Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Graffitti
"Graffiti", originally uploaded by Trevor Coultart.
As well as the poor spelling, this gets extra hate marks for the rainbow-striped lettering – a sure sign of a psychopath.
It's an interesting word, graffiti. It's the plural form of graffito (rarely used in english) and Italian in origin, as you would probably guess. It derives from the Italian word graffiato meaning scratched.
It originally referred to inscriptions or carvings that were scratched onto walls, statues and tombs.
Anyway, it's spelled with two Fs and one T, capisce?
posted by Gez at 6:17 pm
2 Comments
Monday, 15 September 2008
Newcastle fans "boycoutt" their club
As is frequently mentioned, Newcastle is a city close to GrammarBlog's heart as it is there that the founding members met. Geordie football fans are a breed unto themselves.
The protest's organiser later went on to give an interview to Sky Sports in which he lamented the fact that the recent troubles with the organisational structure of NUFC was turning the club into a laughing stock.
I'm not sure this helps matters. Priceless.
This is all the better for the sweary, Geordie commentary.
If any American readers require a transcript of the commentary, let me know.
Labels: Boycoutt, Geordies, Keegan, newcastle, NUFC, Protest, spelling, video, YouTube
posted by Gez at 2:13 pm
3 Comments
Sunday, 7 September 2008
Fast food with pizzazz
A brief glance at the other side of this sign delivered some more top-notch spelling.
posted by Paddy at 4:11 pm
1 Comments
Monday, 11 August 2008
Organic food in a hurry
This mistake is worryingly common and makes me chuckle every time I see it.
This is also one of those errors that I have to verbally correct when I hear spoken. I can often be seen in the queue at Starbucks obnoxiously hissing at some poor soul, "Esssssssspresso!".
I can't help it; it's a compulsion.
Labels: foreign language spelling errors, photos, signage, spelling
posted by Gez at 6:24 pm
3 Comments
Monday, 16 June 2008
'Do you want salt and crazy grammar on the chips?'
I can't fault their heavenly chips or their wonderfully crisp battered cod, but what possessed them here? As if this scatterbrain punctuation wasn't enough, when I then slumped against the counter to recover my breath I was faced with this on the menu board:
The spelling. Why not just copy the word 'sausage' from the entry above? And yes, those really are "unnecessary quotation marks" encompassing the word 'batterd'. Perhaps my chipmonger was batterd on booze when he did it. It's the only rational explanation.
Labels: commas, quotation marks, spelling
posted by Paddy at 9:50 pm
10 Comments
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Pheonix Way
That would be 'Phoenix' then.
This road can be found in Portishead, Bristol.
View Larger Map
Labels: portishead, signage, spelling
posted by Gez at 6:22 pm
5 Comments
Monday, 28 April 2008
The Impotence of Proofreading
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjhOBiSk8Gg
A poem by Taylor Mali.
Labels: poetry, proofreading, spellchecker, spelling, video, YouTube
posted by Gez at 11:51 pm
4 Comments
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
It doensn't matter
Corey found the following typo in a Hallmark card he bought.
Not content with sending the typo to us, he confronted Hallmark directly via the modern communication channel of email. Luckily for us, he sent a copy of said email along with the scan. And very amusing it is.
I believe I won the grand prize in the "My-First-Grader-Could-Spell-Better-Than-This Typographical Error Contest." I recently purchased the Shoebox card with "Really Dreadful Hemorrhoids" printed on the front. At first glance, "hemorrhoids" would be expected to have the typo. However, you outsmarted me. The error was discreetly concealed in a commonly used word, which some spell-checkers insist is not a word at all. On the inside it reads "are wished upon anyone who **DOENSN'T** wish you a happy birthday." Please send my prize to the address listed below.Thank you very much.
Corey *********
101 Spell-Checker Way
IdiotTown USA
There are two things I like about this. Firstly, I like the sarcastic tone of the email. Secondly, I love the fact that Corey saw a card that read "Really Dreadful Hemorrhoids" on the front and thought it so suited to his requirements that he didn't even want to check the inside copy.
"Really Dreadful Hemorrhoids? Sold!" is possibly what Corey said.
posted by Gez at 2:45 pm
3 Comments
Sunday, 20 April 2008
The choise is yours
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?
*UPDATE* Oops, it turns out this wasn't sent to me by my girlfriend after all but my friend and colleague, Paul, who took the picture in St. Pancreas station and sent it to me by MMS. Due to the limitations of my phone I misattributed the source. Tech and social media fans should check out Paul's blog, Blending the Mix.
Labels: exclamation marks, menus, randomised caps, signs, spelling
posted by Gez at 6:10 pm
2 Comments
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Stationary Greeting Cards
This is a common mistake. You'd think a stationer would know how to spell stationery correctly. On the plus side, those greeting cards stay nice and still when you pick them up.
Labels: spelling, stationary, stationery, wrong word
posted by Gez at 2:19 pm
10 Comments
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
If you're having grammar problems I feel bad for you, son
This is slapdashery beyond anything I have seen before. There are no unnecessary apostrophes at least.
17 typos and an apostrophe ain't one. Watch out Jay-Z; MC Grammar is all up in your flow.
