Author errors vs. in-universe "errors"

[ElectricBlue]

Not necessarily an error. There's a way to do it (edit: make that a couple of ways) though I'm not sure if it's what O. Henry had in mind.

I'll leave it up a few hours and see if anybody gets it. Australians not eligible to enter this one, as we have an advantage

I was just about to blurt an answer, but yours is a more cunning and devious plan, to make them sing for their supper. Younger Aussies, though, they wouldn't know, since they...

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Not necessarily an error. There's a way to do it (edit: make that a couple of ways) though I'm not sure if it's what O. Henry had in mind.

I'll leave it up a few hours and see if anybody gets it. Australians not eligible to enter this one, as we have an advantage

Well, since "Gift of the Magi" is set in New York City, a tuppence wasn't an option.

But, I think the simpler explanation is that "sixty cents of it in pennies" didn't mean that was ALL the pennies in the pile. It was just to indicate that the majority of the coins were the smallest available denomination.
so, 1.87-60 = 1.27 --> four quarters, two dimes, one nickel and two stray pennies.

Interestingly, the first version of the story that I pulled up didn't have the phrase about 60 cents in pennies. And the four versions I read all had slight differences in language in the first few paragraphs.

 

[Voboy]

I was thinking of this thread just now when I scanned through my new story and then submitted it. It involves an undercover cop, but she's in first-person and she sometimes removes herself from the reality of what's happening to her. I denote that by lapsing into third person.

Sometimes, I do it mid-paragraph.

There's a sound purpose to it, and it's well telegraphed, but I expect there will still be plenty of folks who don't get it and assume it's just me forgetting which POV I'm writing from. So be it.

 

[Handley_Page]

Desmond Bagley - Running Blind. Volcanic Island, pretend geologist, etc etc.

And the error is ?

Errors happen. I have a story here set in the 70's with a digital camera. DUH!

It didn't ever hit me until a reader pointed it out.

Erm. . .
"The first semiconductor image sensor was the charge-coupled device, invented by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith at Bell Labs in 1969"

So I guess it is remotely possible. . . .

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

Not necessarily an error. There's a way to do it (edit: make that a couple of ways) though I'm not sure if it's what O. Henry had in mind.

I'll leave it up a few hours and see if anybody gets it. Australians not eligible to enter this one, as we have an advantage

My first thought was "duh, 2 cent coins". Which, after some googling, turn out to not exist in the US. I just kind of assumed they did, but apparently there's a pretty limited selection of coins for the US dollar compared to the euro, which has a 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cent coins. We don't really use the 1 and 2 cents anymore though. It's usually rounded to the nearest 5 when paying in cash.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

My first thought was "duh, 2 cent coins". Which, after some googling, turn out to not exist in the US. I just kind of assumed they did, but apparently there's a pretty limited selection of coins for the US dollar ...

That's it. 1905 USA - while there had been 3¢, 2¢ and ½¢ coins issued, these had been out of circulation for a very long time, leaving 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢ and various $1-and-up coins for Della to work with in her hoard.

It's just a really good writer making a small (if amusing) goof and who cares? My point (and not to fence with Bramblethorn, whose concern I acknowledge) is that some things can with good conscience be ignored by a reader, even if caught.

I defer to the many wiser and more creative opinions WRT how to handle that as a writer.

 

[Bramblethorn]

That's it. 1905 USA - while there had been 3¢, 2¢ and ½¢ coins issued, these had been out of circulation for a very long time, leaving 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢ and various $1-and-up coins for Della to work with in her hoard.

When was GotM *set* though? I don't recall anything that explicitly dates it, though a better historian might be able to find some clues.

Three-cent coins were still being minted until 1889 and presumably circulated for some years after that - certainly our 1c and 2c coins in Australia kept turning up for years after the mint stopped making them. I still have a few around somewhere. So if the story was set a few years before publication date, it wouldn't be too implausible for Delia to have four 3c coins.

The 2c went out of production a bit earlier, so less likely to be available, but OTOH it only requires one to make the amount possible - maybe she found one behind the couch cushions?

If I had to bet, my money would be on "author didn't think it through", but neither of those options seem beyond the realms of possibility.

edit: now I check his bio, apparently O. Henry was so bad at keeping accounts that he spent three years in jail for embezzlement, which might support the "author error" interpretation!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Sham, Hide and Fib, Creative Accountants, Estb 1880...