' Son and 'Sons: When a spelling error can prove fatal

Earlier this month, my attention was drawn to an article
published on BBC news website on the importance of good
spelling. Particularly intriguing was a related news addendum
on the page of one Mr Philip Davison-Sebry who had sued
Companies House (which listed on its website as part of its
functions 'to register all business firms in the UK and 'close a
company) for £8.8 million for a spelling error that he claimed
dealt a devastating blow on his business firm. What actually
happened?
A company by the name Taylor & Son (singular) had filed for
wound up with Companies House in 2009. However, what
Companies House actually registered and made public was
that Taylor & Sons (plural) (which is another business name,
that of Mr Philip Davison-Sebry's firm) had wound up. Of
course the obvious mix-up was letter 's'. In his testimony,
Davison-Sebry claimed that he lost his best customer, a
potential £3 million contract, among other things because of
the spelling error. Though the error was corrected three days
later, the damage had already been done as Mr Davison-
Sebry claimed his business clients and suppliers couldn't be
convinced that his firm hasn't wound up. Describing the
impact of the fatal error, Mr Davison-Sebry's lawyer said,
"The business of the company was, effectively, irreparably
destroyed. The business was damaged so as to become of no
value." Though Companies House denied that there is a link
between their 'wrong action and the failure of Mr Philip
Davison-Sebrys company, in March this year, BBC reported
that the two parties "have agreed to confidential terms of
settlement and the case has now concluded."

In a similar case, one Pentecostal church in Nigeria had sent
one of her pastors abroad to establish a branch of the church
there. In no time the church prospered. Subsequently, the
mother church in Nigeria felt the need to transfer this pastor
abroad elsewhere and trouble brewed and it ended in court.
This pastor took the case to court, claiming the church was
his and established that the branch of the church he pastored
abroad has no connection with the mother church in Nigeria.
His claim was that the name of his church is Prayer and
Word Pentecostal Church (not real name), not The Prayer and
Word Pentecostal Church, which is the name of the mother
church in Nigeria. Of course, in a clime where significant
importance is attached to seemingly insignificant details like
the number of times a footballer touched the ball on the field,
number of passes completed in a match, assists provided,
etc., the pastor won. The error—omission of article 'the'—
willed ownership of the church to him.
As an undergraduate, I had wished I stayed abroad too. I
knew I could claim damages for being misled by a bank advert
encouraging fresh students to open an account. The advert of
the bank read: "Open an account and win a laptop". I had
pointed a friend's attention to the advert and joked that if I
were in the UK or US, I would have opened an account with
the bank and would have immediately requested my laptop—
the promised aftermath of opening the account. So I said to
my friend that the advert should have read: "Open an account
and stand a chance to win a laptop". Unfortunately, a number
of Nigerian commercial banks still semantically default in their
adverts.
And there is the story of a man who had planned vacationing
with his wife but the wife could not make it eventually. He
went alone nonetheless but kept in touch with his wife via
telegram. During this time, he had something to share with
his wife. He went to the telegrapher and dictated the following
words to the telegrapher: "Having a nice time, wish you were
here." However, the telegrapher typed and sent the following:
"Having a nice time, wish you were her." Obviously just letter
'e' is missing in that statement but its omission ruined the
intended message and probably the marriage too.
The impact of an error can be devastating but everyone is prone
to error.