I’ll take them with some hot buns on the side.

WOW.

This is a new addition to Facebook by “Good Grammar is Hot” member Kim F.

Beyond amazing.

On Texting

I’d like to start a discussion.

How grammatically accurate are you when you send text messages? How closely do you pay attention to your spelling?

If you’re running late or pressed for time, does you become u and your become ur? Do you skip the apostrophes? Do you ever drop punctuation completely?

We can only break the glass ceiling so much….

I found this on Facebook and it’s too good not to share here:

Overheard in New York

How Danny Got Put in the Trunk

Mom: Danny, what did you put in the trunk?
Seven-year-old boy: Don’t you mean, ‘Whom did you put in the trunk’?

–116th & Lex

Facebook Ad

Hmmmm.

This is a bit tough to make out — Blogger won’t let me enlarge the picture any more than this — but I find it to be deliciously ironic.

Is that supposed to be an apostrophe in the second mistakes?

It’s hard to see, but there’s definitely no apostrophe after sellers!

Discuss.

Oh, and to my fellow Yanks, have a very happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Apostrophe Cat

Thanks to all the people who sent me this!

A Common [SPACE] Sense Posting

I was reading about this book on CNN.com today, and at first I thought there was a typo when they mentioned the title. Is “Commonsense” a word? (For the record, other than that word, I think the title’s hilarious!)

I’m not sure if it’s correct, because I’ve never seen it in professional writing as one word. It could be antiquated, along with “covenantbreakers” and “lovingkindnesses” and all those other long words in the Bible.

Unless Commonsense is a brand name.

I’m googling.

Okay. It appears to be a brand name — it’s a series of how-to books. Because of that, I won’t go after them. It’s creative license.

Of course, if I were creating a brand name, I would use the correct spelling and grammar, but that’s just me.

ALSO: I’m watching I Love New York as I type this, and the following sentence appeared on the screen: FYI: Mr. Boston is an accountant not a chef. Yikes….

Overheard in New York

I just saw this on Overheard in New York (great site — always makes me smile!) and had to post it:

Cafeteria lady: So, you been good this weekend?
Frat boy: No! Me and my girlfriend got totally shit-faced!
Cafeteria lady: ‘My girlfriend and I.’
Frat boy: What?
Cafeteria lady: ‘My girlfriend and I got totally shit-faced.’
Frat boy: Whoa! You have a girlfriend?! Hardcore!
–NYU

Vertical Lettering

I’m having trouble posting pictures tonight, so I’m going to post about something I was thinking about yesterday.

I was walking down Union Park Street in the South End of Boston (better known as my dream address) and came across Aunt Sadie’s, a lovely little gift shop.

The sign had the letters listed vertically:

A
U
N
T

S
A
D
I
E
S

There was no apostrophe on the sign, though the apostrophe was used on every other occurence of the store’s name.

That got me thinking. How would it be appropriate to include an apostrophe on a vertical sign like this? I wonder if anyone has ever thought about this before.

There are three options:

1. Use no apostrophe
2. Put the apostrophe above the S and below the E
3. Add the apostrophe to the right of the E

#2 sounds like it would make it look worse, and to strict grammarians, #1 is worst of all.

I think that #3 would be the way to go. If it were me, however, I would have made it a bit different than the other letters — maybe I’d make it a different font; maybe I’d put it at an angle. That’s just what I’d do for aesthetic reasons.

What do you think?

"Medford" escaped from the mob!

I saw this sign the other day:

Location: Red Line train, Boston/Cambridge/Somerville, Massachusetts

This sign invites you to meet “Medford.” Now, why is it necessary to use those quotes?

I imagine that “Medford” had a normal life — a job, a spouse, a family and a white picked fence. He also had a normal name, like John or Paul.

That all changed the day he witnessed a heinous crime.

No. That all day he decided to do what every single movie tells you not to do and GOT INVOLVED WITH THE MOB!

John/Paul was removed from his normal life, along with his family, and became “Medford.”

That’s how I interpret this ad.

Over the Hill

My friend Andy’s aunt and uncle recently celebrated their fiftieth and sixtieth birthdays, respectively. Their children decorated their lawn with plenty of signs mocking their milestones. Check them out:

I don’t even know where to begin!

I honestly don’t know where to begin!

Guest Entry: Winking and Wanking

The following is a Facebook note written by my dear friend Lisa. We discussed the subject of the note a bit over dinner tonight, and I think it would be of interest to you.

For background, Lisa just got her Master’s degree in a writing-related discipline, and she spent some time studying abroad in England (the Cambridge in the entry is for Cambridge University, not Cambridge, Massachusetts). Also, she has absolutely no idea that I am posting this entry verbatim, lifted directly from Facebook.

In other words, she did not write this for my (often brutal) audience. She wrote this for fun — and I’m reposting it because I like it. (And if she wants me to remove it, it will be removed from the blog IMMEDIATELY!)

Here it is:

If the past tense of “drink” is “drank” and the past tense of “sink” is “sank”, does that mean the past tense of “wink” is “wank?” I would argue, wholeheartedly, 100% YES!

The term itself really came about this summer at Cambridge, when a short, sashay-ing Italian man of the waitstaff would consistently and without hesitation “wink” at females and males too (hey, I don’t judge). “He wank at me” was the common expression uttered over elaborate, multiple course dinners in the lavish dining hall (black or white? soup or salad?). The wanking man even received a lovely nickname from us: Winky.

Although his wanking was initially perceived as sketchy and even disturbing, I am just now thinking more deeply about the message of the wink. Usually, it does have some sort of sexual connotation, but in Winky’s case, was it more one of friendship and fellowship (Ciao!).

Done correctly, the wink CAN BE subtle, sexy, and almost mysterious. However, it’s all about the execution. It must be done with the eye ONLY: NO contortions of the face, eyebrow, or any spastic/ADD motions whatsoever. I know my limits. I’m not a wanker. I just can’t do it; my whole face wants to join in the winking fun and thus ruin the subtlety of the wink itself.

But, I don’t mind being a receiver of the wink, or advocating for bringing it back, similar to the way Justin Timberlake brought sexy back (although, that is debatable). When the wink is done right, it’s a memorable experience, not just an eye action.

One Missing Comma

Current headline on CNN.com:

Surgery for girl with eight limbs is going smoothly doctors say

Just a typo on an online news site?

Or is it representative of a growing laziness in proofreading?

It’s been up there for more than an hour, and nobody has done anything….

Hair Extentions

I noticed this little beauty while driving home from my mom’s place in Wakefield:

Location: Main Street and Montvale Avenue, Stoneham, MA

Yikes. It should be Hair Extensions.

Even Jessica Simpson gets it correct.