Today's Post Is Brought To You By The Letter N

Received this great photo all the way from Australia, from Eden. She says the owner of the shop saw her taking the picture, came out, looked at the sign, and then went back inside. The sign remained for another week. Guess it took him that long to figure out what was wrong.

Or maybe it's a cafe on the waterfront, and he meant it was for boats - as in mooring? Either way he's got it wrong.

One letter. There's only 26 of them but each one is so important. Never underestimate the power of a single letter.

Thanks Eden! Now I can say the blog has gone international :)

Your Does Not Equal You're!

There is plenty missing from so many websites these days. Proper grammar, correct spelling, etc. Oh sure, you have cutting edge eye catching killer graphics, and a (possibly) very coveted domain name. But if you hire someone with poor language skills (skillz?) to manage your website, it will usually show. And not in a good way.

You're = you are. The apostrophe stands for the missing letter (a, for those of you learning this for the first time and reading this with a puzzled expression).

Your = the possessive form of you. As in 'your website sucks'. Use it when you want to show ownership. Which you may not want to do if it's riddled with errors.

I will state again that I was not an English major, nor do I proclaim to know all the rules and such that apply to the language. So I may have gotten the definition of 'your' a bit wrong. However I stand by it as it will make sense to laymen such as myself!

I'll Have The Torttia With Chedder Chesse

This bit of a menu mess (from a small cafe in Oklahoma) proves that just because you can't spell doesn't mean that you can't cook. The food was incredibly good - certainly not fancy or earth shattering, but just plain good. And reasonably priced.

But the menu - oy vey what a mess! Fortunately, despite the mess, we were still able to choose our favorites and enjoy a wonderful family lunch.

How many errors can you find? No, really - I want to know because there are too many for me to keep track of.

If anyone can figure out what 613.990R11.75 is supposed to be, let me know. Either the beignets (which, by the way, is spelled correctly - go figure!) are a tad overpriced, or they've included the bar code for those who like to think in black and white.

Earthquake Clatter Nerves - 7.1 On Rector Scale!

A dilemma. Publicize the URL of this horrendous news site full of unbelievable writing and therefore giving it a boost in traffic (and hence, popularity and PR and success), or show you just one tiny example of the writing to enjoy, slack-jawed, as I did this morning.

Hmmmm.

Well, seeing as this blog has three readers on a good day, the URL shall be released. Promise not to tell the world, though. I don't want to promote their ineptness.

WARNING: I will not vouch for this site! It may be harmful to your computer. Proceed at your own risk - and possibly risk any hope you may have had for mankind for the remainder of your lifes (haha - little inside humor there).

So, for the brave - I give you: News we can do without!

Please, someone, tell me that the site isn't supposed to be real, that it's a parody, or satire, or something mocking the english language! I await your distinguished reply. Wishing you good fortune and best days ahead.

This sterling example of mistranslation was originally spotted on It's Your Damned Language! - another great grammar blog.

How Do You Spend Your Lifes?

Kristilyn was shopping in Big Lots today (who doesn't love Big Lots?!) and noticed this brilliant piece of artwork. She didn't say how much it was. Big Lots usually stocks products that might have been oversupplied, or items that don't sell in the original stores. Sometimes (if you like treasure hunts), you can find brilliant buys on anything from children's toys to air filters.

I wonder why this beautifully framed, thought provoking, beacon for our moral compass ended up there? Any ideas?

I hope she bought one for me!

Would You Buy This?

Time out.

We interrupt this blog to bring you the second most evil problem corrupting the world (bad grammar and lack of correct spelling being the first).

Stupid products for lazy people! This is getting out of hand. Case in point - first we had cookie dough in a tube. OK, that's understandable - not enough time to buy and mix up the ingredients (and it is oh so good straight from the tube). Then came the cookies almost formed, just break them up, place them on a cookie sheet, and bake. Because it's just too time consuming to slice the dough? Well, that's far too much work for me - please provide me with the cookies already on the cookie sheet so I can skip that step. And it was so. Wait! I don't even want to have to bake them! Oops - we've come full circle - they're in aisle 3.

