Surfing the Misspelling Madness

Earlier in this space I commented on how there appeared to be a large number of people searching on Google for information about Toby McGuire.

This, in turn, prompted two things: some weird discussion, mostly involved words like “hot” and “cute” and raising this site to the number one search result on Google for keywords “Toby McGuire.”

The thing is, as a helpful correspondent informed me, Toby McGuire is actually spelled Tobey Maguire, which presumably explains a lot of the above.

It looks like MSN corrects for this problem and Google does not.

In any case, if you’re looking for information on Toby, err, Tobey, why not try here or here.

Comments

Oliver's picture
Oliver on May 8, 2002 - 04:40 Permalink

It surprises me to see gushy opinions about a guy’s sexiness in a public forum—particularly opinions that seem to be from women or girls who seem to be happy to identify themselves by name. Have times changed? Or is this just another part of life I missed while growing up?

Oliver's picture
Oliver on May 8, 2002 - 06:50 Permalink

coed public forum, that is, and not counting Internet chat rooms.

Ann's picture
Ann on May 8, 2002 - 14:17 Permalink

Seems to me that, by correcting the spelling, you’re just kind of asking for it…

Oliver's picture
Oliver on May 8, 2002 - 18:30 Permalink

Actually I’m really trying not to ask for it—if you’re objecting to “co-ed.” I thought that having used just “public” left me open to the accusation that I didn’t think talk amongst a group of women in a city park counted as public speaking. For the record, I’m no longer so surprised by the discussion as I initially was, having realized
a) raving about a movie star isn’t like raving about mutual acquaintances,
b) I don’t know really know the nuances and usage conventions of “hot” for the people using it here ,
c) giving the discussion a theme artificially increased the concentration of the gushy comments versus spontaneous live conversation,
d) I suspect I’ve heard women make solitary comments that aren’t all that different,
e) the Internet is more anonymous than face-to-face conversation,
f) I was presuming the Tobey-type gushing was more like guy behavior, which made it interesting to me from the point of view of gender, but I have to admit I’ve never participated in or witnessed a discussion like this among guys.

Ann's picture
Ann on May 8, 2002 - 18:56 Permalink

Sorry Oliver…I meant Peter was asking for it. If he got all those hits from “Toby” it would seem to me he’s going to get a whole lot more by posting “Tobey”.

And I agree with you…except for f). Think about a conversation some guys might have about Pamela Anderson.

Al's picture
Al on May 8, 2002 - 22:31 Permalink

I still think this blog is dreamy…

Oliver's picture
Oliver on May 8, 2002 - 23:35 Permalink

Oh, you meant spelling literally. Whoops. You’re right that I can imagine guys talking about Pamela Anderson (sp?) and I’m sure that when I do I’m imagining thinking the same thing you are, and yet I suspect most of what comes to mind comes from movies and TV and not from my real life. So formally I have to acknowledge the possibility that the gender skew I perceive could exist only in how the world is sampled by television and the movies.. On the other hand, if somebody who spends a lot of time in sports bars chimes in that they have these PamAnd conversations every day, I’m quite prepared to believe them—and not only because Pam’s a babe.

christopher's picture
christopher on May 9, 2002 - 01:13 Permalink

I want to know where Craig Willson is, when we really need him.

Olivia Rukavina's picture
Olivia Rukavina on May 7, 2022 - 10:03 Permalink

20 years!