One of my biggest pet peeves is the misuse of the apostrophe. This seems to be becoming a plague in America. I've seen signs that read: "Managers Special: xx% off milkshake's!" Two apostrophe errors in that one.
The "your" vs. "you're" issue is a big one for me, too. That one's not so common on signs around here, but I did see that mistake in a caption on TV yesterday: "Your under arrest."
It seems that most of these mistakes happen when employees or managers in the stores make the signs on their own, either by hand or on the computer. My own managers are guilty of this. I don't think those signs say anything good about the people who made them, and I would imagine that someone in a higher managerial role (like district or corporate) would be displeased to see it. Maybe that's just me.
Anyway, for lunch yesterday, I wandered over to a nearby taco shop, and I found one of the worst signs I've ever seen. It was taped to the fountain drink dispenser, almost completely obscuring the Coca-Cola logo. It was printed on one sheet of paper, in Times New Roman, and appeared exactly like this:
I was stunned. I had to write it down. It's the "thanx's" at the end that bothers me the most, but that whole sign needs to be changed. I realize that many of the employees may not speak English as their first language, and several are still in high school, but I should hope that there is someone there with enough linguistic sense to catch the problem.
Anybody else care to whine with me about bad grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other such things, particularly on signs like those?
The "your" vs. "you're" issue is a big one for me, too. That one's not so common on signs around here, but I did see that mistake in a caption on TV yesterday: "Your under arrest."
It seems that most of these mistakes happen when employees or managers in the stores make the signs on their own, either by hand or on the computer. My own managers are guilty of this. I don't think those signs say anything good about the people who made them, and I would imagine that someone in a higher managerial role (like district or corporate) would be displeased to see it. Maybe that's just me.
Anyway, for lunch yesterday, I wandered over to a nearby taco shop, and I found one of the worst signs I've ever seen. It was taped to the fountain drink dispenser, almost completely obscuring the Coca-Cola logo. It was printed on one sheet of paper, in Times New Roman, and appeared exactly like this:
if drinks are not
purchase here. refills
need to be paid!!
thanx's
purchase here. refills
need to be paid!!
thanx's
I was stunned. I had to write it down. It's the "thanx's" at the end that bothers me the most, but that whole sign needs to be changed. I realize that many of the employees may not speak English as their first language, and several are still in high school, but I should hope that there is someone there with enough linguistic sense to catch the problem.
Anybody else care to whine with me about bad grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other such things, particularly on signs like those?
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