Can you spot all seventeen errors? Answers available by clicking through to the photo page.
Labels: capitalisation, photos, spellchecker, spelling
posted by Gez at 5:44 pm
1 Comments
Friday, 22 February 2008
Wet your appetite
I can't decide if this is a typo or a malapropism. Either way it's a shocker.
The correct word is of course 'whet'.
Labels: marketing copy, photos, spelling, typo, wrong word
posted by Gez at 1:22 pm
5 Comments
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Pubic Relations
Some good advice when writing an online resume: proofread, proofread, proofread.
We bring essential business experience from many areas including: advisory, systems, research, human resources, marketing and pubic relations.
Related posts: Spell Checker Poem
Labels: spelling, typo, wrong word
posted by Gez at 6:07 am
4 Comments
Thursday, 14 February 2008
Heartbrake not excepted
I have to confess to being a bit of a Valentine's grinch. My girlfriend can drop all the hints in the world and I'll still forget to buy a card or gift. I don't know who decided it was romantic to throw money into Hallmark's bank account and contribute to the destruction of the rainforests once a year.
I know what you're thinking: she is one lucky, lucky lady. And I correct her grammar.
So, in the spirit of the day and to thank her for putting up with this incessant curmudgeon, I would like to dedicate this post to my long-suffering girlfriend. (A blog post is more environmentally friendly than a card, and conveniently free.)
First up we have an accept/except confusion combined with a missing possessive apostrophe.
Next: today's post from Passive Aggressive Notes is a cracker. It qualifies for GrammarBlog due to the heartbreaking misspelling.
I hope Gavin doesn't come home to find his bunny in a pot.
Labels: apostrophe, punctuation, spelling, Valentine's, wrong word
posted by Gez at 6:59 pm
1 Comments
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
No need to shout!
Regular contributor and twitter friend Aliya has got in touch to voice her discontent at being confronted with a grammatical error when attempting to sign up to Zlio, a web 2.0 shop thingy-ma-bob. Yes, that's the technical description.
"Please confirm informations bellow."
I really like this. I can imagine people yelling their email addresses at the screen, eager to try this new-fangled, web-based, voice recognition technology. Also, the pluralisation of uncountable nouns such as 'information', 'luck' and 'money' always makes me smile, I don't know why.
Perhaps our Aliya was having a bad day as she did not take this so lightly.
I was in the middle of signing up for Zlio's online DIY shop service, when this unforgivable monstrosity presented itself. There's just no excuse for this degree of error. In fact, Zlio should apologise for the level of offence, frustration, and downright despair that they have caused me.
That's good ranting, lass. Keep 'em coming.
Labels: plurals, spelling, twitter, uncountable nouns, wrong word
posted by Gez at 8:07 am
2 Comments
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Anarky For Ever
The best graffiti ever?
Found on a Russian photo blog (warning: occasional arty nudity).
posted by Gez at 1:58 am
3 Comments
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Through and Thru
Is anyone else really sick of seeing the word 'Thru'? Of all the various inane marketing spellings it's the one that winds me up the most. I'm not sure why. Maybe ubiquity is a factor; it does seem to crop up everywhere.
The Grammar Vandal currently has a poll on her site asking visitors their opinion on when it is acceptable to use 'thru'.
I'm on team Never.
Related posts: Grammar abuse in signage: part 9
Labels: marketing copy, pet peeves, spelling, thru
posted by Gez at 2:57 pm
14 Comments
You must be Joaqin
No, he's deadly serious.
![[hic.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLEJnxB0io9hOFaTsbRvIaxaPRmd6K1vsVkA_l8ymD6IJ6to_pFuNepkf-HuZjx0ZeDW6WAjKl8JVuIzchxWsaHyUXGDhuMV8NvNUo3BsoCl8rY9C66gCKu-rMApqZ-1EvpVm7IaxnZM/s1600/hic.jpg)
How do I spell my own name again?It's spelt Joaquin, Joaquin.
This was found over at SPOGG.
**UPDATE**
Here is a video of the same event. Joaquin was showing support for the writers strike. (Should that be writers' strike? Or is it similar to an event attended by writers so not needing the possessive – like a cattle market? I should probably research that. I probably won't though.)
Labels: celebrity, Joaquin Phoenix, spelling, writers' strike
posted by Gez at 9:51 am
1 Comments
Friday, 4 January 2008
Gobbledygook
If only I'd seen this in time to include it in the Xmas special.
Where shocked.
Labels: signage, spelling, wrong word
posted by Gez at 1:54 pm
3 Comments
Friday, 21 December 2007
I woder how things like this are allowed to happen
If it was my job to slot letters on to marquee signs like this one I’d collect all the letters I need before ascending the ladder, and then check I’d used them all before storing the ladder away. Whatever happened to that ‘N’? Perhaps the member of staff pocketed it and sold it as a 'Z' to a rival cinema, pulling the wool over everybody's eyes in the process.
It makes the absence of the apostrophe seem almost trivial.
Labels: apostrophe abuse, cinema, signage, spelling, Xmas
posted by Paddy at 4:24 pm
4 Comments
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