Appp* (for App*)

Tonight's the night that children dress up as witches and goblins and ghosts (or whatever they're being scared by these days) and attempt to fill their trick-or-treat sacks with candy. People used to toss in the occasional apple as well, until an urban myth peaking in the 1980s made that fruit a forbidden one. The story floating around was that razor blades, pins, and other sharp objects were showing up inside of apples. This apparently never, or rarely, happened (although there are accounts of hoaxes by kids themselves), but such cautionary tales, like vampires, die hard. Although we found only one Appple and one Appple's in OhioLINK's bag of tricks, we discovered 45 cases of the more inclusive Appp*. Most were for words like applications, appropriations, apparatus, and so on, along with a variety of personal names and acronyms.

(Red Delicious from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

Insult* + Insula* (for Insult* or Insula*)

In an email circulated to library staff the other day, a secretary wrote: "I think the volunteers really enjoyed the recognition and the gift we presented to them. (This year it was a small insulted lunch bag.)" Oh well, as long as only the bags were insulted and not the volunteers. A search in OhioLINK on Insult* and Insula* brings up four records: one with an "[i.e.]," meaning that the error was on the piece itself, one that didn't involve a typo at all, and two that did, which makes it "low probability" on the Ballard list (at least insofar as that particular search would indicate). Winter is fast approaching, heating costs are escalating, and people will sometimes give you the cold shoulder. Insulate yourself against insults, and know your enemies as well as your friends.

(Picture from Wikimedia Commons with the caption: "Goose tower at Vordinborg, Zealand, Denmark. Only remaining complete part of Vordinburg castle, some 600 years old. Tower is named for the golden goose, according to legend placed on the roof by King Valdemar, intended as an insult to his German enemies.")

Carol Reid

Cacoa, Chocalate*, etc. (for Cacao, Chocolate)

Better late than never ... or perhaps I should say: bitter, latte, then savor. Yesterday was National Chocolate Day, which I celebrated by taking two of the last remaining Peruvian pastillas brought in by my coworker who had recently returned from a trip to his homeland. Cacoa was found twice in OhioLINK and Cocao once. There were two cases of Chocalate* and one of Chocolote* there as well. You might also turn up a few typos for Choclate*—but of the 26 hits received, most of them seemed to be for the correctly spelled contraction choc'late. (Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.)

("Milk chocolate ganache cooked with our favorite fair trade organic espresso, dipped in milk chocolate, rolled in ground chocolate" from The Chocolate Gecko in Albany, New York.)

Carol Reid

Catagog* (for Catalog, etc.)

I thought we had all our bases categorically covered with the blog entry from 2007, but I was agog (full of intense interest or excitement) at finding three records containing Catagog* in OhioLINK the other day. More interesting than that, however, was learning the word catagogic, which appeared in one of those records. This is a psychological term of art, as best I can tell, meaning the opposite of anagogic or "elevating." One source defined it as "gutterward." Sounds like where an excitable kitten might be headed if it doesn't watch out.

(Little cat agog from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

Coaltion*, Coaliton* (for Coalition*)

The candidates have been talking a lot about "clean coal" technology lately, but to most of us, coal would appear to be anything but clean. And, on top of being dirty, it also has the taint of punishment: oranges in your Christmas stocking if you've been good all year, but lumps of coal if you've been bad. As pressure is gradually applied to "dead biotic matter," coal is transformed from peat to lignite, bituminous coal to anthracite, and finally graphite, which as every schoolgirl knows, is what pencils are made of. We dug up five samples of Coaltion* in OhioLINK and three of Coaliton*.

(Coal "ovoids" from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

Chidhood (for Childhood)

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood" according to Tom Robbins. Chidhood is found in the 'B,' or high probability, section of Typographical Errors in Library Databases, meaning that it was present in at least 16 but no more than 100 records in OhioLINK at the time of its discovery. Curiously, there were only 2 Chidhoods in OhioLINK when we checked today. The original listing had the error with a truncation, but the count held at two, even with the asterisk thrown in. In WorldCat, there are just over 50 hits, making it look more like a moderate probability candidate. We found 23 hits for this in COPAC, the major union catalog for British university libraries. There is even one hit for the typo in the National Library of Australia - not much of a showing but proof that the sun never sets on this typo.

Today's photo shows the statue of Peter Pan at Kensington Gardens in London. This was taken more than 30 years ago, so the children here are presumably nearing their 40th birthdays. The original can be found at http://www.pbase.com/terryballard/image/33784385

Ralroad (for Railroad)

RAILROAD, n. The chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get away from where we are to where we are no better off. For this purpose the railroad is held in highest favor by the optimist, for it permits him to make the transit with great expedition.”
This is according to Ambrose Bierce in the Devil's Dictionary. Ralroad can be found at
http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/libraries/tballard/Sectione.html , which is the section of Typographical Errors in Library Databases with the lowest probability errors. They were found only once in OhioLINK at the time of their discovery. Indeed, that same record is still in OhioLINK, referring to the Hartford Railroad Company. There is a very modest hit count of 5000 for Ralroad in Google.

Today's photo shows the Essex Steam Train in Eastern Connecticut that gives a 90-minute ride through fall foliage. The original can be seen at http://www.pbase.com/terryballard/image/104482610