| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Off topic: Spelling errors in text advertising grammar / spellchecker (Staff: It was intentional) Thread poster: Dusan Rabrenovic
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Dusan Rabrenovic 
Slovenia
Local time: 15:24
Member (2008)
German to Slovenian
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I'd caption it myself, but the picture is just too awesome on its own.
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2009-08-19 12:46 GMT]
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Haha, I just took the screenshot and was about to post the topic when I saw you have already posted it. All I can say is - lol, fail!
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 15:24
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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Spelling is just one aspect of " grammer", so please don't be too harsh on them
At least in this case the misspelling hasn't twisted the meaning of the word.. What about " sheet" and the other one "sh*t"
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| Simpler life | Aug 19, 2009 |
The good thing is, of course, that this means that Whitesmoke is one product that can be instantly crossed off the list of potential purchases, ever - I do like it when my decisions are made easier.
(Edit for grammer mistake, natch)
[Edited at 2009-08-19 09:10 GMT]
(Edit again after realising that the screen shot is the email subject line that I first blathered on about!)
[Edited at 2009-08-19 09:11 GMT]
| | | | | Here's one more. | Aug 19, 2009 |
When I clicked on the "Buy" link, I was taken to another page that also had a link to a live salesperson. Since I had a question or two, I clicked on it.
There appeared a window in which one is required to enter name, email address etc. The window had the following sentence:
Our Live Chat Assistance team are available on these hours: 9:00am - 12:00pm GMT Time.
ON these hours? GMT Time?
GMT = Greenwich Mean Time, surely?
Perhaps... See more When I clicked on the "Buy" link, I was taken to another page that also had a link to a live salesperson. Since I had a question or two, I clicked on it.
There appeared a window in which one is required to enter name, email address etc. The window had the following sentence:
Our Live Chat Assistance team are available on these hours: 9:00am - 12:00pm GMT Time.
ON these hours? GMT Time?
GMT = Greenwich Mean Time, surely?
Perhaps the software is really good nonetheless - who knows? ▲ Collapse
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I tried Whitesmoke some time ago. I found it to be completely useless. It's been designed for people with a less than basic knowledge of the vocabulary, so it tries incessantly to impose its list of synonyms, while not helping with grammar. I uninstalled it after a few days and explained the reasons in a lenghty letter to the company.
| | | | | Way too bad translation there | Aug 19, 2009 |
Well, I found that e-mail waiting for me, too and just shook my head asking myself why _the hell_ they don't use their own program.
Yet, I still clicked my way to the registration form. And since I had a drop down for languages, I decided to make my life easier and chose GERMAN.
Baaaad mistake. That's not even Google level:
- Geben Sie Ihre Details unten
- Wichtiger – Die Lizenz wird an diese E-Mail-Adresse nur!
I have decided to NOT bu... See more Well, I found that e-mail waiting for me, too and just shook my head asking myself why _the hell_ they don't use their own program.
Yet, I still clicked my way to the registration form. And since I had a drop down for languages, I decided to make my life easier and chose GERMAN.
Baaaad mistake. That's not even Google level:
- Geben Sie Ihre Details unten
- Wichtiger – Die Lizenz wird an diese E-Mail-Adresse nur!
I have decided to NOT buy this program and keep looking for something that really works. ▲ Collapse
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| The fun continues... | Aug 19, 2009 |
Here you can see the level of errors they can help you with. Or that is, their example labels 'the', 'exceptional' and 'better' as spelling mistakes, while 'wrlod' and 'eerlier' go free. (BTW, it won't actually check the text you put into the Free Online Checker, just refresh the page).
Also, (my view of) this page claims that they've been "Serving customers in Denmark... See more Here you can see the level of errors they can help you with. Or that is, their example labels 'the', 'exceptional' and 'better' as spelling mistakes, while 'wrlod' and 'eerlier' go free. (BTW, it won't actually check the text you put into the Free Online Checker, just refresh the page).
Also, (my view of) this page claims that they've been "Serving customers in Denmark since 2002". The company was founded in 2006. That's like the telemarketer from the 'WWW Phonebook' who claimed they'd been around since the eighties!
There's also an '80% off' promotion which I guess puts the ProZ 'offer' to shame.
▲ Collapse
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Mariusz Kuklinski wrote:
I uninstalled it after a few days and explained the reasons in a lenghty letter to the company.
Surely you mean a long letter?
| | | | Drew MacFadyen
United States
Local time: 09:24
Spanish to English
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| Was intentional to be tongue in cheek | Aug 19, 2009 |
The errors in the subject line were an attempt at being cheeky to draw some attention to the email and product. Thanks for noticing! Hopefully everyone can take a look at the product as well.
Regards,
Drew
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Drew MacFadyen wrote:
Hopefully everyone can take a look at the product as well.
Don't get your hopes high.
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Ralf Lemster
Germany
Local time: 15:24
English to German
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| Straight to the bin, I'm afraid | Aug 19, 2009 |
Hi Drew,
Call me old-fashioned, but any advertising I receive that isn't properly written goes straight to the bin. To me, this wasn't tounge-in-cheek, but simply sub-standard.
Drew MacFadyen wrote:
The errors in the subject line were an attempt at being cheeky to draw some attention to the email and product. Thanks for noticing! Hopefully everyone can take a look at the product as well.
I also had a look at the German forms. Guess that vendor should hire a professional translator rather than using machine translation... simply unprofessional.
Best,
Ralf
| | | | Rebekka Groß (X)
Local time: 14:24
English to German
| how is the reader supposed to know that? | Aug 19, 2009 |
Drew MacFadyen wrote:
The errors in the subject line were an attempt at being cheeky to draw some attention to the email and product. Thanks for noticing! Hopefully everyone can take a look at the product as well.
This advert is aimed at people who spend their life trying to catch this sort of mistake by using both a spellchecker and their own eyes and I think the joke has backfired. I'm not even going into the comments about the machine-translated forms...
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 15:24
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| I would find it... | Aug 19, 2009 |
Drew MacFadyen wrote:
The errors in the subject line were an attempt at being cheeky to draw some attention to the email and product.
I would find it easier to believe if there were more errors that were more blatant. But I believe you. This is not the first time I've seen this stunt in action (and see it backfire). A few months ago I received a letter about a local editors' workshop that also contained numerous errors. The organisers later claimed that the letter itself was discussed at the workshop and was intended as an example of poor writing.
A joke is okay if it is clearly a joke or if it is identified as a joke within reasonable time. How many thousands of ProZians have received the mail but do not consult this thread where it is explained that it was meant as a joke?
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