A bold error with a hidden message? Readers left wondering.

For over 24 hours already* the Sydney Morning Herald has had the following error in this article about a dispute between Cambodia and Thailand:

In Saturday's closed session, the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, baldly said Thailand had invaded his country

Assuming Hun Sen doesn't talk badly (and even if he did it wouldn't be cool to say so) and because he has a full head of hair (see picture below) the writer probably meant to say:

Hun Sen, boldly said Thailand had invaded his country

Now, if the writer really wanted to use the word 'bald', perhaps as a weird way of telling us that the 58 year old couldn't possibly have such a lush head of natural hair, then perhaps the best option would have been to write:

...a bald-faced Hun Sen, said Thailand had invaded his country

and then file the article in the celebrity section of the newspaper.

But the journalist didn't do either of those things, and even though nobody cares that's still


A picture of Hun Sen

* This means it's official as it wasn't corrected after being hastily filed, for example.