An unlikely place for a grammar goof

I read the funnies. They were my favorite part of the daily paper when I was a kid, and now I read them online regularly. I recently realized  that I never see a mistake in grammar in a comic unless the mistake is deliberate. Many strips have a row of buttons underneath so you can look at earlier or later episodes. Even the button that you click to see the previous comic is correct. It says “Previous,” not “Prior.”

What caused me to realize the rarity of grammar mistakes in comics was when I saw one recently. Scott Meyer writes a very funny comic. His comic, Basic Instructions, is one of my favorites. The humor is at once subtle, and to me, anyway, hilarious.

Full disclosure: He fixed the goof. If you go to his site, you'll see the corrected version.

You see the mistake, right? (It’s the first “you’re” in the last panel.) A lot of people mix up words that sound alike, and getting “your” and “you’re” wrong is a favorite for sixth-grade English teachers to pounce on. In Scott’s case, I’m pretty sure it was a slip of the fingers since he’s obviously a professional.

The lesson here is to proofread your writing. Make sure you don’t accidentally write something you don’t intend.