Reflections

My mother placed me in an educational institution when I was five, and I remained in one ever since! However, much learning is available away from organised set-ups. Sharing experiences is a wonderful human activity.

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Correction of errors.

Errata corrige.

Before the advent of electronic devices that make printing much easier, all written texts had to be produced manually, processed and set for printing in hard copies. A very laborious method but good enough. After all it was the only means available.

Proof reading before a first print was invariably sent to the author for correction or confirmation before the final version is printed. Yet, with all the best of intentions, care and meticulous scrutiny to avoid any mistakes in print, some mistakes (errata) always found their way in the completed printed work.

But a face saving strategy was to include a page, usually at the beginning of the work, that listed the corrections (corrige) for any possible errors in spelling, in construction or in grammar.

The errata corrige (correction of mistakes) page was therefore very useful. It served quite a number of purposes.

What a superway to correct mistakes, peoples’ mistakes, that is. But in real life drama this is much easier said than done. People find it terribly difficult to correct their own mistakes because, just like other creatures, they find it difficult to learn through experience. Mistakes are repeated, errors are trebled and unpleasant experiences cherished over and over again. And sometimes an apologetic word becomes too hard to be uttered, even if in undertone, if needs be.

I would probably never manage to have a page huge enough to include all my errata corrige to be drawn up exhaustively.

What about you ?

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