A Misplaced Comma Cost a Company $5 Million

A Misplaced Comma Cost a Company $5 Million

If you think grammar is something you only need in school, you’ll be surprised to find out messing it up can sometimes cost millions of dollars or make a huge difference in your personal life. Misplacing a comma, for instance, can change the meaning of a sentence dramatically. For example, note the difference between “Let’s eat (comma) Granny!” and “Let’s eat Granny!”

In 2017, Oakhurst Dairy, a company from the state of Maine, literally lost millions of bucks because of a misplaced comma. And that was not exactly the only case that proved that grammar actually rules the world.

Other videos you might like:
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A Cool Grammar Test That 95% of People Fail

TIMESTAMPS:
Oakhurst Dairy case 0:36
The “Oxford comma” explained 2:04
Court’s decision 3:25
Other interesting cases:
Fruit and plants, 1872 4:25
Son and sons, 2015 5:09
The most expensive typo in history, 1962 6:02
Exotic travels gone rogue, 1988 7:02
The missing “p,” 2007 8:02

#missingcomma #hugemistake #brightside

Music by Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com/

SUMMARY:
-Truck drivers working for the company claimed they were owed overtime payment, while the company itself disagreed. According to the law, the exemptions were … “storing, packing for shipment or distribution” of perishable foods. A missing comma makes it all a single activity.
-The “Oxford comma” is normally put before “and” or “or” in sentences where there are three or more items listed one after another.
-Each of the five truck drivers that filed the complaint received $50,000, and the rest of them (that’s about 127 people) were owed overtime pay for four years.
-By writing “fruit, plants” instead of “fruit-plants,” the US government basically waived fees for all plants instead of only fruit-bearing ones.
-In 2015, a British family business called Taylor and Sons was listed by the government as facing liquidation instead of Taylor and Son, a completely different company.
-In 1962, the missing hyphen sent the rocket bearing the probe off course and on to a dramatic crash in the Atlantic Ocean.
-In 1988, a travel agency from California decided to list its exotic travel packages in the directory as an advertisement, but Yellow Pages printed it as “erotic travels.”
-An unfortunate seller on eBay put a bottle of 1852 Allsopp’s Arctic Ale with one “p” in Allsopps. The buyer who purchased it resold it for over a half million dollars.

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50 Comments

  1. Hitendra Koduri on February 15, 2023 at 5:01 am

    I really want to know who is narrating the story. Very engaging 👌👌 @brightside



  2. MikeTheKav on February 15, 2023 at 5:01 am

    Thank God my 7th Grade Language Arts teacher had us use Oxford commas. I pretty much remember them now



  3. Curse M. on February 15, 2023 at 5:02 am

    WRONG:why is it raining honey?
    RIGHT:why is it raining,Honey?



  4. wnaelgas on February 15, 2023 at 5:02 am

    can you sub to me
    just doing a challenge that me and my friends made we must stop getting subs until next month



  5. prashant gautam on February 15, 2023 at 5:06 am

    What……😱😱😱😱😱



  6. Nakirium • on February 15, 2023 at 5:09 am

    i do be elon musk a witch and a cyborg doe



  7. Ivory Barksdale on February 15, 2023 at 5:10 am

    Almost Every time I make mistakes I fix them



  8. Eduardo Mórlan on February 15, 2023 at 5:11 am

    6:48 Speaking about errors: the text states INDEFINITELY LARGER and the audio is INFINITELY LARGER.



  9. Why yes on February 15, 2023 at 5:14 am

    My favourite food are French fires,Burgers and houses.



  10. Audrey Smit on February 15, 2023 at 5:14 am

    you spelled the word ‘hyphon’ wrong, now it costs you one million dollars
    hee hee



  11. qwuavy on February 15, 2023 at 5:16 am

    2:54 cywitch musk was not the imposter



  12. Yuvraj Agrahari on February 15, 2023 at 5:17 am

    What would if Elon Musk is watching this video !!!😂😂😂😂😆😆😆😆😁😁😁



  13. Jenny Anthony on February 15, 2023 at 5:18 am

    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,



  14. BRIGHT SIDE on February 15, 2023 at 5:19 am

    Hey there, BrightSiders! Do you often notice typos?



  15. Lobster on February 15, 2023 at 5:21 am

    You stole Half as Interestings Thumbnail.



