‘Twas Spite, Not Spit

Those pesky typo-gremlins turned the phrase “(to cut) off one’s nose to spite one’s face” into the puzzling and odious “ . . . to spit one’s face” in my letter on realtors’ open houses (Nov. 11). (Unfortunately, the original French proverb (Henry IV quotes it in “Historiettes,” 1657 by Tallemant Des Reaux) was unrecognizable, and my letter was met with embarrassed silence by clients and colleagues.

Would you be kind enough to print a brief line of correction to restore the faith of those who otherwise know me as a gentlewoman and a scholar? Many thinks.

SUSAN HEELEY

Malibu