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Get it right.

“Led” is the past tense of “lead.”

L.E.D. Not L.E.A.D.

Example: “Fran, who leads the group, led the meeting.”

When professional publications get the small stuff wrong, it makes us less trusting about the big stuff. Trust in media is already at an all-time low. Don’t alienate liberal arts majors and obsessive compulsives. We may be the last readers standing.

By L. Jeffrey Zeldman

“King of Web Standards”—Businessweek. Ava’s dad. Automattician. OG blogger/web designer. Publisher, A List Apart & A Book Apart. Author, Designing with Web Standards & Taking Your Talent to the Web. Emeritus: An Event Apart, SVA MFA IXD, Happy Cog.

2 replies on “Get it right.”

Ah, yes. I have a few pet peeves like this in French too.
People use wrong declination all the time. Like past tense vs infinitive, etc. (eg. “briefer” = to brief, “briefé” = briefed).
Or cannot get it right between future and conditional: in English you have will/would, in French it’s a measly “s”: “je pourrai” (I will be able to) vs. “je pourrais” (I would).

Most of the time it not only teases my pet peeve nerve, but it also mixes up the message. What did the person really mean? That she could, or that she will? That she was, or that she needs to?

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