Wanted to start a new thread since my comment was way off on a tangent in the other thread...


Saw this on the door of the former Midtown Deli yesterday when we went to eat lunch at 1492.

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/8339/picture16v.png

Argh, SPELLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why can't people just run a 3-word sign by somebody else and ask "Does this look right?" I see *so* many spelling and grammar errors on menus, signs, business cards, notices, etc. here in OKC it's just really, really sad and does not reflect well on OKC. La Baguette Colcord spells soup soupe, tartare as Tar Tar, and then I just stopped noting the errors. I pointed out that City Bites had a big banner promoting "Pumkin Bread" and they just said "Wow, never noticed that before, that's hilarious". Illiteracy is funny now, how pathetic. I'm tempted to start being one of those guys that carries white-out, paintbrushes, etc. in an attempt to fix this crap...

Louie's sucks.

Hardly just OKC...it's a nationwide epidemic. But if it bothers you so much, I'd suggest taking Paxil to sooth your nerves and stop making mountains outta molehills?

This is dramatic honestly. Just sayin'.

Good spellers are probably born, not made. I'm firmly convinced that spelling has nothing to do with intelligence and is an innate ability, like being a good artist. However, most poor spellers know who they are and should not volunteer to be in charge of signage.

Wanted to start a new thread since my comment was way off on a tangent in the other thread...



Argh, SPELLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why can't people just run a 3-word sign by somebody else and ask "Does this look right?" I see *so* many spelling and grammar errors on menus, signs, business cards, notices, etc. here in OKC it's just really, really sad and does not reflect well on OKC. La Baguette Colcord spells soup soupe, tartare as Tar Tar, and then I just stopped noting the errors. I pointed out that City Bites had a big banner promoting "Pumkin Bread" and they just said "Wow, never noticed that before, that's hilarious". Illiteracy is funny now, how pathetic. I'm tempted to start being one of those guys that carries white-out, paintbrushes, etc. in an attempt to fix this crap...

This is what I find funny. Soupe is French for soup. La Baguette is a French restaurant. That being said, I know what you mean.

Also there is a difference between steak tartar and steak tartare. One is cooked and the other is not.

Recipe for steak tartare
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1827,137160-232201,00.html

Recipe for steak tartar
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,171,158160-245193,00.html

I'm much more concerned with apostrophe's being misused to indicate plural's [sic].

Atrocious Spelling in L.A.:

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/9026/torispellingmotorolas5t.jpg

Kids today think that they can make it on spellcheck - they can't, of course, because the utility can't distinguish between to, too and two, or there, their and they're, etc. I simply consider misspellings to be a hint about competence, or lack thereof.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_%26_Leaves

Kids today think that they can make it on spellcheck - they can't, of course, because the utility can't distinguish between to, too and two, or there, their and they're, etc. I simply consider misspellings to be a hint about competence, or lack thereof.

My spelling/grammar checker can to an extent. I use Microsoft Word 2010. Coming from the ranks of poor spellers I am happy to have people correct me, especially when it comes to grammar (notice I didn't write 'bad spellers' as that would be incorrect).

My favorite is when you ask someone how they are doing and they say ‘Good’. Really? What are they doing that is so good? The correct response is ‘fine’ or ‘well’. Bad and good are answers to moral questions.

It's an epidemic that's hitting far and beyond the confines of Oklahoma City. I see it everywhere, and I think one probable reason is the way many students are taught these days.

The whole spellcheck debacle notwithstanding, in high school, there is less and less emphasis on students being taught proper grammar and spelling. I have a friend who got out of teaching high school English for this very reason. Apparently, pedagogical trends are leaning towards teaching "idea clouds" and that "ideas matter more than substance." As such, when grading papers, my friend was required to overlook the numerous spelling and grammar errors, as well as use of text speak, on the papers and essays students returned to her. She was not even allowed to circle things for students to go and look up at a later date. I guess pointing out errors is not good for one's esteem.

Another thing to consider is that youth today, moreso than any other generation, use electronic devices as their primary means of communication. They tweet, text, IM and ping with a vengeance, and tend to abbreviate more in these truncated communication forms, leaving out subjects, mixing up you're and your (or just using ur), and clinging to a slew of other abbreviated terms and acronyms that don't make sense to those of us who grew up still writing things down on paper.

Universities are suffering because of it, and businesses, who rely on universities to set the students straight, are also suffering because of these poor habits, which are engrained at a very early age. It all goes back to the methodologies used in today's classrooms. I bet you can't find too many young people today who could diagram a sentence, assuming they know what that means.

