Monday, 10 December 2007
Under Neat that
This is a couple of months old now. I had intended to post this in October but... well I just forgot.
The background story is as follows. A man orders a cake for his departing colleague. Over the phone he requests that the message should read: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that, "We will miss you". The cake shop proprietor not only included the instruction but misspelt it.
On the bright side, that's a bit of extra icing for free.
Credit to Sharon – or more specifically her facebook group.
posted by Gez at 5:58 pm
7 Comments
Monday, 19 November 2007
You have no soul
Found on my current favourite blog, Passive Aggressive Notes, this example of a comma splice altering the meaning of a sentence is a lesson to all who use commas like confetti.
This is worse than your average splice as the comma unintentionally turns the phrase, 'you have no soul' into a subordinating clause. In other words – because of the people who use the bin for rubbish, the reader of the sign has no soul. I like to imagine a particularly forlorn student (possibly listening to My Chemical Romance or the Smiths) wandering past this notice and thinking, "So that's it; I knew someone was to blame."Brilliantly, a passing zealot spotted this error and resolved it with an act of grammar vigilantism.
Labels: comma, comma splice, funny, passive-aggressive notes, punctuation
posted by Gez at 12:28 pm
7 Comments
Friday, 24 August 2007
Spell Checker Poem
Via Digg I found a funny poem by a guy called Dean Hunt about the dangers of relying too much on one's spell checker.
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it’s weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
Labels: funny, poetry, spellchecker, spelling
posted by Gez at 1:58 pm
33 Comments
Monday, 13 August 2007
It's not easy being a grammar wizard.
I've previously hinted at my dislike for the preposition rule by paraphrasing one of Winston Churchill's famous quotes (probably misattributed). Nonetheless the cartoon is a funny reminder that if you live by the grammar sword, you die by the grammar sword.Labels: cartoon, funny, grammar, prepositions
posted by Gez at 6:21 pm
9 Comments
Monday, 6 August 2007
Soviet virgin lands short of goal again
I have a love/hate relationship with crappy ambiguous marketing copy. I love it because it's useful for duping the masses; I hate it because it's used for duping the masses. I love it when you read a snappy phrase that sounds great; I hate it because it doesn't mean anything. I love it because when it's done badly the results can be hilarious.
Take this list of ambiguous newspaper headlines for instance. My personal favourites are listed below.
Children's Stool Great for Use in Garden
Brings the rhubarb up a treat.
Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
What an image!
Reagan Wins On Budget, But More Lies Ahead
Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers
Brutally ironic justice.
Prostitutes appeal to Pope
At least he's honest.
Panda mating fails; Veterinarian takes over
That's dedication.
Soviet virgin lands short of goal again
She's trying her hardest.
Enraged cow injures farmer with ax
Plane too close to ground, crash probe told
Stating the bleeding obvious.
Miners refuse to work after death
Union power gone mad.
Never withhold herpes infection from loved one
Nice.
Labels: funny, headlines, marketing copy, vague
posted by Gez at 1:21 pm
2 Comments
Saturday, 28 July 2007
Smug is good.
This clip was sent into us by Nigel in London.
Obviously we're big fans of Stephen Fry here at GrammarBlog and in this sketch I love the way Fry revels in the smugness of his character and the intellectual gibberish he comes up with. (I shouldn't end my sentence with a preposition, should I?)
I have to confess to never before having seen this sketch before. (That preposition rule is one up with which I shall not put.)
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Nigel - keep them coming.
Labels: funny, smug, Stephen Fry, video
posted by Gez at 2:58 pm
6 Comments
Friday, 6 July 2007
Warning: bad grammar may cause increased levels of honesty
Words are important. Words are powerful. Choose the wrong words and although you are trying to convey one particular meaning, you may inadvertently convey another.
This is especially true and damaging when considering a sales pitch. With a sales pitch you are trying to persuade people to part with money in exchange for something you are offering.
This doesn't just happen, the process guides the potential customer through a series of consecutive impulses from first contact through to sale. If you screw up when trying to engender any of these impulses through inaccuracy or stupidity, it's hard to get back on track.
The most important step (along with the close) is the first contact. Which brings me to my point, I found a very good example of why one should check website copy very carefully.
Website solutions should always be custom made for a client. Here at ICBusiness we listen to your requirements BEFORE trying to sell you something you do not need.How very honest. They'll listen to you - and then try to sell you something you don't need.
Can't fault them for trying.
Labels: funny, marketing copy, The List
posted by Gez at 11:50 am
3 Comments
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