Spelling (and photo) challenges

It is the bane of editors’ existences to spot spelling errors in all sorts of places. They just leap out at us. In Chinese food menus. On store signs. In other newspapers. On airplanes.

I’m not the first to notice Air Canada’s failure to spell “flotation” correctly (see further note below) and I won’t be the last. One has to admit that the non-word “floatation” is a more intuitive spelling of the word in question and of the desired situation, that being floating, but nevertheless, it isn’t right. United Airlines spells it correctly.
Accompanying this post you will find photographic evidence of the incorrect spelling on an Air Canada jet, and the correct spelling on a United Airlines jet. The latter is blurry, and I’m embarrassed to use it, but the guy in the seat in front of me absolutely WOULD NOT put his seat back into the forward, upright and locked position — until all stuff including cameras was supposed to be stowed. So, tall, red-haired man in a purple shirt flying from Denver to Saskatoon, you know who you are and the damage you’ve caused.
It can be exhausting to act as the keeper of the English language, if you let it. Below I’ve pasted a column I wrote in the Producer almost a year ago, in the May 14, 2009 issue, that mentions another editor’s eagle eye and her attitude toward English. Hopefully it will make all good spellers feel better about the world of English.

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Editorial Notebook
May 14, 2009
Frances Peck took her seat on the Air Canada flight and stared at the seat back in front of her.
She immediately noted that the word “flotation” was spelled incorrectly. A quick inspection, and she realized it was spelled incorrectly on every seat in the plane.
Peck, a professional editor and member of the Editors’ Association of Canada, was on her way to Saskatoon to speak about English standards and whether this language we all know and love is being degraded by texters, bloggers and, apparently, Air Canada sign makers.
The many people who send and receive text messages by cell phone will know the shorthand involved, when “you” is shortened to “u” and “thank you” becomes “ty.”

Do these texters even know how to spell, we ask each other? Will the language go to hell in a handcart, to use an antiquated expression, as texting continues to spread?
When any near illiterate can write and post a blog on the worldwide web, without regard for spelling or grammar, will English devolve into a sliver of its former breadth and depth?
And because English is the language of business and advertising and diplomacy and even music, will all the millions of users result in a general lowering of standards?
No, says Peck.
Every generation in recent history has voiced fears of ever-lower English standards, she notes. With a little research, one can find examples from past centuries when scholars decried the decline of grammar, spelling and proper usage due to misuse by the modern generation of the day.
So when was this golden age of English, when the language was always so perfectly rendered, Peck asked a group of editors.
The answer, of course, is never.
In the 21st century, there are more English speakers and English users than ever before. Literacy rates are higher than they’ve ever been. English is the lingua franca of the modern age.
And thus it will evolve to meet the needs of users.
This will not result in lower standards across the board, says Peck. She believes that the more prevalent a language, the greater the demand for basic standards. That way it remains understandable to the widest possible range of users.
As for the “scourge” of texting, that particular medium is arguably a more successful means of communication than certain government news releases – not that we’d recommend that Parliament start communicating via text. There is a limit to everyone’s patience, after all.
So, onward and upward with English. And “ty” for your patience.