Unintentional Misuse

When I posted about this photo to my Facebook page, I wrote, "I pledge to protect the endangered right whale and the elusive wide whale." I got a lot of likes, but at the expense of the person who didn't know the difference between whale, a mammal, and wale, a ridge in fabric. It was not me at my best; any of us can make this kind of mistake at any time. As a copy editor, I've learned that unless I am absolutely sure of a word or its usage, I had better look it up. And sometimes I look it up anyway, just to be sure.