The "Oh No" Guide to Proofreading

The worst proofreading error I ever made involved a company report on the "hugh benefit" possible if the company's recommendations were followed. After 15 or 20 references, I finally realized that "huge" is not spelled with a second h, no matter how consistently it's written that way.

Professional proofreaders know that your eye sees what it expects to see. That's why your own name, company name, contact information and the name and contact information of the person you're writing to are most likely to contain errors. Also look for mistakes on the title or home page and main headings: if you're going to miss only one error, it's the one in bold, italicized, 30 point font, probably scrolling. Subtle errors in the text are embarrassing but a mistake on the title or home page is damning.

Be wary of words you're sure you know. "Compliment" and "complement" are not identical; "comprised of" is wrong but "composed of" is fine; and "their's" isn't a word.

Don't trust your computer's spelling checker. Years ago, when computers were still uncommon, a secretary typed an entire technology report about "large-scale commuters," and why should the spell checker question that? Print out everything, every page of your new website, every blog post, every user manual. Proof the printed copy: you'll catch mistakes your eye bypasses on the screen.

If you're the only one proofing a document or website (and try to avoid that), make your corrections, then set the text aside for at least 24 hours. Proofread it again from scratch using a ruler to help you focus on one line at a time. A fresh eye finds more mistakes.

So what is the biggest proofreading error you've ever avoided?