Atrocious Spelling in L.A.:

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/9026/torispellingmotorolas5t.jpg

Aww, why the long face?

This is what I find funny. Soupe is French for soup. La Baguette is a French restaurant. That being said, I know what you mean.

Also there is a difference between steak tartar and steak tartare. One is cooked and the other is not.

Recipe for steak tartare
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1827,137160-232201,00.html

Recipe for steak tartar
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,171,158160-245193,00.html

I really don't want to see the recipe for Steak Tar Tar, though.

And La Baguette would be fine spelling soup soupe, if they were consistent.

It's an epidemic that's hitting far and beyond the confines of Oklahoma City. I see it everywhere, and I think one probable reason is the way many students are taught these days.

The whole spellcheck debacle notwithstanding, in high school, there is less and less emphasis on students being taught proper grammar and spelling. I have a friend who got out of teaching high school English for this very reason. Apparently, pedagogical trends are leaning towards teaching "idea clouds" and that "ideas matter more than substance." As such, when grading papers, my friend was required to overlook the numerous spelling and grammar errors, as well as use of text speak, on the papers and essays students returned to her. She was not even allowed to circle things for students to go and look up at a later date. I guess pointing out errors is not good for one's esteem.

Another thing to consider is that youth today, moreso than any other generation, use electronic devices as their primary means of communication. They tweet, text, IM and ping with a vengeance, and tend to abbreviate more in these truncated communication forms, leaving out subjects, mixing up you're and your (or just using ur), and clinging to a slew of other abbreviated terms and acronyms that don't make sense to those of us who grew up still writing things down on paper.

Universities are suffering because of it, and businesses, who rely on universities to set the students straight, are also suffering because of these poor habits, which are engrained at a very early age. It all goes back to the methodologies used in today's classrooms. I bet you can't find too many young people today who could diagram a sentence, assuming they know what that means.
This is why we homeschool. Besides, we need ditch diggers and if the public schools can keep pumping them out then so be it.

When my wife was teaching math in a private school she got frustrated with her students and had then practice rotating their wrists. When one boy asked why they were having to do it she responded by saying it is practice for flipping burgers. They got the point. Of course, that hurt some of their self-esteem and she would have probably been fired from a public school, but private school parents don't pay to have their kids 'feel good'. They pay to have them educated.

Aww, why the long face?

Because that picture of Tori was taken right after her billionaire father said he was leaving all his money to enviro-causes and told her she was on her own. If my parents had done that to me I would have gone 'Lyle and Erik Menendez' on them. You don't want your child inheriting your money, fine, but don't raise her with it in the first place.

Good spellers are probably born, not made. I'm firmly convinced that spelling has nothing to do with intelligence and is an innate ability, like being a good artist. I believe this to be very true.
I have known plenty of people with advanced degrees and others who have been very successful in life but were poor spellers and grammatically poor writers.

I remember going into a grocery store in Duncan (SW of OKC) and their frozen foods section was called "Artic Foods". The aisle with Ketchup had a sign over it with "Catsup" instead.

I remember going into a grocery store in Duncan (SW of OKC) and their frozen foods section was called "Artic Foods". The aisle with Ketchup had a sign over it with "Catsup" instead.

Artic is an obvious misspelling. The Ketchup/Catsup debate has been longstanding for, well, centuries (http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ket2.htm). While the default variant in the US is "ketchup," I've seen "catsup" in other places I've visited, as well as in some books. It's not "wrong," just not common in Standard American English.

Artic is an obvious misspelling. The Ketchup/Catsup debate has been longstanding for, well, centuries (http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ket2.htm). While the default variant in the US is "ketchup," I've seen "catsup" in other places I've visited, as well as in some books. It's not "wrong," just not common in Standard American English.

Maybe in rural Oklahoma it is pronounced/spelled Catsup then? I've just always heard/said Ketchup, and that is what is on the Heinz bottles I buy. I know in rural Oklahoma some people say "Toboggan" instead of "Ski Cap" or "Beanie", and "Buggy" instead of "Shopping Cart".

I've seen is listed as catsup more on the southern east coast. I think this is along the same line as the regional variances for what people call soft drinks (soda/pop/Coke).

Because that picture of Tori was taken right after her billionaire father said he was leaving all his money to enviro-causes and told her she was on her own. If my parents had done that to me I would have gone 'Lyle and Erik Menendez' on them. You don't want your child inheriting your money, fine, but don't raise her with it in the first place.
Never mind. :doh:

Maybe in rural Oklahoma it is pronounced/spelled Catsup then? I've just always heard/said Ketchup, and that is what is on the Heinz bottles I buy. I know in rural Oklahoma some people say "Toboggan" instead of "Ski Cap" or "Beanie", and "Buggy" instead of "Shopping Cart".