In celebration of all things stupid and marketed to the masses who buy them, I bring you:

Seriously - cupcake icing? Since when did they require a specialized formula? Is there really a market for this? When I think of all those rebellious bakers who would dare to use cake icing on their cupcakes . . [shivvers] . . chills me to the bone.

And by the way, if they're making or icing cupcakes in that photo, why are their hands in a bowl? No step I can remember from cupcake baking involves hands in a bowl.

Nostalgic Carckers

This one is near and dear to my heart because it evokes special memories of vacations past (passed? - not sure on that one). We used to go on our vacation with friends, and before we'd leave, my friend and I would create a grocery list. Each year, we'd go over the list and adjust accordingly, as kids tastes changed and our own fondness for "Mom Chocolate" grew. So one year, we're going over the list, and discover that it had carckers as an item to purchase. (Need I explain that the planning sessions were usually accompanied by some wine and several fits of laughter.) Laughing over the small mistake, we left it as carckers and it stayed that way for years to come, evoking giggles each time we planned for the upcoming vacation.

Guess you had to be there. Anyway, we had fun with it, right Karen?

Thanks to Chris - who seems to be inundated with typos/errors wherever she roams!

Blinded By Anger

Maybe the saying, "Blinded by anger" has something to it. It seems like so many signs posted by irate people have spelling errors or bad grammar. So if you are ever inclined to vent your anger on a sign for all the world to see - do yourself a favor and have someone - anyone - check it over first. Otherwise you end up looking like the stupid one. And we wouldn't want that.

Welcome To The English Language

Walk-In. Interesting name for a store. I wonder what they sell there. Shoes? Must be shoes. What? Walk-in isn't the name of a store? Then what's this sign all about?

OK I'm going to stop now before I say something that might get me into trouble.

After Awarding The Million, Hire A Proofreader

Kristilyn was watching Millionaire the other day and caught this one. This is a show based on knowledge and brains. And they can't check their own work before airing it?

Again With The Numbers...

This just spotted on Google News:

Thousands flock for 2d day to Kennedy wake
Boston Globe - Brian R. Ballou, Andrew Ryan - ‎28 minutes ago‎
Thousands more people flocked again today to the Kennedy Library, with many coming before dawn to wait in a line two hours long to pay their respects to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

PROOF PROOF PROOF YOUR COPY!!!!

It's not all about being first. Correct would be so much better.

Tornadeos Are A Comin'

Another good one from Chris! I don't know which station this is, but really - does it matter?

Protester Options

I'm not sure what to say about this one. Exactly what kind of option does she want? Perhaps the option to learn how to spell?

From an online newspaper, thanks to Chris!

Narrow Near Miss

Just saw this on CBS.com:

Building Rolls Over

Mon Aug 03 07:02:55 PDT 2009

Caught On Tape: A building in Cankiri, Turkey fell over and rolled onto its roof, nearly missing surrounding buildings.

Nearly missing surrounding buildings? You mean it didn't miss them and crashed into them? Hmm. Let's go to the videotape.

[watching video]

Nope. It clearly missed the surrounding buildings (which is very strange, I have to admit). What CBS meant to say was that it narrowly missed surrounding buildings.

But hey - who's going to notice?

You might catch the video here:

Building Doesn't Nearly Miss Surrounding Buildings

Won The Award - And Then Left (Or Lost His Job)

I was very sorry to read that poor Rudy apparently lost his job after receiving the award.
This is from a company newsletter. I guess we can't expect them to be as dedicated and perfect as a professional newspaper - oh wait - the newspapers are no longer dedicated and professional. It should be easy to improve upon what I've seen published by the (ahem) professionals.

I can't credit the submission for this one. The submitter fears recrimination and job loss. With this economy - I'm not taking any chances.

Spell check is indicating that each occurence of the word professional is incorrectly spelled, as well as the word recrimination. So now I have to rag on the spell check??!

I'll Get My Funding Elsewhere, Thank You

This appeared on a piece of junk mail that we received the other day.

Note that it is from a company that wants to help you fund your child's education.

Apparently they were not able to fund their own education.

The city is actually Charlotte, NC.

