Editing the world, one post at a time

Meg would like to let us know about a cool post over on Serious Eats,  More Evidence That Trader Joe Paid Attention in Grammar Class, from which the delightful picture  below is taken.  It seems to me less to indicate the awesomeness of Trader Joe Corporate — which, I assume, authorized and paid for the original sign — than that of Trader Joe employees.  Nonetheless, it brings a tear to my eye.

Thanks, Meg!

Please excuse the drive-by nature of this photograph.  I was not actually driving while I took it, but I was being watched suspiciously by the shopclerk. And I really, really needed her not to ask me what I was doing…

…because if she had, I was going to say, “Excuse me, I was wondering whether I would like to buy a Radko ornament.”

Reporter #1 shrugs, “Stationary iPhones need not apply.”

I could have seen where they were going with this, if the software were called “Weight Watchers for Mobile.”  But it isn’t.  And so this is wrong.  Just like starting sentences with “And” or “But.”  But this is my blog.

Dave thinks last Friday’s WaPo sports front page is a secret shout-out to the RPB!

(click to enlarge)

In honor of our last-ever January, 2010 Red Pen Brigade incident, Alison brings the snark:

Looks like the daycare is starting to suspect that not all the creatures they watch during the day are in fact children. I guess I should leave my pet llama at home for a while…

It might be a picture quality issue, Alison, but I’m pretty sure you’re also missing an apostrophe there.  It’s a double!

As I have said before, I feel like there’s a line somewhere such that picking on people’s spelling/grammar isn’t appropriate if we’re dealing with certain subsets of people, among them those who are not native English speakers.  I have a little pity for companies producing things for export to English-speaking countries, because not all companies may be able to afford much in the way of translation, and I don’t know which companies could and which couldn’t.  That’s quite different from mom-and-pop, handwritten signs, though, which I am generally very likely to forgive.  It’s very likely that their English is better than my whatever, after all.

That said, I think I feel comfortable drawing the line when it comes to companies actually operating major stores in English-speaking countries.  If you are big enough to buy several major big-box stores in the United States, I really DO want you to hire a copy editor.  Mmmkay?

Don’t worry, H Mart, I’m not going to dump you over this.  I love you too much for such a petty thing to break us up.  Plus, I mean, public hygeine is a total plus!  Maybe we can work out some kind of deal where I do your corporate editing in return for a never-ending supply of mochi balls and bibimbop?

[EDIT TO ADD, CONFIDENTIAL TO MY FATHER: I originally had "I feel like there's a line somewhere where picking on people's blah blah."  The voice that I heard in my head yelling at me there was definitely yours!]

Reporter #1 grumps,

Verbs?  We don’t no stinkin’ verbs.

The worst part, in my humble opinion, is that there was definitely room for that tiny little bite of existential goodness.  I’m with you, Reporter #1: No excuses!  Not on a Monday!

Reporter #1 is back!  She has this to say:

I can’t decide if the sheer offensiveness of it outweighs the bad grammar, or if the two combined is just all the more horrid.

Yeah, that really is a fascinating dilemma, Reporter #1.  Random capitalization, missing punctuation, the charming use of “n” as a word, and whatever “with political 2 cents” can be called.  You’ve done it again!

Margaret has found another lovely roadside sign somewhere in the Middle East.  This is a country where nearly everybody speaks at least a little English, but they don’t seem to employ a copy-editor in the highway department!

The word they were going for was “reserve,” as in “game reserve.”  But I think I like it better this way!  Thanks, Margaret!

First-time submitter Tom R. says:

Courtesy of ESPN.  I’m not sure where Tact is.  Perhaps Google Maps would know?

Thanks, Tom!  Welcome to the club!