# Typos that completely change the intended meaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 1, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476 "2009-09-01T13:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/1 "2009-09-01T13:28:47Z")
Received this e-mail today: > [@](#): > > The voice mail system has been repaired and is not working. Apparently it’s hard to get good help these days. 🙂 (I think the author meant “_now_ working.”) Seen any others recently? Not just an obvious typo, but one that alters the message? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/2 "2009-09-01T13:30:57Z")
Back when I was an undergrad, a typo in the official (not student) MIT paper _Tech Talk_ listed a lecture on **The Theological Behavior of Fluids**. It was pretty obviously supposed to be _Rheological_, but the typo made it seem as if it might be about the Blood of St. Januarius or something. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/3 "2009-09-01T13:32:33Z")
**Cal** , that gives new meaning to the quote, “For the blood is the lie!” Dropped letter is intentional. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/4 "2009-09-01T14:08:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Back when I was an undergrad, a typo in the official (not student) MIT paper _Tech Talk_ listed a lecture on **The Theological Behavior of Fluids**. It was pretty obviously supposed to be _Rheological_, but the typo made it seem as if it might be about the Blood of St. Januarius or something. If it was anyplace other than MIT, I’d have guessed they meant druids. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/5 "2009-09-01T14:11:57Z")
When I was in school, a couple of friends put on a recital. It was all percussion instruments. They titled the recital “Partners in Time.” When the office typed up their programme, they corrected it to “Partners in Crime.” ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/6 "2009-09-01T14:13:28Z")
Not, perhaps, exactly what you’re looking for, but I’ve always enjoyed [this one](http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b212/fachverwirrt/Clock_Ad.jpg) from the St. Louis Yellow Pages. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/7 "2009-09-01T14:16:41Z")
Heh. When reading the thread title, yours (OP) was the example I was going to give. I was following up with someone to see if she’d finally done what she was supposed to do a week ago (:rolleyes:) and she replied, “The issue has not been resolved.” The funny part is my eyes read the word “not” as “now” until I was going to forward the e-mail chain to someone who was harassing me about it. There’s a chain of harassment here. Then I realized the error. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/8 "2009-09-01T14:18:02Z")
My last name starts with a V. I recently got an interoffice email addressed to “Magistrate Vader.” I replied, “Please call me ‘Darth.’” The sender was very embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/9 "2009-09-01T14:30:20Z")
Not a typo, but I Must Share one of the winners in a contest to Change the Meaning of the Phrase by Adding a Word. The winner only added a number, but completely changed the meaning: > [@](#): > > A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and fifty thou. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/10 "2009-09-01T14:41:41Z")
When I was a kid, my mom volunteered at a local hospital. She once sent a letter to at least a hundred people that involved “candy strippers”. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/11 "2009-09-01T17:43:41Z")
A coworker once recieved an email where someone apologized “for the incontinence.” ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/12 "2009-09-01T18:27:15Z")
Of course, there’s the “[Wicked Bible](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Bible)” with the famous typo “Thou shalt commit adultery”. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/13 "2009-09-01T18:27:24Z")
Wish you were here / Wish you were her. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/14 "2009-09-01T18:37:59Z")
I once read a report of a football match in which a striker tried a shit from from 35 yards. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/15 "2009-09-01T18:44:06Z")
Possibly apocryphal, but legendary among Shakespeare professors: _The barge she shat on, like a burnish’d throne Burned on the water. The poop was beaten gold…_ ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/16 "2009-09-01T18:44:33Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Wish you were here / Wish you were her. 😃 There’s a parking lot near me with a sign that someone removed the letter ‘e’ from, so that it now reads “PAY HER IN ADVANCE” ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/17 "2009-09-01T18:49:57Z")
I recently emailed a bunch of my friends inviting them to see the movie **Inglorious Basters**. Actually, basting is relatively rarely glorious… ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/18 "2009-09-01T18:50:16Z")
[QUOTE=personal ads] Female non-smoker, non-drinker seeks male non-smoker, non-dinker. [/QUOTE] … ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/19 "2009-09-01T19:03:50Z")
Almost forgot: In the 1990s, there was an XXX theater in the Bronx that was playing a movie that was probably called “Fast Cars, Fast Women”. However, the marquee said: **FAST CARS, FATS WOMEN** ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476/20 "2009-09-01T19:14:49Z")
A couple of items I saw on line, forget where. first, a real estate ad for a house that featured, among other things, a “huge dick for entertaining.” (supposed to be deck? Either one would be entertaining…) second, a newspaper article about a kid who went hunting and “shat a 6-point buck.” third, a picture of some of the muppets from Sesame Street, with the caption naming them thus: “Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and The Cunt.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/typos-that-completely-change-the-intended-meaning/508476.md?page=2)