The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

19 February 2008

Standards aren't what they used to be

"I am a professional proofreader," she insisted.

There are twenty digits associated with a credit card: sixteen in the number (unless it's American Express), four in the expiration date. Of these twenty, she managed to screw up nine.

And of course she claimed it was our fault because, after all, she is a professional proofreader.

A pox on her. Not a big pox: small will do nicely.

Posted at 10:31 AM to Wastes of Oxygen


Actually, Visas can have 14 numbers, too.

And professional proofreaders are merely people who compare proofs to marked up editors' copies. The editors are the ones who make the changes.

I once failed a test to be a professional proofreader because I edited the copy.

Posted by: Brian J. at 10:48 AM on 19 February 2008

In fact, there was a time when a Visa had 13 digits; they're supposed to have converted them all over by now. Certainly it's been a while since I saw one other than a 16-banger.

Posted by: CGHill at 11:17 AM on 19 February 2008

I was just going by the list of test numbers provided by PayPal which I've used professionally.

Posted by: Brian J. at 2:37 PM on 19 February 2008