Friday, August 22, 2008

Good Judgement or Judgment?

I spoke at a conference this week (it went really well!). There was an exhibit hall as usual and in it an exhibit with the banner above. I looked at it for a moment and spoke with the person manning the booth. After a few minutes of talking, I asked him if he knew that the word judgment was misspelled on his banner (and in their website URL). He expressed surprise and was incredulous. I then said he could check in Microsoft Word. He typed in the word, checked spelling, and sure enough it indicated the word was misspelled and should be spelled judgment. His shock was something to see! Apparently I was the first person to notice this after all the time they had been in business. He then said that the person who had come up with the phrase and name of the company was Dutch. "Ah," I said, "Maybe it's the British spelling!" I suggested he switch to the British dictionary. He did, and the word was accepted! I told him then that although his company is American, he had an out: "Well, we believe in using the Queen's English!"

By the way, this word has always bothered me because I used to misspell it as well. Judgement just looks more correct than judgment to me. However, I don't make the rules!

Bad English...Really Bad! Take the Challenge!


I came home to find a message on my answering machine, part of which I've recorded and you can hear in the video above. So here is my question to all of you...what errors can you hear in the video above? Type your comments below and let's see who gets it right first!

Oh, one more thing. The message on my answering machine was prerecorded, not live. So what excuse is there for bad English when the message was supposedly scripted and recorded?