GrammarBlog

Tuesday 15 April 2008

It gets you wasted. Literally.

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Why don't people realise that one can't simply throw words together at random and hope that the meaning of the resulting phrase is as intended?

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Seriously, if you are smoking AIDS, stop it right now. Syphilis is much better.

The interesting thing about this is it's not technically incorrect but the connotations of the ambiguity certainly demand a rewrite.

 

Found via Digg.

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4 Comments:
Blogger JD (The Engine Room) said...

I would suggest that all it requires is a hyphen: Stop-smoking aids

15 April 2008 at 16:47  
Blogger JD (The Engine Room) said...

Our local Sainsbury's supermarket has a sign that says 'Free from foods'. Not sure I want to go to a supermarket that is free from foods... (I think it refers to gluten-free foods etc). Actually I might blog about this on my own blog too, sorry!

15 April 2008 at 16:49  
Blogger Gez said...

I agree, JD. I think adding the hyphen and dropping the capital 'A' makes all the difference. You should do this for a living.

15 April 2008 at 17:00  
Blogger TootsNYC said...

"if you are smoking AIDS"

Ummmm, they didn't capitalize all the letters in "Aids." This is hyperbole on your part. Fine, if you're being funny. Not fine if you're trying to scold them for implying they meant you were smoking AIDS.

the *only* think that's necessary is the hypen. The capitalization is JUST FINE as it is--it's called "initial cap style."

You know, like a newspaper headline?

15 April 2008 at 22:02  

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