Sufferin’ succotash — NYT’s Des·pi·ca·ble Mistake

Never Misspell a Movie Star’s Name — Especially if He’s a Notorious Ham.

I worked for newspapers something short of 20 years, and the task I dreaded most was doing a correction for a story that I wrote or edited. Yuk. What could be worse? Nothing . . .

The most despicable mistake within the subset of corrections? That’s easy: Getting someone’s name wrong. It was with that Pavlovian response embedded deeply within the circuitry of my aged brain that I read (with subdued amusement) Jon Nicosa’s story headlined “New York Times Makes Hilariously Important Correction” at Mediate.com.

The correction had to do with a story published in The New York Times about then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s emails. The Times lifted this line from one of those communications:

“MOSCOW — On a warm August evening, I found myself sitting with three educated young Russians at the Beverly Hills Diner, a chain restaurant whose gaudy décor includes human-size figures of Porky the Pig and Marilyn Monroe.” — HRC

Innocent enough, right? Well, no. It isn’t. As any Warner Bros./Looney Tunes/ Merrie Melodies fan knows, it’s Porky Pig — not “Porky the Pig.” (Just like it’s not Mickey the Mouse, Donald the Duck or Homer the Simpson.) The result of the “the” misstep, this subsequent statement.

Correction: September 13, 2015 An earlier version of this article misstated the name of a cartoon character. He is Porky Pig, not “Porky the Pig” — NYT

The Porkmeister is not a young ham — in that show business sense of the word. He’s no Piglet, that’s for sure. WIKI says Porky’s first film was “I Haven’t Got a Hat,” a 1935 animated short. That means he’s at least 80. (I’ve no idea what that is in pig years; a bunch, I’d guess.) In all, the illustrious Mr. Pig appeared in 153 cartoons during his celluloid career. His most memorable line? “Th-th-th-that’s all folks!” Notably, that legendary phrase closed the 1988 movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” It was the last time Porky was voiced by veteran actor Mel Blanc.

Don’t think I get any joy in sharing the obvious embarrassment the Times suffered in getting the silly swine’s name wrong. (After all, I did briefly work for the NYT Regional News Group some years back, so shame on me, too.) But it could have been worse. Much, much worse. They might have transmogrified Marilyn Monroe into Marilyn Manson — or, worse yet, Charles Manson.

But there is an upside: Perhaps, with the notoriety of the correction, the one-time animated star will get invited to appear on “Ellen.” Or host “Saturday Night Live.” Or be featured on “The View.” The downside? He stutters. Badly . . . though that could benefit the Porkster if he’s ever called before Congress to reveal what he knew and when did he know it re: Hillary’s emails.

One thing’s certain, should he testify: The New York Times will get his name right.

Jim Lamb is a retired journalist living in Florida. He recently wrote his first book: “Orange Socks & Other Colorful Tales.” It’s the story of how he survived Vietnam and kept his sense of humor. His website is www.jslstories.com.