
In another nonsensical Carroll classic, Humpty Dumpty declares: "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less." One imagines him taking a similar approach, more or less, to the spelling of a word as well. Likewise, many librarians seem to find that the word
orchestra contains one more letter than they'd like it to, as there are fully 73 examples of
Orchesta*, and 20 of
Orcestra*, currently causing disharmony in OhioLINK. These are typos of "high probability," 21 of them occurring in title or subject fields. The July 6 entry
Ochestra set the stage for today's typo, with the
Ballard list including the following variations on a theme:
Orchetra*,
Orchstra*,
Orcherstra*,
Orchesrt*, and
Orchestrs. Tune up your OPACs by cleaning up these clams and pretty soon we'll all be making beautiful music together. (Illustration from
Alice in Orchestralia by Ernest la Prade, 1925.)
Carol Reid
No comments:
Post a Comment