Sometimes, despite the large amount of work chores, and getting out of bed early, I just can’t fall asleep at night. Most people probably choose to just wait until they fall asleep or try reading a book.

What I do? I pick up my cell phone (Yes, I know that’s said to be unhealthy.) and open my eBay app. But not to shop there. No, I look for a low rated shop and read the negative ratings from customers. Since, as I found out, negative comments are usually packed with spelling mistakes. More than the positive ratings are. And sometimes when I see an amusing mistake I even take a screenshot to read it again whenever I want.

It might sound like a strange hobby, but I’m simply drawn towards spelling mistakes. They sometimes are just as entertaining to me as a good movie or book.

Of course, I sometimes grab a book and hope to be able to sleep, but it mostly makes me even more awake since I really want to know what’s going to happen next. Especially, since I mostly read crime thrillers.

Since a few days now I have a new app on my mobile which acts as a simple counter. Every time I come across a spelling mistake (like in catalogues, commercials or news) I tap the screen on my phone. This way the nice app counts the amount for me. As soon as I update the counter on my blog I reset the counter on the phone to start over again.

On an average I find 3 spelling mistakes a day. They are always different and from people or companies. Today, for example, I read a legal text to upskill. And even in this text, which was written by a lawyer, I found a common German mistake: Confusing “das” (the – article) and “dass” (that – condition). Time for another tap on my phone’s screen.

The month hasn’t ended yet and I’m already at 49 mistakes that I found. (But probably more since I just only got to download the app to help me track the mistakes.)

Jessica Havenith