With approximately 11,000 stores in the United States, Starbucks has definitely earned the right to have its name spelled correctly. The ONLY way this is acceptable is if it’s actually a Battlestar Galactica-themed cafe. Which would actually be really cute, come to think of it.
Words On A *@#$@ Plane
Contributor John submits: “I saw this one in the in-flight magazine on a flight to Mexico. It’s a bit different from your usual fare, but I certainly found it confusing.”
Fear not, John; wrong is wrong, whether grammatical, factual, or logical. Alas, a Red Pen-er’s work is never done.
That said: MAJOR SURVEY-WRITING FAIL.
Moment of Zen
Ponder this one, as you go into the weekend:
Seriously. Ponder the process by which a major brand designs, (presumably) market-tests, and produces a brand named “Steam’ables.” Is it their small contribution to the fight against the elimination of the apostrophe? Or is it marking the abbreviation of some other word — something like “Steamamabobables”? Hee. “Steamamabobables.” Say that twenty times fast.
Espirales de wrong
In accordance with my gut feeling, Merriam-Webster has no definition for “whirl” as a noun. Dictionary.com does, but not any that would make sense in this context. I think the word they were looking for was “whorl,” but that would look silly on a cereal box, right? Of course, my very basic Spanish (and, let’s be honest, Merriam-Webster’s Spanish dictionary) also indicates that “Espirales” means “spirals,” and these dudes are clearly circles. So there’s all kinds of crazy liberty-taking with words here.
I’m sorry, but we are fresh out of waldorfs.
A little light misspelling for a midweek boost:
The ritzy new Kroger is giving Whole Foods a run for their money. It’s so nice, they even feature “artichoke and feta torta with carmelized walmuts.” I don’t know if they meant “torta” or “torte,” so we’ll let that slide. But the exotic “walmuts” sound too tasty to ignore.
Military Grammar!
Reporter #1 says, “I prefer the ‘platoon monthly’ method, myself…”
No We Can’t!
…remember to spell the Vice-President’s name.
As always, tip and title due to Reporter #1.
Finally!
…a 12-step program for apostrophe offenders! Thank goodness there are kindred souls all over.
(Found at Apostrophe Abuse.)
Discuss amongst yourselves.
This is another debatable one. I’ll mention that it is in a federal building adjacent to the federal courthouse. I’m pretty sure they should have gone for “Chambers” or, if they were really feeling the apostrophe, “Chambers'”.