Do you ever make a grammatical error so foolish that you question your own intelligence? Do you rely on spell-check to spell the words yesterday, restaurant, and tomorrow? Have you ever sent a text that says “I’ll be there in a sex”? Cause, same. 

Last Sunday morning, I was sipping an iced oat milk latte in Joe, writing about two vegan chefs. I wrote about their pashion—or rather, their passsion. Scratch that. Passion for food.

I sighed, rolled my eyes, then found myself smiling. How ridicuoolus! Here I am at an Ivy League institution, and I misspelled the word passion twice. What an amusing mistake that doesn’t reflect upon my intellect at all!

Granted, some typos aren’t so amusing. There’s nothing more embarrassing than skimming an email you just sent and realizing that you asked your professor at what time there office hours are held. Or scrolling through your 2014 ‘Gram feed only to read the most profound caption to date: “Life is better when your laughing.”

But most typos are worth grinning over. One Bwogger dated their work “9/24/2012,” before remembering that they are NOT, in fact, 13 years old. Another nearly published an article referencing Barnard’s notorious “9 Ways of Knwogin.” Upon perusing my physics lab journal, I found my description of a toy car’s ability to “exceellerate” down a slope. Just today, I texted someone asking for homework “helf.”

Discovering typos is a humbling experience; and sometimes, we can benefit from a little humbleness. Plus, it’s fun to see yourself as a joke! You’re capable of so much; you’ve accomplished so much. Isn’t it hilarious how your terrifically intelligent mind goofs every now and then?

Give yourself a moment to embrace your imperfection and smile at your foolishness. We are smart fools, but fools nonetheless.

cover photo via Bwog archives