Regional linguistic variants are as common as ugly sweaters during the holidays. You just can't stop em.

What's the elongated sandwich you get at Subway, Jimmie Johns or Quiznos? Depending on where you live, it could be a hoagie, submarine sandwich, hero, grinder, zeppelin, and the list goes on.

Those shoes you wear to pursue athletic endeavors? Tennis shoes, trainers, runners, running shoes, sneakers, etc.

The flavored non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage you may drink from time to time? Soda, pop, soda pop, and - in a micro-region among various southern states - Coke (even when not referring to the brand Coca-Cola.)

Much of language use is part of micro-culture as it is family influence, etc. It's not necessarily what I would call "rural" vs. "urban," (although some of it can be), so much as regional variants. Much has to do with how much people are exposed to outside influences and where linguistic pockets are established.

In the examples you've given above, I've heard of "tobaggan" as an alternative for "sled," but not for "ski cap" or "beanie." In fact, in my mind, ski cap and beanie are very different things. A ski cap is a knit cap, somewhat conical in shape, that is tight fitting around the head and is worn usually during skiing or outdoor winter activities. A beanie is rounder in shape, and while the band of the cap may fit close to the head, the bulk of the hat shape is more loose, and may even hang off the back of the head some.

Variants like this exist all over, especially in a coutry such as the U.S., with so many emergent language influences (dating back to our founding) and so many pockets of ethnic activity that established themselves in various regions of the country.

I'm a bit of a nerdy linguaphile on the side, so this stuff fascinates me.

People that spell well are made. I have never seen an illiterate that can spell well. We have a family friend that just finished 6th in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and if you think she was able to do that by natural talent you're crazy. She had to work at it.

This is dramatic honestly. Just sayin'.

So y'all (*that's* the proper spelling, not ya'll, since it's a contraction of you and all :fighting3 ) just blithely ignore or don't care that the menus of a fancy restaurant in the middle of downtown that hosts business travellers from all over misspells tons of stuff on its menu, therefore possibly giving the impression that we're semi-literate? I believe that the little things like that add up eventually... I could be completely wrong and that most people don't give a rat's a** how things are spelled and just echo some of the sentiments on here of "Whatever, happens all over, BFD", though.

I hear what you are saying Travellers and I agree. Just because it is a wide spread problem doesn’t mean we all have to participate.

Let's see. La Baguette is a FRENCH restaurant, with FRENCH food items. Several of the headers on their menu are in FRENCH (the language). The FRENCH spelling of soup = SOUPE. The header on their menu is Les Soupes, which is grammatically and orthographically correct in FRENCH. The other headers on the same menu are also in FRENCH (Les entrees, Les salades, Les pates, Les viandes, Les poissons, etc.), which is in keeping with the style of food on their menu -- FRENCH. Multiple individual dish descriptions also include words in FRENCH. I guess I don't understand where the problem is.

Tartare is the traditional FRENCH spelling of the Americanized tartar, or tar tar. Given that the dish itself is of FRENCH origin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_tartare), and is being served in a (what was it?) FRENCH restaurant (or rather American restaurant with largely FRENCH influence), I'd say that, again, there is no problem.

Now, other issues, including atrocious abuse of apostrophes, I can most certainly agree with. Moving on now.

Life is often less messy if one doesn't sweat the petty things (or something like that)

Let's see. La Baguette is a FRENCH restaurant, with FRENCH food items. Several of the headers on their menu are in FRENCH (the language). The FRENCH spelling of soup = SOUPE. The header on their menu is Les Soupes, which is grammatically and orthographically correct in FRENCH. The other headers on the same menu are also in FRENCH (Les entrees, Les salades, Les pates, Les viandes, Les poissons, etc.), which is in keeping with the style of food on their menu -- FRENCH. Multiple individual dish descriptions also include words in FRENCH. I guess I don't understand where the problem is.

Tartare is the traditional FRENCH spelling of the Americanized tartar, or tar tar. Given that the dish itself is of FRENCH origin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_tartare), and is being served in a (what was it?) FRENCH restaurant (or rather American restaurant with largely FRENCH influence), I'd say that, again, there is no problem.

Now, other issues, including atrocious abuse of apostrophes, I can most certainly agree with. Moving on now.

