For fun, Asterisks.com shares some amusing blunders collected by editors.
Asterisks.com (1999). Humor>Language>Writing>Localization
The Biggest Lies Heard by Technical Writers

This list is the result of a thread started on the Techwr-l listserver group about the biggest lies we, as technical writers, hear on an almost weekly basis.
Documentia (2003). Humor>Writing>Technical Writing
Boredom: The Secret of Tech Writing 
Of course, it's not 100% all of the time boring. Just some of it, on a fairly regular but not intolerable basis. But boring all the same.
Higgins, Lisa. TECHWR-L (2000). Humor>Writing>Technical Writing
The Bumper Book of Technical Boobs 
Humorous examples of accidental (and humorous) errors in technical descriptions. Most of the gems on the following pages were, thankfully, picked up at the editing stage. One or two slipped through into printed books; some didnÕt even get as far as first draft stage. We have wondered for a long time about the mentality of the people who write this sort of thing; now you, too, can sit at your desk and try to figure out what these technical authors (yes, they actually get paid for this!) and engineers are on, where they got it from and whether they will give you some.
Watson, Sophie. ISTC (2004). Humor>Writing>Technical Writing
Technical writing sounds like the ideal job.
Dyen, Natalie Zellat. NatalieWritings. Humor>Writing>Documentation
Some people ask me about the frustrations and difficulties involved in the business of technical documentation. As a reply, I tell them this joke.
Documentia (2003). Humor>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
E-Mail, Acronyms, and Alphabet Soup 
Emoticons have become pretty complex, now including ones like :-# [lips are sealed], :-& [tongue tied], or :-'' [pursing lips].
Ray, Deborah S. TECHWR-L (1998). Humor>Writing>Correspondence>Email
This morning I woke up in a cold sweat -- which was odd, because I usually wake up in bed. In my dream, or rather nightmare, I was reviewing a manuscript that was due to be returned to a client that very morning. As I recalled the dream, I realized why I was sweating -- the manuscript had been edited by someone who combined the worst characteristics of every copy editor I'd ever known.
Mickle, Lee. Editorial Eye, The (1997). Humor>Writing>Editing
Engineering Terms in Plain English
Twenty terms from engineering writiting translated into the vernacular.
PlainLanguage.gov (2004). Humor>Writing>Engineering>Minimalism
Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness 
Lists wacky, bizarre, surreal and otherwise strange examples of technical documentation, particularly illustration.
Barefoot, Darren K. Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness (2005). Humor>Writing>Technical Illustration>Technical Writing
How come...everyone still says there is 'an error in the docs!'
Gooch, Chris. TECHWR-L (1999). Humor>Writing
Fifty-two humorous rules about how to write well (each of which is broken).
PlainLanguage.gov (2004). Humor>Writing>Grammar
It is punctuation that mirrors our personality, punctuation that exposes our true spirits, punctuation that reveals the soul. The punctuation that saturates our writing, that is, the punctuation marks we choose to overuse, is the real ink blot test of personality.
Boucher, Lorie. Writer's Block (2000). Humor>Writing
Kelly's Laws of Technical Writing (retro version)
A reaction to the dysfunction of technical writing in the modern workplace.
Kelly, William T. Typepad.com (2004). Humor>Writing>Technical Writing
The top 16 things likely to be overheard if you had Klingon technical writers working on your documentation team.
Documentia (2003). Humor>Writing>Technical Writing
A technical writer...hey aren't those like the guys who wrote the manual for the Quantum Leap Accelerator?
Tipple, Mark. InFrame. Humor>Writing>Technology>Technical Writing
Low-Level Jobs to Avoid: Technical Writer
Grouping technical writers with grocery stock clerks and temps, this article mocks us all. Seemingly, from the position of someone who's done the job. For example, under 'manager says,' it quotes:
I want those four bullet points on letters of credit to be perfectly clear and concise. Spend a few more hours reworking them until they're exactly right.
Suck (1998). Humor>TC>Writing>Technical Writing
In an effort to improve productivity by reducing the amount of time wasted by writers arguing over various issues from tools to punctuation, the following Guidelines take effect immediately.
Nine Easy Steps to Longer Sentences
Are you tired of short, direct, and simple sentences that seem to take forever to fill up a page? Are you paid by the word? In either case you can benefit by increasing the number of words in your sentences and the bulk of your writing. And it's easy if you just follow nine simple steps, many of which you may already know and practice.
McGinty, Kathy. PlainLanguage.gov (2004). Humor>Writing>Technical Writing>Minimalism
A collection of humorous quotations about programming that proves geeks have a sense of humor after all, albeit arcane, for example: "A computer without COBOL and FORTRAN is like a piece of chocolate cake without ketchup or mustard." — John Krueger
The TC Team: Our Very Own Superheroes 
Leavitt imagines how easy writing documentation would be with the help of technical communication superheroes who fix grammar, translate technobabble, and extend deadlines.
Leavitt, Loralee. Intercom (2000). Humor>Documentation>Writing
A Tech Writer Dies and Goes to Heaven
A joke about what technical writers' heaven might be like.
Hughes, Michael A. Blogspot (2008). Humor>Writing>Technical Writing>SMEs
The long-awaited summary of Tech Writing Folklore and Minstrelsy!
TECHWR-L (1998). Humor>Writing>Multimedia>Audio
A Technical Writer's Chicken Soup Recipe
This is my humble attempt to write a recipe in software manual style. The recipe makes store-bought canned chicken soup -- any brand -- taste almost as good as homemade.
Citron, David H. TechWriter.info. Humor>Documentation>Technical Writing
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