Names Have Been Removed to Protect the Innocent

And heads have been chopped off as well. It's not this woman's fault that the newspaper caption writer is an idiot. I'd say that it's the fault of the editor, but I truly believe that editors have gone the way of the dodo bird.

And what? How can they leave us hanging like that? I have a right to know! Maybe it's a 'tune in tomorrow' type thing. Are cliff hangers now a daily feature to keep readers coming back for more?

It won't work , I tell you. It just won't work.

No Words Can Describe

At a loss here. What can I say? It makes me afraid for my children and their children and the world in which they will all have to find a way to survive. Some day, in the not too distant future, world leaders will no longer have a clue about proper grammar. The President of the United States will appear to give a "Steak of the Onion" address. And then we will know. The end is near.

Thanks to Terry for this one. It is a large sign outside of a restaurant in a college town. A COLLEGE TOWN!

How Much For The Real Shoes?

Just a quick post.

This is from a newsletter that comes from a very nice Country Club in the area. They were promoting a sale on golf shoes by FootJoy:

In celebrating 20 years of the DryJoy, you are entitled to a $20 discount on the purchase of a near pair of DryJoys (excluding the MyJoys).

I guess they were selling knockoffs?

Buff Chicken Beaks

There's a columnist in the newspaper who writes about being a Mom to young children. Sometimes her column is very funny, and other times it misses the mark (in my opinion). Occasionally I will read her column and get a laugh or two.

So, when I finally got around to reading Sunday's paper last night (I have an obsession with looking at every day's paper, even if it means reading it a few days late), I started reading her column and found this:

"So I'm doing my Total Body Fitness class. But come on. It's not really the total body. I mean we're hitting the pecks, abs and all."

I didn't think too much of it. After all, misspelling an abbreviation can go either way - they can be very personal. But some abbreviations are so widespread and accepted that it's just wrong to spell it another way. So my eyes kept gravitating back to that word. Pecks. Pecks. The more I looked at it, the funnier it got!

My brain couldn't stop conjuring up visions of chicken beaks.

I'll Bet The Pawsengers Can Spell

There is a new airline starting up. The target audience is your pet. That's right - your dog, or cat, or iguana (although for now I think they are limiting it to dogs and cats).

My brother sent me the link to the site, so of course I had to poke around to see if it was for real. This is an airline that will fly ONLY pets. People are not allowed. They have a private jet that has been altered "for the comfort of our guests". They like to call their guests pawsengers.

So I'm looking around in the FAQ (because it's just too hard to believe that this idea will fly - no pun intended), and I find this:

And that was only the beginning. The site wasn't too bad, actually. All of the links worked, navigation was sensible, and information was easy to find. But spelling errors were rampant (not counting the pawsengers).

Fix the stupid errors, look more professional, and the business might have a chance!

Teachers Obviously Need to Return

This is from the editorial page in the paper yesterday. The EDITORIAL page! I've never worked for a newspaper, but I've always suffered from the delusion that the editorial writers were the smartest and best that worked at the paper. I mean, anyone who can go on for paragraphs about world politics or other things that are over my head must be the smartest of the smart, right?

How in the world of Doonesbury did this headline get by anyone? And if the teachers are leaving, someone had better get them back pronto or the headlines are only going to get worse.

Now I understand why so many newspapers are going belly up.

Blogger is driving me batshit with the inconsistency of paragraph spacing! That post is NOT supposed to be one big paragraph. I've tried editing html, comapring to other posts, etc. NOTHING is working!

Your Mother's WHAT?!

Melodie's wonderful husband took her on a lovely romantic getaway for Mother's Day. She spotted this sign while they were driving around. She only had a moment to react (hence the signpost in the way), so thanks, Melodie, for your quick reflexes!

So I have to ask - depending on how your mind works - take time to thank our Mother's what, exactly? Just try and keep your mind out of the gutter on that one.

May 24rd Comes Right After May 23th.

Courtesy of Kristilyn, this is a screenshot from a TV show she was watching about weddings. I sincerely hope that the invitations didn't say the date was May 24rd.

