I’m wondering if there is some unwritten rule in blog etiquette that readers don’t point out really ridiculous typos to the author? Sort of like pointing out when your boss has tomato soup on his tie or the convention speaker’s flies are down. Everyone just gets a little bit embarrassed and looks the other way.
I mean you don’t expect bloggers to proof read their posts, do you? Where’s the spontaneity in that?
The reason for this minor outburst? I just had (rare) reason to reread a post I made a few weeks ago. The one about vocabulary choices. And, well, the third paragraph reads like this:
“The author reason I enjoyed Holly’s journal this week was for her admission to enjoying the Nero Wolfe detective stories. I’ve never yet managed to happen upon a copy of one of the books, but a couple of years ago the BBC ran the excellent TV adaptation featuring Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton, and I thought they were fab. Worth seeking out if you’re a fan of the genre.”
“The author reason…”??? WTF? Clearly this is not merely a typo for “other”, but an actual fact gold nugget of stupid. And no-one told me. *Sigh*. Well I’m not going to change it now. It’s there for posterity. My shame is on your consciences, live with it.
ps I also recently discovered, by complete coincidence, that the BBC has been rerunning the Nero Wolfe Mysteries. Missed half the season of course because they’ve been hidden away at 2am on a Sunday morning, but what I have seen has still been joyous.
pps I managed to locate the Rex Stout section in Borders, and have been reading the stories. Actually, they’re just like the show. Fab!
ayeahmur 
“…the convention speaker’s flies are down”
How many flies does one speaker usually have?
You know that raises a question of usage. Does one have one fly taht may be up or down or an unspecified quantity of flies?
“Excuse me, but your fly is down” vs “Excuse me but your flies are down”
Both are used commonly, but which is correct?
“…or the convention speaker’s flies are down.”
How many flies does a single speaker usually have? 🙂
I thought I already said this. I hope your comments aren’t on some delay and I’m filling up your blog with comments.
If flies refers to both sides of the opening (buttons + holes/the interlocking teeth of a zip) its a plural.
Otherwise it’s a fly.
In my youth I always heard the phrase as “your flies are down/undone.” The singular sounds strange to me.
Abbot – yes, I was responding to your original posting of the comment. I had to approve the comment first since you’re new on my blog, but your comment should have appeared before my reply. Can you see it now?
Jack – my feeling exactly. Fly buttons were where it came from and that’s the version I use, but you hear the singular used a lot too. Interesting.
I haven’t caught this version of Nero Wolfe, but I’ll try and stay up late enough to set up a video. I think I remember a William Conrad version, he, of Frank Cannon fame, and a one-off with Thayer David who played lots of strange characters (not surprisingly) in the original daytime version of Dark Shadows, which is a show I’ve been in love with since I was 12, despite the interventions of my social worker.
Can’t recommend it highly enough, Ian. As Holly points out on her journal, the mysteries themselves are kinda run of the mill, but the relationship between the two central characters is a joy.
Oh, dear, I think I’m guilty of an Americanism, then. I don’t think the plural is ever used over on this side. I think Levi’s embedded the singular with a strong ad campaign a while back.
Not really. Like I say, I hear both versions bandied around. If I had to make a distinction, I’d say people are more than likely to refer to “the fly of their trousers”, but to say that someone’s “flies are open”.
I wonder if there’s been confusion over a misheard or unheard apostrophe somewhere along the line.
“your fly’s down” = “your flies [are] down”
Could be. This is an awful lot of discussion based on me trying to be funny by pointing out a “mistake” in a blog about pointing out mistakes.