  16. Loel Azarcon on February 15, 2023 at 5:21 am

    STOP COPYING HALF AS INTRESTING



  17. Emmanuel Lehmann on February 15, 2023 at 5:21 am

    This video is stolen from half as interesting.



  18. Sideshownicful on February 15, 2023 at 5:22 am

    There was a case in Canada, Bell vs Rogers, where a comma was the issue. Bell thoughy they could cancel the contract with 1 year’s notice. Rogers thought the contract could only be cancelled after 5 years, with 1 years notice. This was solved after numerous court battles by looking at the french version of the contract, who had no ambiguities (Rogers won)



  19. Niaz Ahmed on February 15, 2023 at 5:22 am

    yes in most exams



  20. Christina kollar on February 15, 2023 at 5:23 am

    Stolen thumbnail



  21. uday bhumana on February 15, 2023 at 5:26 am

    vb



  22. Nice One Hey on February 15, 2023 at 5:26 am

    That wine seller is so embarrassed for sure



  23. mikaela on February 15, 2023 at 5:27 am

    I got a Grammaly ad, what a coincidence.



  24. Sparda of Gaming India on February 15, 2023 at 5:28 am

    I always do grammar mistakes and pay my marks 😂



  25. Ivory Barksdale on February 15, 2023 at 5:29 am

    My comments are sponsored by Grammarly.



  26. Srianika Kumar on February 15, 2023 at 5:30 am

    LOL 😝 so amazing 😉



  27. Conor collins on February 15, 2023 at 5:31 am

    ,



  28. Jhex Desear on February 15, 2023 at 5:32 am

    I literally searched for the meaning of flabbergasted and I get flabbergastic when I knew its meaning😂



  29. Aman Amrit Cheema on February 15, 2023 at 5:34 am

    lol 6:49 spoke infinitely and wrote indefinitely



  30. 𝐴𝑛𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒🐍 on February 15, 2023 at 5:35 am

    my english teacher was terrible Im in 5th grade and I still dont know grammar 🥺



  31. hello on February 15, 2023 at 5:36 am

    My classmate wrote on her story: "I eat my dad’s cook"
    and i was confused.



  32. farid bouchtout on February 15, 2023 at 5:37 am

    Once I spelled a name wrong on a show, it was so imberissing.



  33. WrathGX on February 15, 2023 at 5:38 am

    I did pay for a grammar mistake
    In my grammar exam



  34. Sowmya Ganapathi on February 15, 2023 at 5:39 am

    what do you do when we toilet day



  35. SpongeTracks on February 15, 2023 at 5:40 am

    Let’s eat ,granny.
    LETS EAT GRANNY



  36. ChuotVy on February 15, 2023 at 5:41 am

    Commas are expensive



  37. Skate3Fiend on February 15, 2023 at 5:41 am

    Isn’t this video pretty much a carbon copy of the one Half as Interesting made?



  38. Alpha on February 15, 2023 at 5:43 am

    That joke In the begging was in my english text book at school!🤣



  39. Anne on February 15, 2023 at 5:43 am

    Let’s eat granny!



  40. Andrei Chirilă on February 15, 2023 at 5:44 am

    9:02 I made mistakes,of course but I never made a grammar mistake that made me pay for it



  41. shumaila ovais on February 15, 2023 at 5:45 am

    No



  42. Andrei Chirilă on February 15, 2023 at 5:45 am

    7:00 One of the books I want, the ”Yellow Pages ”in Romanian



  43. Mikki on February 15, 2023 at 5:47 am

    Yeah people! You all need to learn you’re grammar!



  44. Andrew H on February 15, 2023 at 5:47 am

    “Infinitely larger”

    The words on the screen says “indefinitely larger”



  45. Usman Younas on February 15, 2023 at 5:49 am

    Half as interesting already made a video about this



  46. Nikki in YOUTUBE on February 15, 2023 at 5:50 am

    I was responding to an educational video in WhatsApp. And the message was "That’s an interesting fact". But, I accidently press "r" instead of "c" in the "fact" word. Should I say the word???…………. Well never mind



  47. Cillian Lawlor on February 15, 2023 at 5:55 am

    You stole Half As Interesting’s thumbnail.



  48. Kunoshi on February 15, 2023 at 5:57 am

    Hi don,t say commas are underrated



  49. Zaara Ahmed on February 15, 2023 at 5:58 am

    This is a copy of Half as Interesting, they even used the same examples and picture



  50. Bhanujas on February 15, 2023 at 5:59 am

    no