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Posts Tagged ‘Signs’

Mad spelling skilz

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , on June 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »

We could expect nothing less from someone who spells her name “Bedie.”

SIGH.

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BP stands for Bad PR

Posted in Random, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 6, 2010| 11 Comments »

Oh, the irony in this sign at a BP station in Ohio. If I spilled anything at that station, I’d take my cue from the head of BP and I’d pretend it wasn’t that bad, blame everyone else, and then not let anyone else give me ideas on how to clean it up.

Tony Hayward, have you learned nothing from those unfortunate CEOs who have come before you in crisis? Apparently.

One of the topics I cover in my Promotional Writing class is crisis management. Crisis is nothing new, so there are plenty of case studies. Why don’t people learn from the mistakes of others?

Good crisis management: Tylenol in the ’80s, Hugh Grant, Jim Joyce. Bad crisis management: Tylenol in the ’00s, Tiger Woods, Exxon. Horrible crisis management: BP has no equal.

Here is how you handle a crisis in three easy steps:

  1. Talk to the media immediately and regularly.
  2. Apologize.
  3. Make it right by fixing the problem and compensating the victims.

BP has done none of these things. In fact, they’ve pretty much done the opposite of what they should have done. Who is advising these people?

And they keep making it worse in so many ways. One of those ways is that they are not allowing media to document the situation. Don’t they understand that they are squandering a prime opportunity to salvage their reputation? They could show the world what they are doing to fix the problem.

Unless, of course, they don’t really want to show what they are doing.

Hmmm…

I’ll leave you with this image, and the knowledge that I’ll never buy from BP again.

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A post with “unnecessary” quotes

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , on May 22, 2010| 3 Comments »

I’m bogged down in a grading morass, so a short, grammar-related post will have to do for now. Thank you to Morgan, a fashion student who is taking my Writing for the Web class, for providing this image:

It’s a little hard to see, so let’s focus the eye.

Yep. Those are quotation marks around the city’s name. (And there may be an orphan quotation mark before “of” also. It’s hard to tell.) Is the name in question? Is it the so-called city of Savannah? Whatever it is, it is All-American, by golly.

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Twitter: Language’s Wild Wild West

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2010| 3 Comments »

Shane Marshall Brown, He Who Has Three Names, sent to me a link to a New York Times article about self-appointed Twitter scolds. I love it.

Even though I usually give people a pass for Facebook and Twitter, I’m happy to see others carrying the torch for proper grammar and punctuation.

I wonder if they noticed the Deen Brothers’ tweet with the incorrect apostrophe:

Meanwhile, I’m still busy with loathsome words such as “partner.” Here it is, offending me from behind a glass enclosure at Memorial Health University Medical Center.

Why can’t they just join Memorial? Or be listed as co-sponsors? Or just have the logos without text? Sigh.

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Infallible? Not so much.

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , , on April 26, 2010| 15 Comments »

I have a friend, He Who Shall Not Be Named, who enjoys pointing out every mistake I make on Facebook or in this blog. What? You say you are surprised I make mistakes? Oh it is true.

I often make mistakes when my iPhone is involved. It is the spell check feature trying to be helpful. “Thing” turns into “think,” and “the” turns into “Tje” (whatever that means). If I don’t use it, though, “Heidi” becomes “Gefidi.”

I’m not making excuses. Like everyone else, I need to proofread. When I can, I have someone else proofread my work. It is almost impossible to catch all mistakes in your own work by yourself.

It may come as another surprise to learn that I cut people slack in text messages and on Twitter and Facebook. I know people are usually entering status updates on their phones, and may only have a few minutes of attention to spare.

But I often point out (and make fun of) mistakes in the wild, such as ones on signs, fliers, menus, etc., because people have spent money and/or time and effort to create something permanent.

For example, I love Zunzi’s because the food is fantastic. I don’t like to look at the menu because it makes me want to scream.

What is the salad possessing (besides an apostrophe that shouldn’t be there)?

So He Who Shall Not Be Named, you had a typo in one of your Facebook comments this morning. I didn’t point it out. But if you ever make a mistake on a sign or menu, I’m on it like fur on a weasel.

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Say it with songs

Posted in Random, tagged , on April 16, 2010| 7 Comments »

Warning: This post contains language that may be inappropriate for some readers.

I’ll bet that got your attention. Certain things get my attention too. Like the names of songs spelled out on my satellite radio screen.

And this one is classic too:

I think 7 a.m. may be too early for that.

It is a good think my kids can’t read yet.

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Add homonym

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , , on April 2, 2010| 4 Comments »

I just read a newsletter that featured the word “complementary” (an accompaniment) when the writer really meant “complimentary” (free or offering praise). Many people have a problem with those words, and other homonyms. So let me explain.

Homonym: umbrella category for words that sound the same or are spelled the same.

Fuzzy Wuzzy (Wuz a Bear)Homograph: words that are spelled the same and sometimes sound the same, but have different meanings

Examples: bear (to carry)/bear (Fuzzy Wuzzy)  and wind (air)/wind (crank)

Homophone: words that sound the same, may be spelled the same, but have different meanings

Examples: they’re/their/there and you’re/your and bear/bear from above. Bear/bear is a homophone and a homograph.

Easy way to remember:

HOMO (same) + PHONE (sound) and HOMO (same) + GRAPH (writing)

OK, now it might get confusing. Also under the homonym umbrella are heteronym and heterograph.

Heteronym: words that are spelled the same, but have different pronunciations and meanings. Notice this is the same definition as “homograph.” “Heteronym” is a subset of “homograph,” which is a subset of “homonym.” Heteronyms are always pronounced differently.

Example: wind (air)/wind (crank) — this is both a homograph and a heteronym

Heterograph: pronounced the same, but spelled differently. Notice this is the same definition as “homophone.””Heterograph” is a subset of “homophone,” which is a subset of “homonym.” Heterographs always have different spellings and meanings.

Example: you (gentle reader)/ewe (lady sheep) and bare (nekkid)/bear (aforementioned Fuzzy).

Luckily, there is no such thing as a heterophone to confuse the matter any further.

Here’s a Venn diagram of the above for you visual folks.

Venn diagram by Will Heltsley

The only problem is that the diagram makes it look like homonyms are only words that are both homophones and homographs. Homonyms are really the whole shebang.

And that’s different from “ad hominem,” which is a logical fallacy that is an argument against a person.

Sigh.

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Beach bums (and fronts, ears, eyes, etc.)

Posted in Random, tagged , , , , , on March 29, 2010| 3 Comments »

Today was the first day of beach season for us. So begins a summer of sand-filled crevices.

In honor of the water-loving that is beginning everywhere, I’m sharing this sign I’ve been saving (thank you, Carrie):

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Great balls of fire!

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , on March 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

So I’m on high alert for interesting signs now. My friends know this, and have shared some spectacular ones. This is the one everyone sent me this week:

Nope. Still not right.

Near “South of the Border” (!) I discovered a place with a treasure trove of fireworks. The labels are amazing. Check it out:

Perfect for St. Patrick's Day

There’s nothing grammatically wrong, but I’m not sure I like the idea of flaming balls.

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A doozy

Posted in Chickens, Grammar, etc., tagged , , on March 7, 2010| 6 Comments »

This sign defies explanation. Please gaze upon its hideousness, while I cluck in dismay.

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