Another week, another endemic spelling problem on Twitter: as the Internet marked the occasion of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, countless people instead chose to honor “Martian Luther King,” a relatively unsung extraterrestrial who dreamed of uniting the solar system in social harmony.
God bless @fansince09, master of the Twitter term search pic.twitter.com/S7Zsj45bcW
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 20, 2014
@daveweigel @FanSince09 maybe not just a world holiday but a holiday for the entire galaxy.
— SB (@TheSecondSingle) January 20, 2014
The error has the tendency to undermine otherwise serious posts.
It’s Martian Luther King Day and we still have black on black violence
— ✈Justin Johnson ✈™ (@HeyBuddyItsJJ) January 20, 2014
Martian Luther King Jr. is a constant source of inspiration.
— omniscient yawn (@edgarallentoe) January 20, 2014
I went to the place where Martian Luther King Jr got shot this summer. Seriously feels like ur apart of history
— Jose Tirado (@JTIRADO_13) January 20, 2014
King’s first name isn’t the only one routinely mangled, however—religious confusion also abounds.
My co-worker asked me to make sure we had a display of books for “Martin Lutheran King Day”. I thought I misheard, but she said it 3 times..
— Cara B. (@carabeein) January 19, 2014
“The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.” Martin Lutheran King
— Kande Flowers (@kande_flowers) January 20, 2014
63 %of blacks r out of jobs Democrates r really taking care of u Martin Lutheran king would be upset on what the dem r doing to u #tcot
— joyce (@grandma43) January 19, 2014
There’s really no accounting for this message, however (aside from the obvious goofs, there’s the fact that King’s birthday is January 15, and his holiday falls on a different date each year):
Happy Birthday to Marvin Luther and King Jr!
— Read Peat & Mak (@ReadPeatMak) January 20, 2014
Elsewhere today, Joe Mande has been retweeting the most tone-deaf corporate posts that name-check MLK, but it’s good to know that just like social media interns, average people don’t think twice before exposing their ignorance or misunderstanding of history. Free at last!
A dude at a coffee shop this morning told me he is having ‘Martini Luther King Day’ to celebrate. This dude was obviously white.
— Zach Stafford (@ZachStafford) January 20, 2014
Photo by J.Gabás Esteban/Flickr