http://www.editorscanberra.org/muphrys-law/
I was sent this link recently and just thought I'd share.
Quote:
Muphry’s Law
Muphry’s Law is the editorial application of the better-known Murphy’s Law. Muphry’s Law dictates that:
(a) if you write anything criticising editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written;
(b) if an author thanks you in a book for your editing or proofreading, there will be mistakes in the book;
(c) the stronger the sentiment expressed in (a) and (b), the greater the fault;
(d) any book devoted to editing or style will be internally inconsistent.
Muphry’s Law also dictates that, if a mistake is as plain as the nose on your face, everyone can see it but you. Your readers will always notice errors in a title, in headings, in the first paragraph of anything, and in the top lines of a new page. These are the very places where authors, editors and proofreaders are most likely to make mistakes.
Acknowledgments to John Bangsund, of the Victorian Society of Editors, who first coined the term.
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