A Pedant's Delight

Sundae · 12-05-2007, 01:48 PM

This thread is dedicated to photos of poor grammar, spelling and apostrophes in signs, menus, public notices and anything that catches your eye day to day.

Ideally, I would prefer it to be photos by Dwellars rather than something found on the internet. Especially Engrish - funny as the signs are, they are the result of poor translation rather than the inability of a native speaker to write correctly. Hey, check the title of the thread, I know I'm pedantic!

So I'll kick off with this treat from the William IV pub on Trafalgar Road.

Cloud · 12-05-2007, 02:05 PM

Ugh. Why do people insist on putting apostrophes for plurals? I see this constantly! It's really not that hard, is it?

Razzmatazz13 · 12-05-2007, 02:11 PM

MAN, I took a flyer we were giving out at work that spelled NEARLY EVERY WORD ON IT wrong in some way back in july...and I was going to post it on the cellar but never got around to it....and JUST tossed it away last week. *forehead slap*

SteveDallas · 12-05-2007, 02:22 PM

Why not partie's? detail's?

regular.joe · 12-05-2007, 02:24 PM

this one just caught my eye.

classicman · 12-05-2007, 02:51 PM

What's wrong with that - one nut isn't enough for ya?

Elspode · 12-05-2007, 06:02 PM

Why didn't they put an apostrophe on "parties"?

LJ · 12-06-2007, 12:16 AM

it would have been party's not partie's. and steve beat you to that one anyway. cmon..you're slipping.

TheMercenary · 12-08-2007, 02:02 PM

Knock yourself out:
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/

Sundae · 12-09-2007, 03:15 PM

I have included the surround so you can see how important presentation is to this establishment. The detail in the cornicing! The moulding! The spelling! Ah...

jinx · 12-09-2007, 07:02 PM

For the longest time our local chinese and sushi restaurant had a handwritten sign taped to the door reading "We are close on Monday!" but they took it down before I got a pic....

Cloud · 12-09-2007, 07:56 PM

a moveable feast!

HungLikeJesus · 01-30-2009, 05:48 PM

Thi's i's just wrong. (I wonder if the title was intentional.)

Quote:

LONDON – On the streets of Birmingham, the queen's English is now the queens English.

England's second-largest city has decided to drop apostrophes from all its street signs, saying they're confusing and old-fashioned.

But some purists are downright possessive about the punctuation mark.

It seems that Birmingham officials have been taking a hammer to grammar for years, quietly dropping apostrophes from street signs since the 1950s.

Through the decades, residents have frequently launched spirited campaigns to restore the missing punctuation to signs denoting such places as "St. Pauls Square" or "Acocks Green."

This week, the council made it official, saying it was banning the punctuation mark from signs in a bid to end the dispute once and for all. Councilor Martin Mullaney, who heads the city's transport scrutiny committee, said he decided to act after yet another interminable debate into whether "Kings Heath," a Birmingham suburb, should be rewritten with an apostrophe.

"I had to make a final decision on this," he said Friday. "We keep debating apostrophes in meetings and we have other things to do."

Mullaney hopes to stop public campaigns to restore the apostrophe that would tell passers-by that "Kings Heath" was once owned by the monarchy. "Apostrophes denote possessions that are no longer accurate, and are not needed," he said. "More importantly, they confuse people. If I want to go to a restaurant, I don't want to have an A-level (high school diploma) in English to find it."

But grammarians say apostrophes enrich the English language. "They are such sweet-looking things that play a crucial role in the English language," said Marie Clair of the Plain English Society, which campaigns for the use of simple English. "It's always worth taking the effort to understand them, instead of ignoring them."

...

To sticklers, a missing or misplaced apostrophe can be a major offense. British grammarians have railed for decades against storekeepers' signs advertising the sale of "apple's and pear's," or pubs offering "chip's and pea's."

...

Cloud · 01-30-2009, 06:56 PM

I'm not that upset over the omission of apostrophes in street signs; but I do get upset when I see proper plurals and possessives mangled. It's not really that hard!

I probably said this before, but we have a local daycare called, "Grammies Daycare." Every time I pass it, I think, "I wouldn't send my kids there--they don't even know how to spell!"

Shawnee123 · 01-30-2009, 06:59 PM

heehee...I refuse to patronize any establishment that substitutes the letter C with the letter K.

Just won't do it.

12-05-2007, 01:48 PM	#1
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	A Pedant's Delight This thread is dedicated to photos of poor grammar, spelling and apostrophes in signs, menus, public notices and anything that catches your eye day to day. Ideally, I would prefer it to be photos by Dwellars rather than something found on the internet. Especially Engrish - funny as the signs are, they are the result of poor translation rather than the inability of a native speaker to write correctly. Hey, check the title of the thread, I know I'm pedantic! So I'll kick off with this treat from the William IV pub on Trafalgar Road. Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

12-05-2007, 02:05 PM	#2
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	Ugh. Why do people insist on putting apostrophes for plurals? I see this constantly! It's really not that hard, is it? __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

12-05-2007, 02:11 PM	#3
Razzmatazz13 Vicariously, I live... Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: USA Posts: 1,221	MAN, I took a flyer we were giving out at work that spelled NEARLY EVERY WORD ON IT wrong in some way back in july...and I was going to post it on the cellar but never got around to it....and JUST tossed it away last week. forehead slap __________________ I have some people I need to have smoted. ~ SteveDallas

12-05-2007, 02:24 PM	#5
regular.joe Старый сержант Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: NC, dreaming of large Russian women. Posts: 1,464	this one just caught my eye. Attached Images __________________ Birth, wealth, and position are valueless during wartime. Man is only judged by his character --Soldier's Testament. Death, like birth, is a secret of Nature. - Marcus Aurelius.

12-05-2007, 06:02 PM	#7
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	Why didn't they put an apostrophe on "parties"? __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

12-05-2007, 02:22 PM	#4
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Why not partie's? detail's?

12-05-2007, 02:51 PM	#6
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	What's wrong with that - one nut isn't enough for ya?

12-06-2007, 12:16 AM	#8
LJ i am myself Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: via blackberry, maybe Posts: 750	it would have been party's not partie's. and steve beat you to that one anyway. cmon..you're slipping. __________________ Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show ... -C.Dickens

12-08-2007, 02:02 PM	#9
TheMercenary “Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo” Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Savannah, Georgia Posts: 21,393	Knock yourself out: http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ __________________ Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012!

12-09-2007, 03:15 PM	#10
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	I have included the surround so you can see how important presentation is to this establishment. The detail in the cornicing! The moulding! The spelling! Ah... Attached Images __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

12-09-2007, 07:02 PM	#11
jinx Come on, cat. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area Posts: 7,013	For the longest time our local chinese and sushi restaurant had a handwritten sign taped to the door reading "We are close on Monday!" but they took it down before I got a pic.... __________________ Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.

12-09-2007, 07:56 PM	#12
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	a moveable feast! __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

01-30-2009, 06:56 PM	#14
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	I'm not that upset over the omission of apostrophes in street signs; but I do get upset when I see proper plurals and possessives mangled. It's not really that hard! I probably said this before, but we have a local daycare called, "Grammies Daycare." Every time I pass it, I think, "I wouldn't send my kids there--they don't even know how to spell!" __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

01-30-2009, 06:59 PM	#15
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	heehee...I refuse to patronize any establishment that substitutes the letter C with the letter K. Just won't do it. __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

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