Friday, May 2, 2008

Photgraph*, etc. (for Photograph*)

A phot is a "unit of illuminance, or luminous flux through an area." And while I'm not exactly sure what that means, this pretty photo looks pretty photty to me. The typo Photgraph* shines through a full 50 times in OhioLINK, along with 19 cases of Phtogr* and seven of Potograph*. (An astute reader has also found the highest count of all with 53 hits in Photograh*.) Given the magnitude of these typos, which are no doubt caused by the proximity of the T and G keys, as well as the P and O keys, it's a shame we can't just take a picture of the word we want and then develop it online. Of course, that's essentially what "copy and paste" is, a handy means of transcription that can be a real time saver when a word occurs repeatedly throughout a record, although it's been known to multiply the number of typos as well as to reduce them. (Photograph from the art journal Phot' Art International.)

Carol Reid

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