GrammarBlog

apostrophecity, originally uploaded by the.kingfish.

We've hit the mother lode! Inappropriate capitalisation, misplaced apostrophes (of course) and quotation marks used for emphasis.

Labels: apostrophe abuse, quotation marks, randomised caps, signage, signs

Sent in by my girlfriend, Natalie. After despairing of my pedantry for so long, she now seems to be taking the if-you-can't-beat-them approach.

Anyone for MIX salad?

Labels: exclamation marks, menus, randomised caps, signs, spelling

Today I found this horror on a drinks menu at a four-star hotel:

Labels: apostrophe abuse, hotels, menus, randomised caps

If you shop at Tesco you earn Clubcard vouchers. Vouchers equate to prizes in Tescoland. Yes they do.

Two notices; multiple errors: inexcusable.

Labels: photos, randomised caps, signage, tesco

This was taken by me while on holiday in Cornwall. The standard of spelling, punctuation and grammar I saw on the signs down there was atrocious.

Obviously the final line, "ALL ROOM'S FULLY EQUIPT" is the highlight but the use of the lowercase f is a cause of puzzlement to me. It reminds me of lowercase l—but with f.

Labels: apostrophe abuse, punctuation, randomised caps, signage, spelling

Would you like your steak Simply Grilled? Sky TV on a Big Screen and Bar Snacks served All Day. We sell Clothes and Accessories for Adults, Teenagers, Kids and Much More. I love it when Capital Letters are Abused.

This topic has quietly reared its repugnant little head a number of times in recent posts, but deviously managed to avoid scrutiny via a 'safety in grammatical howler numbers' policy. Well, no more. Your game is up Mr Rogue Majuscule. You've been plying your heinous trade for too long. It's time you got your comeuppance in the only language you really understand: brutal, ugly violence. Boris, fetch me the Stick. And a Towel.

I got carried away there but I would hope you understand my frustration. Capital letters are an important aspect of written English, but I've never been able to ascertain quite why people abuse them so much. After all, English has a reasonably simple set of rules: capitalise the first letter of sentences; capitalise the first letter of proper nouns (and adjectives which stem from proper nouns). There are subtleties, of course, but in general usage I can't see any real potential tripwires. So I suppose there must be something peculiar (or German) about the leagues of shop-owners, publicans and restaurateurs who, in some sort of bizarre homage to Jesse Ventura in Predator, seem compelled to spray thousands of arbitrary capital letters into their sentences until nothin', nothin' on this earth, coulda lived.

18th Century English apparently capitalised all written nouns (in the same way as modern German), but I find it difficult to believe that a faint linguistic hangover from this period is responsible for modern-day abuse. I think it is actually more to do with a lack of trust (or confidence?) in writing's power to deliver a simple message, and a desperation to emphasise.

It's as if the author of the typical 'blackboard' pub menu doesn't believe that the average punter can actually process more than three words at once, and hence it's a battle to keep their attention when you're telling them that the Chicken Balti w/ Rice comes with a free Pint of Lager.

I also think marketing and brand saturation plays a part. People are so used to branded goods that they're losing the ability to discern between lunch and Lunch. Christ – I bet there really is a brand of takeaway sandwiches called Lunch, isn't there? I daren't Google it.

Labels: capitalisation, randomised caps

"Brew" Ridge, originally uploaded by DiegoLuego.

This one has everything.

Unnecessary quotation marks? Check.
Irritating marketing spelling (thru)? Check.
Apostrophe abuse? Check.
Unnecessary capitalisation? Check.
Spelling error? Check.

Heaven preserve us.

Labels: apostrophe abuse, foreign language spelling errors, marketing copy, photos, punctuation, quote me happy, randomised caps, signage, spelling, top ten

HELFHY FOOD, originally uploaded by Kidsturk.

I wish people would fink before putting variously coloured pens to paper.

Labels: randomised caps, signage, spelling