Rejoice, members of the Grammar Police. It’s your day today. Let’s hereby declare that you can correct anyone – online and offline – without repercussions. Of course, those you correct may disagree, but who cares? It’s National Grammar Day today.
In honor of this momentous occasion, Grammarly did a study to profile a Grammar Troll. [Read more…]
Today is National Grammar Day (as if you didn’t know that already!), and I just wanted to wish you all an awesome day with no grammatical errors ruining it. (Good luck with that.)
It’s the perfect day to flash that shiny badge, which I am sure you have. If you don’t, here’s one for you. [Read more…]
Hi. My name is Noemi. I’m a Twitter addict.
Today, I’m sharing some writing tweets with you because…read the third sentence of this post.
Have fun! [Read more…]
We all make mistakes. There really is nothing wrong with that as long as we can take constructive feedback. A little sense of humor and the ability to laugh at ourselves make everything better. Understandably, we might find it easier to chuckle when the mistake is not ours! Still, that does not mean that we should not make it a point to be open to admitting our mistakes and making sure they are corrected.
All this talk about mistakes stems from the topic of today’s grammar post. I think it’s about time we have a little fun, and take a look at some funny English signs again. While I am a stickler for grammar, especially when it comes to specific situations, I also like looking at humorous signs that may not live up to my standards. This is a good way to spend a 5- or 10-minute break from work. Try it!
Our first sign highlights the difficulty that prepositions pose for a lot of people.
No Parking Above Sign
Native English speakers may not think about it much, but the issue of prepositions is something that many learners of the language face. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if even native English speakers make preposition slips now and then. I hope that it is not this kind of mistake, though. It is kind of hard to park above a sign – unless you are a bird who “parks” on a wire!
You’re no stranger to Engrish.com, are you? They have some of the funniest signs I have seen, and since I have a sweet tooth, this just cracked me up.
We Free Dessert
Now this is the kind of mistake that I find more irritating than funny. Some people are just too caught up in themselves thinking that they are superior to others. I believe those people are bound to mess up at one point, and sure enough, whoever made this sign made a fool of himself. ((Via Real Life Moron))
English Is Our Language
We all have our unforgettable experiences, but this sign confuses me.
An Forgettable Experience
I saved the most hilarious one in my book for last.
Eat Here and Get Gas
Do you have other funny English signs to share?
As freelance writers, we are all very much aware of the importance of grammar and punctuation. We know that all sorts of confusion can arise from improper usage. Sometimes it can be quite hilarious. Check out this incident I read about at The Spokesman-Review:
A little punctuation can make a lot of difference.
When Bob Strick and Vicki Tomsha had business at the Spokane County Courthouse on June 2, they drove around from parking lot to parking lot, looking for some free public parking.
Lot after lot required a permit or some cash.
They thought they hit pay dirt in the little lot at Madison Street and College Avenue, just south of the courthouse. Lot D. The sign read: NO PUBLIC PARKING PERMIT REQUIRED.
Most of us would probably infer the sign’s intended meaning: No parking without a permit. But Strick and Tomsha – both of whom are from out of town and rarely go to the courthouse – said they took the sign at its literal, grammatical, face value: No permit required.
“We thought, ‘Cool,’ and we pulled in,” said Strick, a 71-year-old retired mill owner. “We don’t have signs like that in Kettle Falls. We thought it was a long-winded way of saying this was public parking.”
Strick and Tomsha, friends who had driven separately and met there, returned to find $30 parking tickets on each of their cars. Tomsha looked at the sign again. There was no comma or dash or semicolon or period between NO PUBLIC PARKING and PERMIT REQUIRED. The words were the same size and font, not separated by any space.
“I stood there and read it five times,” said Tomsha, a 64-year-old hospice worker from Deer Park. “I thought, OK, I guess if it had some punctuation in it, it would mean an entirely different thing. … But if you just read it at face value, what it says is what it says.”
What would you have done in you were in their place? Common sense would probably reveal the intended meaning of the sign. However, if you do stick by your grammar guns, then you would have done what the couple did.
They were given fines, but they took a photo of the sign and went to court. Guess what? They won!
I have no idea who this couple is or what their background is, but I don’t know about you – I have to admire their tenacity. Indeed, the statement “NO PUBLIC PARKING PERMIT REQUIRED” can easily be interpreted as “you don’t need a permit to park in the public area.” Without punctuation between the “parking” and “permit,” there is no doubt about that – grammatically.
This highlights the importance of grammar in daily life. Writer or not, this kind of thing makes you realize that grammar does have its practical uses, doesn’t it?
Do you have any interesting/amusing experiences with incorrect grammar/punctuation?
