Number One: Hyphens don’t usually score high on the list of most important punctuation.

第一個: 連字符號通常不是最重要的標點符號

But a single dash led to absolute failure for NASA in 1962 in the case of Mariner 1,

但一個破折號卻讓1962年美國太空總署的水手一號，美國的第一架行星探測器

America’s first interplanetary probe. The mission was simple: get up close and personal

徹底失敗。這個任務很簡單: 將探測器送上太空

with close neighbor Venus. But a single missing hyphen in the coding used to set trajectory

並且靠近我們的鄰居金星。但在程式中少了個用來設定軌道與速度的連字號

and speed caused the craft to explode just minutes after takeoff. 2001: A Space Odyssey

導致這架太空船在發射後幾分鐘內爆炸。2001年，太空漫遊小說的作者

novelist Arthur C. Clarke called it “the most expensive hyphen in history.”

C. Clarke稱他為「歷史上最貴的連字符號」

Number Two: A missing letter cost one sloppy eBay seller more than half-a-mill on the 150-year-old

第二個: 少一個字母讓一位粗心的eBay賣家在一瓶150年老的啤酒拍賣中

beer he was auctioning. Few collectors knew a bottle of Allsopp’s Arctic Ale was up

損失超過五十萬美元。有一些收藏家知道有一瓶Allsopp酒廠的Arctic Ale正在競標

for bid, because it was listed with a single 'P' instead of two. One eagle-eyed bidder

但因為標題中酒廠名字只寫了一個P，而不是PP。這時有一位眼尖的競標者

hit a payday of Antiques Roadshow proportions when he came across the rare booze, purchased

看到了這瓶稀有的啤酒，就參與競標

it for $304, then immediately re-sold it for $503,300.

並用304美元買到這瓶酒，並立即用50萬3300美元轉售出去

Number Three: Not even the heavenly father is immune to occasional inattention to detail.

第三個: 即使是神聖的神父也沒辦法避免偶爾發生的粗心行為

In 1631, London’s Baker Book House rewrote the 10 Commandments when a missing word in

1631年，倫敦的Baker Book House重新撰寫了十誡，但卻在第七誡少寫了一個字

the seventh directive declared, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” Parliament was not singing

讓它變成公然的指示為，「你應該通姦」。議會這時無法讚美主

hallelujah; they declared that all erroneous copies of the Good Book—which came to be

他們公開表示所有錯誤版本的聖經--這時已被認為是「邪惡的經典」

known as “The Wicked Bible”—be destroyed and fined the London publisher 3000 pounds.

--要被銷毀，並對倫敦出版社處以3000英鎊的罰款

Number Four:. A plate of tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto would typically only

第四個: 一盤義式乾麵加上沙丁魚與煙燻五香火腿一般來說

be offensive to a vegetarian’s senses. But an unfortunate blunder in The Pasta Bible,

僅僅是對素食者有些冒犯。但有個不幸的錯誤發生在這本2010年

published by Penguin Australia in 2010, recommended seasoning the dish with “salt and freshly

由澳洲企鵝出版社所出版的義大利麵聖經上面，建議在魚肉上面用

ground black people.” Though no recall was made of the books already in circulation,

「鹽與新鮮的黑人」來調味。雖然已在外流通的書本並沒有被召回

the printer quickly destroyed all 7000 remaining copies in its inventory.

但印刷工很快地銷毀還在庫存裡的7000本書

Number Five: . Online trading was still in its relative infancy in 1994, a fact Juan

第五個: 在1994年，當時線上交易相對上仍不是那麼普及，事實上

Pablo Davila will never forget. It all started when the former copper trader—who was employed

Juan Pablo Davila將永遠也不會忘記。這一切是開始於他擔任金屬銅交易員

by Chile’s government-owned company Codelco—mistakenly bought stock he was trying to sell. After

--受雇於智利政府的國營公司 Codelco--誤買了他原本試著要賣掉的庫存

realizing the error, he went on a bit of a trading rampage—buying and selling enough

在他發現這錯誤後，他有一點陷入了交易混亂--一直買賣庫存

stock that, by day’s end, he had cost the company/country $175 million. Davila was,

直到當天交易日結束，他讓公司/國家損失了1.75億美元。

of course, fired. And Codelco ended up filing suit against Merrill Lynch, alleging that

想當然爾，Davila被開除了，並且Codelco最後對美林公司提出訴訟

the brokerage allowed Davila to make unauthorized trades. Merrill coughed up $25 million to

指控經紀允許Davila從事一些未經授權的交易。而美林則付出了2千5百萬美元

settle the dispute—but not before a new word entered the popular lexicon: davilar,

