Bad Grammar in Public

[Erich L-ster]

Evidently we have a sign shop in my area that doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to their work. I've seen two banners with the same exact error, so I'm hoping it's just one shop making this error! They used the word "formally" instead of "formerly." As in, abusiness changed it's name so on their banner it says "formally XYZ Store!"  The other was for a musician that was going to perform locally. This person used to be a member of a well-known band, so the banner said, "Come see soandso perform this Saturday! Formally of the ABC Band!"

bah how do you know he's not formally in ABC band but chooses to play informally or is loosely associated with other band?

and maybe the store is like McDonald's....formally known as McDonald's but informally known as Micky D's? let's take them at their word....their misused word

[Danika]

Here is a picture of a pub in my local high street.



Wrong on so many levels.

It makes me twitch so much that I harbour fantasies of going down there in the middle of the night to correct it.

Please, let me know when you plan to go and I'll come with you and help!

I think we should all have an EHell day, kind of like those flash mobs, but it'd be a grammar correction mob. And we'd all have red markers and go around town correcting things. Worldwide Grammar Police Day.

[Miss Vertigo]

Here is a picture of a pub in my local high street.



Wrong on so many levels.

It makes me twitch so much that I harbour fantasies of going down there in the middle of the night to correct it.

Please, let me know when you plan to go and I'll come with you and help!

I think we should all have an EHell day, kind of like those flash mobs, but it'd be a grammar correction mob. And we'd all have red markers and go around town correcting things. Worldwide Grammar Police Day.

I will, with pleasure

I once went to a pub with a group of friends from a fic comm on LJ, several of whom were on the beta reader list. The menu in the pub was SO badly written and contained so many instances of apostrophe and grammar abuse that one of them actually got out a red pen and corrected it at the table.

In her defence: a) she's a teacher, b) it was a paper menu with a great big stack of them available at the bar to replace it and c) it was really, REALLY bad.

[Mental Magpie]

I live a town who's name ends in "burg", so it was understandable when I went into a bar and saw Pittsburgh spelled similarly, i.e. Pittsburg.  Thankfully, when I alerted the bartender of this mistake, he handed me the board marker and let me change it.  He was also kind enough to listen to me tell him the history of how the 'h' was originally in the name of the city, then removed, and finally reinstated.

[M-theory]

Miss Vertigo, that would drive me completely unhinged. I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut. I'd be coordinating donations for them to get their sign fixed.

[Gyburc]

Here is a picture of a pub in my local high street.



Wrong on so many levels.

It makes me twitch so much that I harbour fantasies of going down there in the middle of the night to correct it.

Please, let me know when you plan to go and I'll come with you and help!

I think we should all have an EHell day, kind of like those flash mobs, but it'd be a grammar correction mob. And we'd all have red markers and go around town correcting things. Worldwide Grammar Police Day.

Can I come too? This kind of thing drives me potty. The one that gets me frequently is the supermarket checkout for customers with '15 items or less'. 

[LadyClaire]

Here is a picture of a pub in my local high street.



Wrong on so many levels.

It makes me twitch so much that I harbour fantasies of going down there in the middle of the night to correct it.

Please, let me know when you plan to go and I'll come with you and help!

I think we should all have an EHell day, kind of like those flash mobs, but it'd be a grammar correction mob. And we'd all have red markers and go around town correcting things. Worldwide Grammar Police Day.

Can I come too? This kind of thing drives me potty. The one that gets me frequently is the supermarket checkout for customers with '15 items or less'. 

That's why I like Meijer. Their signs say "Fewer", which gives me a warm toasty feeling.

[Layla Miller]

I think we should all have an EHell day, kind of like those flash mobs, but it'd be a grammar correction mob. And we'd all have red markers and go around town correcting things. Worldwide Grammar Police Day.

As long as Weird Al can come, too! 

[SamiHami]

Not a sign, but my DH works with a guy who keeps saying "boughten" for "bought" and "mergered" for "merged."  Drives poor DH Ca-razy.

I think "boughten" is a regional thing. My family is from a small farm town in upstate NY and they all say boughten. It took years to break my parents if that!

[Brentwood]

What the sign intended to say was,

"No congregating on the pavement. Violators will be prosecuted".

I once saw a sign that read "No Trespassing. Trespassers will be Violated!" My family and I are still trying to figure out if the people who wrote that meant to write that.

I would guess they did mean to write that. It's not an entirely uncommon joke.

[Danika]

The one that gets me frequently is the supermarket checkout for customers with '15 items or less'. 

Oh no! I never noticed that before. Now, I'm going to think of it Every. Time. I'm at the store. It's going to drive me batpoo crazy!

[Thipu1]

Yesterday I had Jury Duty and found this gem in the Juror lounge rest room.

Do not throw paper towels into the "Toilets".

Why is that word in quotes?  A toilet is not a euphemism. It is the proper term for an integral part of a rest room. 

   

[Elfmama]

Some people apparently believe that the quotes are added for emphasis, instead of using *asterisks* or caps.

Do not throw towels into the *Toilets*
(unsaid but implied: put them elsewhere, like the bin provided.)

[Hollanda]

Some people apparently believe that the quotes are added for emphasis, instead of using *asterisks* or caps.

Do not throw towels into the *Toilets*
(unsaid but implied: put them elsewhere, like the bin provided.)

In a pub I used to frequent, it does not matter whether the words are 250ft high, written in bright red and in bold, people still put TP in the loo, and they always clog up and flood. Result? Sopping wet TP on the floor.  Nice.

[hobish]

Here is a picture of a pub in my local high street.



Wrong on so many levels.

It makes me twitch so much that I harbour fantasies of going down there in the middle of the night to correct it.

I would just make a little story in my head that the pub belongs to two brothers whose last name is Half and they think this is a very funny joke. Of course, they in turn lay awake at night wondering whether they are just torturing grammarians or if anyone else gets it.