Have you ever noticed that little things can cause big problems?

A tiny pinprick in a water line can cause a huge leak.

A bit of corrosion on a battery cable can stifle a car’s starter.

And a microscopic virus can make us extremely ill.

The same thing can apply to little words in the newspaper.

They burn us almost daily.

Several weeks ago a missing “not” in a headline created an inaccurately labeled Top of the Morning by Analisa Therrien. Her writing was a thought-provoking article asking residents to question the addition of a riverfront casino at Roth Hill.

Her words were decidedly anti-casino, but our headline — with the missing three-letter booger of a word “not” — made it appear to be a pro-casino piece.

A simple mistake that changed how many people originally viewed the article. Regardless of what some folks may say, lots of people skim the newspaper, grazing the headlines. Perhaps a few didn’t read the piece originally because of the headline.

In attempt to exorcise the demons, the article was republished with the correct headline and an explanation. The tiny word demon had struck.

Big words rarely get you in trouble so long as you know the correct meaning. Only when you’re trying to impress someone with your Scrabble-winning vocabulary can one’s posterior be caught in an intellectual vise.

Last week, the small word demon burned me in this space.

I’d written a somewhat silly column about a serious topic — walking for one’s health.

In an attempt to make what is to many a boring topic a bit more interesting, I used the premise that I’d completed a marathon — 26 miles.

The entire piece was to promote a BlueCross BlueShield of Mississippi program called “Let’s Go Walkin‘ Mississippi.”

The program promotes health through walking and tracking progress with a pedometer.

Simple enough until the five-letter word demon struck.

What I had originally written was:

“Twenty-six miles was easy. I made it in less than three, which may be unheard of for a first timer.”

The “hook” there was that I intended to imply to those folks knowledgeable in marathon running that I’d made the 26-mile jog in less than three hours.

Obviously, I didn’t, but I didn’t want to admit that until later in the column.

Someone at the newspaper who read the column after it was put on the page thought I’d simply forgotten to add the word “hours” in the sentence.

What published became:

“Twenty-six miles was easy. I made it in less than three hours, which may be unheard of for a first timer.”

Yikes. That five-letter word took me from being a bad comedian to being an outright fibber.

In attempting to do a favor, the person who changed the column turned what was intended as a playful mislead into an incorrect statement of fact.

Obviously, I’ve never run a marathon. The chances of me ever running one in less than three hours are less than slim.

Only world-class runners can do that feat — perhaps as little as 2 percent of all marathoners.

In the end, no one was hurt by the tiny word demons, but they certainly make life a pain in the rump.

Oh well, one of the great things about newspapers is that you can always crumple up today’s mistake, apologize and start off fresh again tomorrow. The only problem is in forgetting the little word demons. They’re difficult to catch and downright impossible to forget.

Thanks for reading and putting up with the little demons.

Kevin Cooper is associate publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.