“Massive populations of misquotes” said to kill millions

March 5, 2011

“Over 1 million people a year die because of the massive populations of misquotes.”

I preserve it here just because it gives me a smile; here is the sentence above with what I presume is a typographical error that carries great humor, in its natural habitat:

While there is a a discussion going on whether DDT should be used or not in America, it is undeniable that It should be used in 3rd world countries like in Africa to stop the spread of Malaria. Over 1 million people a year die because of the massive populations of misquotes. No doubt that this number could be lowered dramatically. Not only is DDT a type of pesticide, it is a pest repellent, meaning that even if the bug has grown immunity to the pesticide, it will invariably avoid area’s where DDT is sprayed. To use it to a maximum effect, it would be a good idea to spray it on 1 wall inside a home. That’s all that is required to stop the malaria epidemic in Africa. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Delata38 (talkcontribs) 14:48, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

From Wikipedia’s discussion of the article on DDT.

I have no idea who Delata38 is, and hope she or he is not offended at my preservation of the typo.  The error may have been caused by an over-enthusiastic autocorrect function, and no fault of the author at all.  The statement may be completely correct in a few other contexts, something that should give all journalists pause and cause to strive harder for greater accuracy.

Heck, this should be a candidate for inclusion in the next edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.

In typographical error, truth.