I’ve been getting snarky emails and proposed comments chiding me for frequently misspelling “Charlie,” as in Charlie Kirk, as “Charley.” “Why do you keep doing that?” asks one.
Why? I do it because…
1. I write the blog in my “spare time,” of which I have none, and try to cover as much of the ethics landscape as I can to advance the mission of this blog and my profession as an ethicist…
2. I am often rushed and pressed for time, as this pursuit takes me conservatively 3-4 hours every day for which I am not compensated, at least monetarily….
3. I’ve always made a lot of typos because I can’t type, though I do a better job proofing than I used to…
4. I grew up with an Uncle Charley, who not only spelled his name that way but who also objected to the “-ie” version, so “Charlie” has always looked wrong to me…
5. Names with multiple spellings bedevil me and always have. Don’t get me started on “Stephen/Steven,” “Sara/Sarah” or “Madeline/Madeleine/Madelyn/Madalyn/Madelynn/Madilyn” (if that’s your name and I spell it right, I assure you that it’s an accident).
I want to get these details right, but readers who nit-pick on the irrelevant “gotchas” are not being constructive, and as in the case of the #1 Ethics Alarms troll, often are simply assholes. When they try writing 2000-2500 words a day of original commentary for 15 years while trying to keep a challenging business running with a dead partner, no staff and an often troubled family healthy and happy, I’ll take their critiques of my typing more seriously.
Until then, my response is a vociferous “Bite me.”
Ethics Alarms 
You know, when I am reading books I see the occasional typo or misspelling. I know that books, before they ever make it into print undergo a rigorous editing and proofreading process which, amongst other things is dedicated to uncovering and stamping out such things.
But …. we are only human, and some things are robust enough to make it past the sharp eyes of a number of editors and proofreaders. As an aside, if there are more than the rare instance of this, it’s an indication that the publisher is slacking off.
But they have staff that are paid to do nothing but uncover mistakes. I am a good typist, in my prime almost good enough to do it for a living, but stuff slips by my best efforts and best proofreading.
And this is the internet — the onus is to get it done, get enough done fast enough to satisfy your job or your audience (as an aside, I am often astounded at the volume of cogent posts you do every single day).
Let he who is without sin cast the first consonant!
For the rest, bite me is appropriate.
“as in the case of the #1 Ethics Alarms troll, often are simply assholes.”
We’re left to ponder the identity of this irredeemable d!ck?
I’m not alone on this, but your indomitable, herculean efforts provide immeasurable respite, understanding, safe haven, and no small measure of (relative) sanity to many kindred souls, flung hither and yon.
What would AI call that…?
PWS
Who on earth has the nerve to nit pick the modern day, in his spare time, for absolutely no compensation whatsoever, Michel D’Montaigne. The sheer output alone is miraculous. Jack writes essays faster than I can read them. Reminds me of a lawyer in Phoenix who, as a young associate, was known as “Dial-a-Memo.”
I write for a baseball and sports site for fun. The articles are an ego boost since they get thousands of reads, but you do get blowback that isn’t based on content but on structure. A few years ago, I was criticized for word usage similar to what you experienced. Sometimes it slips through, and that is with an editor. I thanked the reader, but they persisted, so I said, “I am an active learner and open to improvement despite writing 2,500 articles. Send me a dozen or so of yours to give me some hints.” Crickets.
A second one became a site legend when a commenter, known for her snarkiness, said my trash article had a dismal Flesch-Kincaid reading score and posted the figure. I responded that it was low, but at least it beat the next one: the Gettysburg Address was the one it beat out. We never heard from her again.
well, and just so you know, my typos are mostly for clarity and meaning and only occasionally for fun.
and, only because I know you are somewhat of a perfectionist with a persistent flaw when it comes to typing.
as for Charley, a lawyer asked me one time how I made a very obvious, common and stupid typo. My response was muscle memory. I think I added an apostrophe to make a noun a possessive instead of a plural. (Sheriff’s instead of Sheriffs). And I have typed Defednant more times than I can count.
muscle memory. (Yeah…that’s the ticket!)
-Jut
Heh. We were well overdue for another “Bite Me!” post.
Excellent.
Those are not typos, there easter eggs. And this is a hunt. Only the really smart peeple find them! Print them out and trade them with your freinds. Be sure to collect them all.
There was a follow up book to The Preppy Handbook titled The Lawyers Handbook. There were lots of great bits, including when lawyers take their kids to the zoo, the get the most pleasure out of finding the typos in the informational plaques detailing the displays and animals.
people who criticize spelling and grammar on the internet do so because they can’t master logic enough to criticize that.
That said, the correct response to someone criticizing spelling on a blog is “BYTE me.”
I am abashed that I failed to think of that .