04 April 2010

Word for the day: Clbuttic

The phrase "clbuttic mistake" describes the situation that arises when a spam filter or word processing program detects the letters "ass" in the word "classic" and replaces them with the letters "butt."

"Passport" becomes "Pbuttport."

"Clbuttic" is featured in a BBC article which also discusses the unfortunate auto-substitution that occurred when sprinter Tyson Gay was in the Olympics ("Homosexual eases into 100m final at Olympic trials") amd explains that a Canadian magazine with a proud 90 year history of being named "The Beaver" is now finding that it can't reach subscribers online because of spam filters.
Deborah Morrison, publisher of the Winnipeg-based journal, told the BBC News website: "Back in 1920, The Beaver was a perfectly appropriate name."  And while its other meaning is nothing new, its ambiguity began to pose a whole new challenge with the advance of the internet. The name became an impediment to our growth."

Similar concerns in part prompted Beaver College in the US state of Pennsylvania to change its name in 2001.

2 comments:

  1. Oregon bring the BEAVER STATE, we have
    beaver every where, and we're not changing.
    Oregon State mascot is the beaver, and
    the football team is just known as The Beavers.
    Of course it always brings a smile, when
    a sport's page reads something like
    Washington Huskies Lick the Beavers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I get this feeling, I want genderual healing.

    ReplyDelete

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