Typos too good not to share

As an editor, I'm well aware of how easy it is to miss a typo and introduce a spelling error or gloss over a false cognate late in the production process. Periodically, I find something embarrassing in my own writing that resulted from twiddling with the text at the last minute before publishing and not exercising due diligence in reviewing my self-edits. (This is why so many book dedications thank the editor, but then note that "any remaining errors are my fault". It's very true. We authors can't resist the temptation of fiddling and twiddling right up to press time.)

Because of our awareness of the inevitability of such errors, editors tend to not crow to loudly about the typos that other editors have missed... it's a combination of sympathy, professional courtesy, and the very real fear that the more loudly we point out the errors of others, the more likely it is they'll make us the next victim.

All that being said, some typos (or autocorrects, or word substitutions due to brain farts) are just too good not to share. For instance, this one from the November issue of Locus magazine: "[He] became an AIDS activist and advocate for medical cannibals."

Who wants Hannibal Lector for their doctor? In case the error wasn't clear (I do have some ESL readers), the word should have been "cannabis", but really, the whole problem would have been avoided had the author avoided the temptation to reach for the $10 word instead of using the perfectly serviceable $1 word marijuana.