Believe it or not, I come across this error fairly often. It usually occurs when someone is using a template for an event and changing the dates, times, etc.. Without giving a second thought to proofreading. And then publishing it for all the world to see.

I will say that I approve of the budget. These weddings you hear about that cost $50,000 and up are completely out of hand. (And I'm willing to be that they also have spelling/grammatical errors!)

AP - Awful Press

You might need to click the image to see it larger in order to read the fantastic copy. I thought about cropping it to show just the text, but that would have meant clipping off the fact that this appeared on Yahoo! News and was an official AP story (written, I assume, by an official AP writer).

Unfortunately, a sad news story, but come on - razes? Seriously?

Associated Press - now hiring Communication Major dropouts.

What If I Want "Green"?

When did red become unique enough to deserve quotation marks? Just can't find good help these days. *sigh*

Thanks to Carly for this one.

Waisting Paint to Save the World

Found at one of those paint-it-yourself pottery studios:

If I want to save the world - where should I put the paint? Apparently the waist is out. Maybe the hips? Does this mean I can't paint my body for football games? Some people suck all the fun out of life.

Have Your Hair's Done, Then Eat "Lunch"

Took a trip through South Carolina recently. It was a Spring Break time, so we kept to the back roads. Which turned out to be a bonus when we passed through small towns.

First I saw the Wig's sign, so I did a quick U-turn, then turned down the side road to get the picture. U-turned again to get back on track, and while waiting at the stoplight, saw the restaurant sign. BINGO!

The restaurant sign cracks me up. Capital letters sprinkled throughout. Random quotation marks. The change from Every Day to Mon-Fri (were they going under offering those deals on the weekends?)

It was all I could do to not tour the entire little town looking for more. Ah, but we were running late and I wanted to get to our destination before dark.

Maybe some day soon I'll tour some small towns nearby and see what I can find.

Now who in their right mind would do that for fun?

How to Steal the Show

One of my favorite shows is The Biggest Loser. Love it. It's very empowering, and chock full of positive ideas. The contestants make such huge changes in their lives!

So, we're watching the finale last week. Everyone has their fans/family in the live audience. So what would you do if you were going to be in a live studio audience? Make a sign, of course. A great BIG sign for all the world to see (or at least the world that cares about the show). And if you are really lucky, YOUR sign will be on TV! Can you stand it?! Set the DVR, tell the entire extended family, shout it to the world!

And make sure your sign will be remembered:

Maybe It's A Foreign Word?

(click the image if it is too small to read)

and . . . spelling lessons maybe?

I found this today when googling theaters. This particular theatre (note the 're' - that means it's high class) is located in a very affluent area, and it caters to independent films. A very nice place, actually. But look too deep and you discover that class has nothing to do with spelling ability.

I'll give them a bit of break though - I know how easy it is to write those descriptions and never see them again unless you are searching for your own website, seeing as that's the bulk of what I do for a living.

So . . . Should I Go? Or Should I Stay Away?

Sign for a mandatory dorm meeting:


Think about it. Go ahead - take your time.



Do you think it would serve as a good excuse for missing the meeting? Just hand it in to the person in charge when you saunter in to their room the next day?

Spellcheck, Spellcheck, Spellcheck!

Back before I started this blog, I used to drive family members crazy by sending them examples of poor grammar. One day I received an email newsletter from a local training center promoting an Olympic qualifying event. (Yes, this was a while ago - I no longer had it, but someone I know saves email for forever and forwarded it to me the other day.)

Here is what appeared in the newsletter:

preperations for the athletes in their persuit of

Makes me cringe all over again. This was promoting our potential Olympians! Aauugghh!

Ex-Press - Used To Work For Media?

Thanks to Kristilyn and Carly for catching this fine example of Southern writing.

ExPress - does that mean if you used to work for the paper, please enter here? HA! Maybe that's where all of the proofreaders went!

And by the way - no bags. If you are an old woman who's a little worse for the wear, you aren't allowed. Even if you did work for the paper.

Food Prices On The Rise

Whoa! They want HOW much for those potatoes?

I wonder how much they wanted for the larger potatoes. I'm a fan of russets myself - it's a good thing - I couldn't afford those baby reds!