來平息這場爭議--而後來有個新的熱門辭彙:

a verb used to indicate a screw-up of epic magnitude.

davilar，一個動詞，用來表示搞砸一件非常重大的事件

Number Six: In December 2005, Japan’s Mizuho Securities introduced a new member to its

第六個: 2005年12月，日本的瑞穗證券大宗交易部投資了

portfolio of offerings, a recruitment company called J-Com Co., nicely priced at 610,000

一間新上市的公司J-Com Co., 股價為每股61萬日圓

yen per share. Less than a year later, one of the company’s traders made more than

不到一年後，有位交易員犯了個嚴重的錯誤

a simple boo-boo when he sold 610,000 shares at one yen apiece. No amount of pleading to

他將此公司的61萬股以每股1日圓出售。即使事後求助東京證交所

the Tokyo Stock Exchange could reverse the error.

也無法彌補這次的錯誤

Number Seven: And you thought alien sightings were the only interesting thing happening

第七個: 你以為看到外星人僅是發生在新墨西哥州拉茲威市

in Roswell, New Mexico! In 2007, a local car dealership came up with a brilliant plan to

唯一的一件趣事嗎，2007年，一家在地車商為了刺激疲弱的消費，想出了個聰明的法子

stimulate sluggish sales: mail out 50,000 scratch tickets, one of which would reveal

他們以電郵寄出了5萬份刮刮卡，而其中一份能刮中1千美元現金

a $1000 cash prize. But Atlanta-based Force Events Direct Marketing Company mistakenly

但位於亞特蘭大的這家Force Events Direct Marketing市調公司卻錯誤的

upped the ante when they printed said scratch tickets, making every one of them a grand-prize

把賭注調高了。當他們在印製刮刮卡時，讓每張刮刮卡都能中獎

winner, for a grand payout of $50 million. Unable to honor the debt, the dealership instead

這使得這車商須支付5千萬美元的獎金。因無力兌現這個欠款

offered a $5 Walmart gift certificate for every winning ticket.

車商改由付給每位中獎者5美元的walmart禮物卡

Number Eight: Humans and computers don’t always play well together. In 2006, New York

第八個: 人類和電腦並不總是合作無間的。

City comptroller William Thompson admitted that a typo—an extra letter, to be precise—caused

2006年，紐約市的一位審計官William Thompson承認了一個打字上的失誤--多打了個字母

its accounting software to misinterpret a document, leading the city’s Department

更進一步--這導致他的會計軟體誤解了一份文件，這讓該市教育部門的

of Education to double its transportation spending (shelling out $2.8 million instead of $1.4 million).

運輸費用高出兩倍 (支付了2千8百萬美元，而不是原本的1千4百萬美元)

Number Nine: . Not to be outdone, just last month, New York City’s Transportation Authority

第九個: 然而這種事沒有就此止步，上個月，紐約市的運輸當局

had to recall 160,000 maps and posters that announced the recent hike for the minimum

得召回16萬份的地圖和海報，上面原要宣布近期將調漲計次票的最低票價

amount put on pay-per-ride cards from $4.50 to $5.00. The problem? A typographical error

由4.5美元調至5美元。問題是甚麼呢？因為印刷的錯誤

that listed the “new” price as $4.50. Oops! Of course, it will only take 100,000

上面打了「新」票價為4.5美元。噢！當然，這只需要在這六截車廂裡

rides on the 6 train to make up the difference. So straphangers lose (yet again).

搭乘十萬次即可彌補這個價差。所以，通勤者輸了(再一次)。

Number Ten: Remember the Yellow Pages? Yeah, well Banner Travel Services would like to

第十個: 還記得黃頁簿嗎？嗯，好吧，Banner Travel Services公司應該會想忘了它

forget them. Years ago, the now-shuttered Sonoma, California-based travel agency decided

一年前，一家位於索諾瑪縣，現已倒閉的加州旅行社想在電話簿上

to market its services in the phone book ... only to find that the final printing advertised

刊登廣告推銷自己...只是最後在廣告印刷出來時

its specialization in exotic destinations as a forte in “erotic” destinations. The

把他們專門在做異國旅遊印成他們的長處是「性愛」的地點

typo certainly piqued the interest of some new customers, just not the kind of clientele

這個錯誤激起了某些新客戶的興趣，只是這些客戶並不是

the company was hoping to attract. The printer offered to waive its $230 monthly listing

這家公司想招來的客人。最後印刷廠讓他們免付一個月230美元的刊登費用

fee, but Banner sued for $10 million anyway.

但是Banner則對其求償1千萬美元

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