Irritatingly misspelled ads & signs

[Marla Sharp]

We all get irritated when we see misspellings in advertisements, signs, menus, documents, etc. I thought it would be fun to share pictures or stories about the ones we come across.

Here's one of my favorite ridiculous signs. It's not necessarily a misspelling, but it made me laugh:

It was in the parking lot of the Oregon State Fair.

[Kyung]

Bummer. I didn't take a picture of the bokay. I'm devastated. Next time.

[Chris Renegar]

One of the "liabilities" of being a proofreader is that I am unable to EVER "turn it off." I proofread magazines, novels, advertisements, billboards, menus, the list goes on and on. One of my favorite gaffes was found at Famous Dave's a couple of years ago which is a barbecue chain restaurant.

Around Easter time they had a big banner above their front door advertising their "Lentil Special" (instead of "Lenten Special"). Different meaning altogether, huh? I found that hilariously funny and I SO WISH I had a photo. :-)

[Marla Sharp]

The whole possessive/plural phenomenon is a mystery to me. The apostrophe has become the most misunderstood and misused piece of punctuation out there. Maddening, isn't it?

[Marla Sharp]

You know, that irritated me too, so I looked it up on Merriam-Webster one day. And "pleaded" seems to be the first in the list, indicating it's the preferred form, I guess.

Inflected Form(s): plead·ed \ˈplē-dəd\ or pled also plead \ˈpled\ ; plead·ing

So maybe those irritating newscasters are right. Still seems like it should be "pled," doesn't it?

[Marla Sharp]

It's not helping me much. :)

[Chris Renegar]

Since we have sort of deviated into "annoyances," here's two of mine: When someone says "I could care less," which I seem to hear at least once a day. It doesn't make sense! It should be "I couldn't care less." Because if you could care less, that means you do care. It's totally nonsensical. But I guess it's just one of those things that because it is said incorrectly so often, it has become accepted. And another one that really gets my goat is when people say "orientated" instead of "oriented." Don't even get me started on that one. ;-)

[Marla Sharp]

Ugh, I HATE "orientated." I also despise "irregardless."

[Vesna Walter]

Ahhhh, totally agree!

[Sherry Glascock]

When I took my kids to the "Happiest Place on Earth," I was taken aback by a sign that seemed to imply that we were going to receive a beatdown. I've actually had this pictures on My Page as it seems to epitomize what we court reporters despise. On the subject of irritating words, I can't stand it when people say "also too," as in, "I hate the word orientated. Also too, I hate the word irregardless."

[Karen Margolis]

OMG! That sign is HILARIOUS!

[Chris Renegar]

Very funny! I didn't know Harbor Blvd. was in the running with Mother Teresa for saint status. ;-)

[Denise Griffith]

And...the NBC new out of LA: Exaust fumes. I'm sure they can afford proofers before things go out on the air!