As Chris, who sent this to me, said - "At $2.99 each they had better be the best veggies I have ever tasted!" I'll say.

"Menu withOut "ANY"...direction

Oh my. Here's another one that is too much to show in a small photo - click on the picture to see a larger view.

It's almost like a game - see how many errors you can spot! Count them out and leave a comment with your total. If there aren't enough for you to spend a few hours finding them, this is only one page from the menu. I'll see if I can get the other pages up later.

I felt bad for the place; it looks to be a small Mom and Pop restaurant, so I covered up the name.

Maggie, who sent this to me, has the (inglorious?) pleasure of working there. I wonder how hard it is to have to look at the menu every shift. Don't you want to run home, retype it, and run some new menus off for them?

At least they spelled you're correctly.

OK - I added the rest of the menu below. I didn't block the name here - it appears in too many places. Oh well. Again, click on the photo to see the menu in full glory. And yeah, I know it's a different color - not a great testament to my photo taking abilities.

Fun Party! 7pm Unti (Unti? Unit? What?)

I was at a camera store the other day, using the ultra cool machine that prints digital photos. On the counter were samples of products that you can create with your photos - calendars, Christmas cards, books.

And invitations.

I'm guessing that the create-a-card machine lacks spell check. Which must also be lacking in the worker bees in the photo store.

I'll admit, I make mistakes like this a lot. Even when writing longhand - which is really scary. But usually, when I proof what I've written, I catch the error. Ah, there's the rub. Proof our work must we to errors catch thee. (Sorry Yoda.) (And yes, I spelled it 'thee' on purpose - to rhyme - otherwise it would sound even more stupid than it already does.)

Alabama the Sad Example

I don't really want to get into stereotypes - my mom always said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." But seeing as I've already stomped on that and beat it with a stick in this blog, I may as well keep on going.

Which causes me to wonder for a second - in reality, I'm actually trying to do a good thing with this blog. Pointing out grammatical errors can only help the world, right? It makes me happy to do this, which is a good thing as well. So, while I may not be saying nice things about others, I am merely offering constructive criticism. But just to cover my butt, I'm going to offer a blanket, "Bless their hearts!" to all who can't help but screw up their grammar.

So off to Alabama we go. Alabama is one of those southern states that seems to get a bad rap for their educational system. Why? Maybe it's because they've earned it. Here is a sign that appears when you enter the state.

Not bad (although I would have stated it differently). I especially love the ironic background.

BUT - when you explore further into the Alabama road system, they like to remind you of their original statement. Keep Alabama beautiful - right? Wrong. Enter the bright individual who stamped a big OK on the final proof for these signs:

Um - what? Maybe Alabama has a super secret campaign to rename the state 'Alabama the Beautiful'? And maybe that new state is about to be purchased by another country? But how would littering affect the buyout? Hmmm.

No, I'm afraid it's just Alabama showing their ignorance. You can argue against the stereotypes all you want, Alabama the Beautiful, but it's not going to help having evidence like this every few miles across the state.

Bless their hearts. They just can't help it.

Thank you to Lauren, who is serving as a temporary scout (deep undercover) in Alabama (the beautiful).

I'm not partial to southern states - show me what you've got in your home state - except you northerners - I know you're all perfect ;-)

Note - I am not criticizing the owners of the wonderful home behind the sign above. I'm sure it's a wonderful home and in no way do I mean to trash them. It's just damn funny that their home appears behind the sign.

Two, Two, Two Blogs in One

I recently started reading a great blog about cake wrecks. Believe it or not, there are enough disasters in cake decorating to fill a whole blog and then some. Some are errors in spelling, or the decorator had trouble following directions, and others are just plain scary. But I started reading it and now I can't stop.

So when my daughter (the one who led me to cake wrecks) was home over the weekend and we headed out to the store, she said we had to check out the cake department to look for wrecks. I was hot on her heels, all excited to see what we might find.

We found a scary cake alright - I sent that in to the cake wreck blog. But even better was when I was sending a photo of the sign that went along with the cake. Suddenly errant apostrophes appeared! Double score! I swear I hadn't noticed them when I was in the store.

