry on… ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/29 "2004-07-15T19:09:08Z")
Hey, that’s been known to happen too. Especially when Bibles were hand written by monks. There’s a list of some typos [here,](http://http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/05/19/465546-ap.html) near the middle of the page. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/30 "2004-07-15T19:53:51Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > There’s a list of some typos [here,](http://http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/05/19/465546-ap.html) near the middle of the page. The irony of the double-‘http://’ here amuses me, greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/31 "2004-07-15T20:32:54Z")
> [@](#): > > With an ordinary book, “you can put up with more because it’s not something you’re basing your whole life on,” June Gunden said. “It’s information, but it’s not really life-changing information. It’s not something you believe to be infallible.” This right here is why religion is A Bad Thing. “Basing your whole life” on an ancient book that has been written and rewritten countless times, each time by humans who are far from “infallible” is, well, dumb. I’m an editor, and I know that no book is infallible.\* - Except _The Art of the Cocktail: 100 Classic Cocktail Recipes_, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794/32 "2004-07-16T19:50:10Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > The irony of the double-‘http://’ here amuses me, greatly. :smack: [http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/05/19/465546-ap.html](http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/05/19/465546-ap.html) :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-mildly-pit-poor-editing-in-a-good-book/254794.md?page=1)