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?
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.
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4 Comments:
I would suggest that all it requires is a hyphen: Stop-smoking aids
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!
I agree, JD. I think adding the hyphen and dropping the capital 'A' makes all the difference. You should do this for a living.
"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?
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