On-the-Job Spelling Boo-Boo's

 

            Kids who struggle with spelling in school ought to take heart: there are plenty of grown-ups who struggle with it, too.

 

            An apartment manager wanted to let her tenant know that her rent payment was overdue. She worded it this way in her stern letter:

 

            "Your rent for the past month is in the rears."

 

            "In the REARS"? After much pondering, the tenant finally figured out that the manager meant "in arrears." Or in other words: overdue.

 

            Another business person was writing ad copy about the nice building she had for lease in an older part of town. She proudly included the fact that it had "four-stair heating."

 

            When the ad was published, prospective customers asked to see this special kind of heating system. Four stairs! Sounds fancy! Much better than three stairs or just two!

 

            Whoops! Turns out the ad should have been worded to say: "forced-air heating."

 

            Then there was the notice from the local garbage pickup service about a change in policy:

 

            "No Glass: Effective Emmidiately"

 

            Maybe they just should have put "Now." It's a whole lot easier to spell!

 

By Susan Darst Williams • www.GoBigEd.com • Class Clown 015 • 4/19/06