World's longest misspelt sentence
Sep 28, 2020, 1:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2019
Location: North Wales
Programs: BAEC, M&M
Posts: 88
World's longest misspelt sentence
I received an email from BA Customer Assistance containing the following sentence:-
"However if this was not a valid connection time you would not of been able to of book this, in terms of passed experiences i can only apologise, we have changed our assistance partners from January of this year it may be that your passed experience was from prior to that date."
It reminded me of an old O level English question, "find and correct the mistakes in the following"
"However if this was not a valid connection time you would not of been able to of book this, in terms of passed experiences i can only apologise, we have changed our assistance partners from January of this year it may be that your passed experience was from prior to that date."
It reminded me of an old O level English question, "find and correct the mistakes in the following"
Sep 28, 2020, 1:31 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South East, UK
Programs: BA Gold / GfL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,432
Not too dissimilar to the quality of some posts on Flyertalk by native speakers 
Must admit I find it almost painful to read "would of"
. But then I am becoming more of a Victor Meldrew year-by-year 
Must admit I find it almost painful to read "would of"
. But then I am becoming more of a Victor Meldrew year-by-year
Sep 28, 2020, 2:12 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,991
The person who sent this should not be communicating directly with customers.
And it's likely that s/he is a native English speaker, because no-one who has been taught English as a second language would make the mistakes in that sentence.
And it's likely that s/he is a native English speaker, because no-one who has been taught English as a second language would make the mistakes in that sentence.
Sep 28, 2020, 3:14 am
#5
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,609
Lots of people make grammatical mistakes, in all sorts of roles. At least it wasn't boilerplate, and it seems a shame to pull this out to make fun of someone doing their job as best they can.
Let those who never make a mistake cast the first scone.
Let those who never make a mistake cast the first scone.
Sep 28, 2020, 3:22 am
#6
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: London, Babylon-on-Thames
Programs: BAEC Blue (back to Earth)
Posts: 1,507
If communication is the job you are paid for, this doesn't wash. "could of" and "would of" are just plain wrong. Mebbe i am bein 2 harsh on dis but iz 2020 innit?
Sep 28, 2020, 3:29 am
#7
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,926
I received an email from BA Customer Assistance containing the following sentence:-
"However if this was not a valid connection time you would not of been able to of book this, in terms of passed experiences i can only apologise, we have changed our assistance partners from January of this year it may be that your passed experience was from prior to that date."
It reminded me of an old O level English question, "find and correct the mistakes in the following"
"However if this was not a valid connection time you would not of been able to of book this, in terms of passed experiences i can only apologise, we have changed our assistance partners from January of this year it may be that your passed experience was from prior to that date."
It reminded me of an old O level English question, "find and correct the mistakes in the following"
Sep 28, 2020, 3:34 am
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,364
Sep 28, 2020, 4:22 am
#9
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,591
Sep 28, 2020, 4:31 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2019
Location: North Wales
Programs: BAEC, M&M
Posts: 88
I am not making fun of someone doing their job as best they can, I am making a valid point that public facing staff of a large British company/institution should at least be able to use the English language with some skill and competence. Is it so wrong to expect the correct use of the Queen's English in British business correspondence? Incidentally I would only recognise the adjective boilerplate as being a fine example of American English.
Sep 28, 2020, 4:36 am
#11
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,899
Sep 28, 2020, 5:02 am
#12
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Leicestershire / Dubai
Programs: BA Silver, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite & Lifetime Gold, Heathrow Rewards Premium, Tesco Clubcard
Posts: 663
Has anyone thought that they may have a condition (E.g. dyslexia?) and may therefore need assistance from a colleague?
Sep 28, 2020, 5:18 am
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
But following your thesis, is the suggestion that maybe the designated amanuensis was having a day off, or perhaps the writer was too proud to ask for assistance?
Sep 28, 2020, 5:22 am
#14
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,237
I know. Expecting a personalised reply and on top of that one written in competent English...tsss... How unreasonably extravagant: OP should know that ability to write English is not a required skill of BA customer assistance employees. How on earth would they be able to recruit employees at the rate they pay them if they had such unreasonable expectations?
Sep 28, 2020, 5:43 am
#15
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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