Angus Kidman – anguskidman.show

I spotted the sign pictured above in a hotel lift recently. It cheerfully proclaims:

No doubt folks have a lot of sex in hotels, but clearly the word intended was lovely, not lovey. Equally clearly, no-one did any proof reading.

Pedant note: yes, lovey is actually a word – it’s in the Macquarie Dictionary, my oracle in these matters, somewhat stodgily defined as “affectionate term of address”. It offers both that spelling and luvvy, much beloved by catty actors. So it’s a word. But it’s not the word that was needed here.

While we’re at it, kickstart is spelled as a single word, not with a space. But at least that error doesn’t render the text nonsensical. Lovey kinda does.

Accuracy matters.

Mind Your Language is an occasional series where I provide nit-picking advice on writing. Language always changes and evolves, but that doesn’t mean anything goes.