The cake, by the way, looked like a pile of frosting blobs in black and white, with HUGE pop-eyes. Kid friendly? More like kid nightmare. Oh, all right - here's a picture:

I Thought Publishers Still Used Editors

So, if the newspapers have fired all of their editors, I thought at least the book publishers would still retain a few. After all - if you buy a manuscript, spend tons of money printing it and publicizing it, wouldn't you want it to be perfect?

Writers write. They rely on editors to edit.

I fear that all too soon we'll be reading books written in text-speak. Aauugghh!

cn u imgne tht????? it wud be rly bad!!!!!!!! like OMG!!! roflmao!!!!!!!!

So I was reading a book from a very well known publisher recently, and this error jumped out at me (I swear, it literally jumped off of the page and bit me - still have the marks):

...scrape off the old gasket, put on a new gasket with sealant, put the head back on. We had already taken off the cylinder head and I had scrapped off the old gasket after getting home from school.

Oh the agony! How did they miss that?

I fear that my escape into books will have to rely on ones published before word processors. I guess I'd be safe with the works of Homer and Plato. Wonder if any they wrote any chick lit?

More Whopping - And We're Not Talking Burger King Here

I got this one from my son who is currently studying in Prague, but finds time to stay in touch with the world via the internet.
He was on espn.com and found this gem in a story about the Daytona 500:

When Earnhardt was told of Vickers comments, he radioed to his spotter T.J. Majors to tell Vickers' spotter to deliver the message that if there was an issue, the racers could discuss it in the motor coach lot following the race.
"If he wants to come by the bus after the race and get his ass whopped," Earnhardt said. "I'll do it."

So, how is it that there is an epidemic of whopping and whopping cough? Or is getting whopped a result of whopping cough? I'm whooped from trying to figure out how professional (haha) writers keep getting this wrong.

I wasn't able to find the original story, so I'm not sure if there was really a period after 'Earnhardt said'. Maybe the writer was in a huge hurry to get the story published. Still no excuse.

If The Schools Are Wrong, What Hope Is There?

This is from a high school dive meet last weekend. A local high school was in charge of running the meet, providing concessions, tee-shirts, etc. I feel that if an event is in any way connected to the schools, it's that much more important to get it right. I realize that this was just a small sign, and all they wanted to do was to sell chicken sandwiches, but when you get the language wrong, it conveys the wrong message to the people who see it.

In a related incident that involved the school system, I once received a letter from the high school. It was promoting a discounted fee for a course promising higher SAT scores for those who took the class. This letter was on school system letterhead, and, if I remember correctly, it was signed by the superintendent of schools.

They spelled the name of the school system incorrectly.

Twice.

THAT, my friends, is not acceptable.

Where Bears Barely Wear Clothes

This photo comes courtesy of Lauren, who lives in Alabama. She promises many more examples to come.

This sign is from a clothing resale store. No bears are involved.

Now, if this sign were from the local zoo, or it was an adjunct to the ever popular Build-A-Bear chain, it might be a cute play on words.

But it's not. It's just another case of someone not caring enough to check their spelling.

At least she got the apostrophe correct.

Tired of Being RIPED Off?

Received a spam email at the office today. Here is what it looked like:

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009

1:50 PM

Subject: have you been riped off

file a rebuttal to explain your side of the story or do not let them getaway with this, you can also post who riped you off. go to

I only changed the color of the text (red), and deleted contact information.
I'm so glad that I haven't been riped off recently. Otherwise I'd be obligated to contact this spammer for help. That's a scary thought!

A Liberal Sprinkling of Apostrophes, Please

Saw this menu a while back, before this blog existed. So I just happened (cough cough) to be there the other night and also just happened to have my camera with me.

You'll have to click on the image to see a larger version with all of the apostrophes.

I'm not sure how the menu creator interpreted the rule of apostrophe use. Maybe they weren't sure, so they just threw some random apostrophes in wherever it looked good? There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason their use.

I guess it could have been worse.

Um - no.

Please Decipher And Get Back To Me

If anyone knows what this sign is trying to tell us, please let me know.

