Having spent a portion of last night without air conditioning, I can tell you that the one thing you do NOT want your box fans to do is whisper quit. Whatever that even means.
Thanks, Mom!
Projection, via spelling?
Written By: admin
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Jul•
01•11
The fantabulous Reporter #1 went off to a crafts fair just to represent RPB. Remarkably, she says she found only one RPB-worthy item! Fortunately it’s a good one.
Reporter #1 suggests that perhaps Jenney just has a strange fondness for the letter “e.” And who wouldn’t? It’s a great letter. So would you like to buy an “e”? I’m opening the door… it’s not often that I offer. Well, could you ask for more? It’ll cost you just a dollar (adjusted for inflation since the 70s!).
I’m sorry, CTW. Please don’t sue me. It’s really your fault I have the lyrics to songs sung by an orange puppet stuck in my head three decades or so after I first heard them.
It pays to be nitpicky.
Written By: admin
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Jun•
29•11
I don’t usually read my receipts. I wonder how many gems I’ve been missing? Fortunately, Meg found this one.
Well, this isn’t THAT big a mistake, if you think about it — “h” is right next to “i.” On those paper signs that hang over chalkboards, I mean. I guess that explains it?
Things people do voluntarily.
Written By: admin
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Jun•
24•11
Chris H. found this on his way to Bristol, VT. He says he made his wife turn around so they could photograph it.
The real tragedy here, of course, is that this was probably done on purpose. I like to think that’s why this place is apparently for sale.
A whole nother can of worms at Target!
Written By: admin
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Jun•
15•11
And yes, I know “nother” is not a word.* But what about this word in use at Colleen’s local Target?
I actually remember having a heated conversation with my mother when I was in high school and used the word “funner,” and she immediately corrected me. If I am remembering correctly, I hied myself off to a dictionary — these were big, heavy books printed on paper, back in the day — and discovered that I was correct.
So when Colleen sent this in I wasn’t sure if I should post it, or what Colleen’s deal was. And I did what I usually do when confused: consulted the Google Gods. Thereby I learned that this is actually a question of some real controversy!
Citation 1: The Oxford English Dictionary (edited only for page-fitting; click to embiggen**)
Now you’ll observe that the OED doesn’t even recognize “fun” as an adjective. Apparently it is also grammatically incorrect for me to say “I had a fun time writing this post.” I think that tells us a little something about the, er, un-fun nature of the OED. If you will.
Citation #2: Merriam-Webster (again, edited only for page-fitting)
Actually, this is an interesting comparison of two really different philosophies, isn’t it? Look at those colorful ads hanging out to the left of the M-W results. The OED page was utterly ad-free. Huh.
Anyway, back to “funner,” which here is a legitimate variant.
And that, my friends, makes the Merriam-Webster dictionary funner than the Oxford English Dictionary. But I’m guessing that won’t surprise too many people…
*Okay, M-W actually lists “nother” too. But it’s noted quite clearly as an “other” part of speech and “informal,” neither of which is true of “funner.” So.
**”Embiggen,” of course, is a perfectly cromulent word.
Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything
Written By: admin
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Jun•
06•11
Much like Mr. Miyagi, the person who made these tags is… not yet successful.
Congradulashuns!
Written By: admin
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Jun•
03•11
Bobby Tables is all lawyer-y and stuff now. And he went to a pretty good school. You may have heard of it. So he gets to complain about this.
This is the reason this blog exists, people. It isn’t so much the handwritten signs, although those are funny sometimes and I’m happy to give y’all a place to vent about them. It’s the times like this, when big-name companies and institutions spend big bucks on signage, advertisements, or graduation programs and don’t bother to proofread — or, in this case, even run a simple spell-check — before processing.
Good job, Georgetown. *slow clap*
Sticky situation
Written By: admin
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May•
23•11
What did we do before we had smartphones on us at all times? I guess we used to just glower at misspellings and gratuitous or missing punctuation. Thank goodness we’ve moved past that to a technological point where my father can grab the photograph below and send it to me, remarking “It looks like the maker of the signs has been dipping into the catnip just a bit, too!”
Das Mauer (in meinem Büro)
Written By: admin
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May•
13•11
Pink Floyd‘s got nothing on my colleagues. When we had construction barriers, some of the more creative types around showed the world what you REALLY do with a wall.
And, you know, foreign grammar and spelling.
Small favors
Written By: admin
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May•
09•11
Michael Z. found this one, and feels that “certificated” may not mean what the sign-makers think it means.
Is it a bad sign that I’m just really happy they didn’t use an apostrophe in “Walk-Ins”?