What a difference a space makes.

Just ask billionaire Warren Buffett after Dow Jones news service ran a headline yesterday quoting him as saying the US dollar would be “worthless” in five to 10 years if the country’s account deficit wasn’t brought under control.

Anchors for business news network CNBC spent some time dissecting Buffett’s “worthless” quote before the Oracle of Omaha personally called to set the record straight.

CNBC’s Becky Quick took Buffett’s call on-air, although viewers couldn’t hear Buffett’s side of the conversation. She offered this correction: “He said it would be ‘worth less’ – two words.”

It’s no secret that Buffett has been negative on the US dollar, but the Berkshire Hathaway chief executive didn’t go quite as far as the headline suggested.

“If our current account deficit keeps running at present levels, the dollar I think is almost certain to be worth less five to 10 years from now compared to other major currencies,” he said at a business conference in Canada.

The Dow Jones story that followed the erroneous “worthless” headline reported his comments accurately as two words.