I hope it makes sense to those it is intended for.

Of course, the obvious is the added quotation marks, which are completely unnecessary.

Funny thing is, I don't mind the use of the abbreviated word 'thru'.

But the rest of it is a plain mess.

Thanks again to Kristilyn.

Not "Just" Another Menu Selection

Not a clear photo, but you get the picture (pun intended). This is from a menu courtesy of Desi - thanks Desi!

Desi told me about a great comeback yesterday. When someone says that they're done, she says, "People aren't done! Turkeys are done! You are finished!" Haha! I love that line!

How is it that quotation marks have gained so much popularity recently? Do people think that if they add some quotation marks, it will look professional? Hardly.

Grammar Isn't Important If You Can Draw

This sign has been torturing Kristilyn for weeks as she waits in a bus stop. Maybe posting it here will help her deal with it!

Looking for any one - not a specific one, apparently - who can draw. And possibly proof read? So many mistakes here. Let me see:

1. The first sentence is poorly constructed. I'm not sure there is punctuation that will help it, if it is written as it is.

2. Any one = anyone.

3. The capital I in the word 'if' is a word processing error. MS Word will always capitalize the first word in a line of centered text after a return. I hate that. It is up to the writer to fix the error. If they care. Which they didn't.

Anything else that I missed?

Now Hiring - People Who Can Spell

Subway is hiring.  Good pay.  Bonuses?  Maybe the good pay belongs to the bonuses themselves?

No phone calls please - we don't want to have to explain who the bonuses belong to.

While we're reading these ads - can we mention the overuse of the phrase, "looking for friendly, motivated, responsible team players"? Does that line come free with every want ad? It reminds me of single people who claim to like, "long walks on the beach, moonlit strolls, and cuddling on the sofa".

If the ad writers could be a little more creative, they might attract some new types of applicants.

Who can spell bonuses.

Falling Into My Lap!

So I finally get around to creating this blog on a Sunday. No posts, but I have a general idea, the concept, etc.

Monday I go to the airport (oldest son was flying to Prague for a semester), and the first thing I see is this! And there I am with my camera (to document son's leaving)! The fates were with me for sure. This was meant to be - I've never been so excited to see an error before!

Let me explain a little more. The terminal was pretty much empty. No lines. Just ticket agents waiting around for travelers to check-in. Above the counter for American, there were approximately 15 of these flat screens with the above message. Hello? Does anyone have any sense at all about proper use of the words your and you're? It's not that hard.

I would like to note, though, that they did get the first word right. So bonus points for that.

If You Can't Trust Network News . . .

I swear this happened just days after the tittle incident. Like a rapidly spreading disease, spelling errors were appearing everywhere!

There was the newscaster, trying to be serious, telling us all to be wary of an outbreak of Whooping Cough, and in the background, what you see here. I tell you, I feel like Rodney Dangerfield, "I don't get no respect!" And yes, if a news station - a trusted source for all things important - can't even spell properly, I feel disrespected.

If it was my job to create the graphics for that station, I'd be mortified! Maybe that's the problem these days. People just don't care.

Let me hear an Amen!

Blame It On The Tittles

 blame it all on the tittles. Not that tittles are an actual thing, but hey, go with it.

For years, I've harbored a not-so-secret grudge against the appalling lack of editors in the local paper, the overuse of "quotation" "marks", and other basic rules of grammar being continually abused and ignored. I've had enough. It's time to take  stand. I will shout out the errors to the world (or the few who may stumble upon this blog) and insist that people begin to pay attention to the rules of grammar once again!

I am not an English major, nor do I claim to be perfect in all that I may speak or write. But some things are just so - so - GLARING, that I had to create a place to vent.

So let's get to it. Our first example - and the first time I documented abuse, comes to us courtesy of the local paper. Apparently economics have forced them to eliminate editors altogether. I don't know, maybe they think that basic spell check will be enough to catch errors? Guess not. Witness this recent (very large, I might add) headline in the sports section:

How, I ask, does that gain approval for print? What does it say about the paper in general? That they don't care? They can't be bothered?

*sigh*