Nightmare

Obviously I don't expect people making up hand-lettered signs for protest marches and the like to hire a proof-reader, but wouldn't it be a good idea for them to check the signs carefully before hitting the street?

Here's an actual television broadcast capture of some people with their signs on Martin Luther King Day in Corpus Christi, Texas:


Oh, dear.

I'm sure most if not all of the other signs were spelled correctly. Maybe the people in the rally were in a hurry and didn't notice the mistakes, both of which are simple transpositions and very easy to commit (and the larger the letters, the easier it is to make such a mistake, it seems). Maybe they noticed the problem, but had run out of poster-board (I guess they'd already used the other side of those two sheets) and figured the misspelled signs would just blend into the background.

But still. An iconic quotation, probably one of the most famous out of the twentieth century? Two misspelled signs side by side? Nobody noticed this before it was too late?

This is what happens when you publish (in the most literal sense of "make public") errors: you leave yourself open to ridicule.