Another week, another Monday, another Malapropism Monday here! It’s been a pretty busy day — there’s only an hour left of Monday in my time zone — but I want to maintain the habit. This will be a short one, but something I see all the time nonetheless.
In my main job I translate and process market research surveys and survey responses. I take care of the Spanish and French responses that come in, and at times help with the English ones as well. One mistake I see regularly in customers’ responses is when they write referring to themselves or other customers as “costumers.” Let’s just say that none of the clients my company works with have anything to do with theater, fashion, dressing up, or costumes of any type.
I’ve read dozens of responses similar to: “I’ve been a costumer at Company X for 10 years…” No. No, you haven’t. Company X is a car dealership!
Just a small thing, but another mistake that a spell checker won’t catch as long as “costumer” is spelled right!