Comments on: Office Rat-A-Tat: when typos get in the way

By: Merlin'sMom

Merlin'sMom — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:24:00 +0000

Last year the graduation issue of the local paper said that one of the honor students was going to college to become a nurse “antithesis.” Does that make her an Angel of Death? I assume they meant “anesthetist.”

By: Wilson

Wilson — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:45:00 +0000

@ Larissa: They should have warned you about Canadiens, Senators, Flames, and Oilers too!

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:39:00 +0000

There’s this one building in Greenville that has changed hands several times. When it was being redecorated time before last, they had a sign saying they were “remaolding.”

By: Joanna

Joanna — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:16:58 +0000

One of my favorites on a sign telling you to leave the plants alone:

Violators will be persecuted.

By: a 911 operator

a 911 operator — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:33:45 +0000

Working in the fast paced emergency services environment, we are quick to type calls and even quicker to push them out for police and ambulances. More times than I can count, second is abbreviated “sec” and since the x key is so close to the c key, another more naughty word gets typed into a call. This becomes a problem when transcripts are subpoenaed for court. >:-)

By: Mal

Mal — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:47:58 +0000

I’m just a kid, but I love grammar. I point out mistakes on my teachers’ handouts and chalkboards all the time. you wouldn’t believe the mistakes they make…and with Master’s Degrees too…
Also, my two best friends are awful spellers: “where= were”, “which= witch, wich”…etc. It annoys me…

By: greenstrawberries

greenstrawberries — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:52:41 +0000

I take photos of all the bad English I see on a daily basis, it’s usually pretty funny stuff. (I live in China) The other day at work someone (not a native English speaker) put a sign up sheet in the office for something, and it said, “Formal dress: Men must be tied up.” There’s a store in town that’s called “Unsightly and Peculiar.” They sell clothes. I’ve seen one at the airport in Paris: “Retarded Planes.” And, my favorite is what’s written on my package of cough drops: “Coursing wind and searing heat, resolving toxin and disinhibiting throat, transforming turbidity with aroma.”
I think that China has quite a ways to go before they get all of their signs fixed…. But they will let you tell them what’s wrong with the English on the Olympics website pages.

By: Janel

Janel — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 05:15:30 +0000

This summer, a local high school was advertising an upcoming reunion on their electronic marquee. Except they called it a “re-union.” I laughed every time I saw that.

By: paul

paul — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:23:57 +0000

When I was in college, a local Wendys was apparently looking for people to work the late night shift. Their sign outside read, “now hiring losers”. Did they have to be so hard on their prospective employees?

By: James

James — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:11:14 +0000

Some years ago a friend who was a minister and who also sang in a gospel quartet was looking in a very old hymnal (early 20th century) for old hymns which they could use in their programs. He ran across one entitled “There’s crap on the door”, a hymn for use at funerals. Obviously, the word was supposed to be “crepe” which the proofreader mistyped as “crap” and it not only appeared in the title, but every stanza ended with the phrase, “There’s crap on the door”!