Consistency, as I said before. But there is absolutely no way "Tar Tar" is an acceptable "Americanization" of Tartare (if you see a valid citation saying otherwise, please post it because I can't find one). And I'm not sure if you're quoting their online menu, but their printed menu is different from their online menu, so I was working off their printed menu which we saw when were there on Sat. (and their special Christmas menu, which had Tar Tar printed fairly large).

And yeah, I agree, apostrophe abuse is just so massive (shakes head in dismay)...

Louie's sucks.WHY? Are there sandwiches worse than Subway?

Putting non-anglicized words in italics helps abate some of that confusion.

So y'all (*that's* the proper spelling, not ya'll, since it's a contraction of you and all :fighting3 ) just blithely ignore or don't care that the menus of a fancy restaurant in the middle of downtown that hosts business travellers from all over misspells tons of stuff on its menu, therefore possibly giving the impression that we're semi-literate? I believe that the little things like that add up eventually... I could be completely wrong and that most people don't give a rat's a** how things are spelled and just echo some of the sentiments on here of "Whatever, happens all over, BFD", though.

No, I think you're being dramatic. I'm pretty sure that's all I said. So a few words around the city aren't spelled correctly, or you assume they aren't; how does that make Oklahoma City seem illiterate or semi-literate? That's just a huge generalization based off a few examples, and they weren't even blaringly obvious either.

And the whole generational crap is a bunch of garbage as well. Some of you are so full of yourselves. I just find it so funny because this board is knowingly comprised of people from all different ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, etc. Yet, some of you like to blow smoke out your mouth and expect everyone to believe it. As a Millennial, I get deeply offended when archaic, backwards generations like to chime in and criticize myself and my peers. Technology has never inhibited my ability to learn the difference between 'two' and 'too'. Diagram a sentence? My professor made us do that on the first day of class to make sure she had no one that might need to be sent to remedial classes. Needless to say, we ALL knew how to do it. Oh and when I text, I do it with proper punctuation, grammar, etc. I can back all of this up with my Composite ACT Score of 30, thank you very much.

I must add though that I hate diagraming sentences and I think it's an antiqued and outdated way to teach such a modern civilization. I say this because teaching and educational methods used today need to be completely reformed. We've been teaching our children the same exact way for a century. It needs to change, and that is more to blame for the brain-drain than anything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_%26_Leaves

A great book for the compulsive proofreader. I love her obsession for the mistake in "Two Week's Notice".

Good spellers are probably born, not made. I'm firmly convinced that spelling has nothing to do with intelligence and is an innate ability, like being a good artist. However, most poor spellers know who they are and should not volunteer to be in charge of signage.

I disagree. Because even if you learned how to spell correctly and you were typing on say, your computer, it would notify you of a word being misspelled or that it's not in the computer dictionary by putting the red squiggly line underneath the word so you can either fix it or you can highlight, right click and choose the correct spelling. I know that when I type the word February it gives me the squiggly line. Fortunately, I know how to spell it! They made that sign on a computer so they must not be literate on what certain things mean on a computer.


I believe this to be very true.
I have known plenty of people with advanced degrees and others who have been very successful in life but were poor spellers and grammatically poor writers.

And then I saw this ^^. I'm completely opposite! Okay, I was on a college campus for two years. It wasn't the life for me. Maybe I'll go back and finish one of these days, but I'm not 'degree'd' (new word) yet I would hate to spell something wrong. Maybe it's because I'm anal retentive and everything must be as perfect as possible, I don't know. If it comes down to being born then it's in the DNA. If it comes down to being learned (which I think is more than likely) then it's all about what's available to you--resources and what not.

Hey, if anyone knows that The Oklahoman has a spellchecker (and sports scores too, cause they're backward a lot) position available, let me know. Cause they have major issues too!

I can back all of this up with my Composite ACT Score of 30, thank you very much.

My ACT score > yours.

WHY? Are there sandwiches worse than Subway?

Please tell me you did this on purpose.

My ACT score > yours.

My ACT score was less than both of you guys. I think 23 or 24 was my high (bare minimum to get accepted to college), yet here I am with the big boys spelling my words like the day I learned them. What's your point? lol

One of my favorites. Hangs on a fence in south OKC.

Not only is there two misspellings, but they used an image of a 35mm camera instead of a video camera.

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/5273/picture2d.png

Another favorite. Again, in south OKC. Nothing strikes fear in criminals like illiteracy.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/8343/picture3hjz.png

I just now noticed this one on a menu while at work:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r170/OkStateBBall78/Mobile%20Uploads/2010-12-2795183053.jpg

Notice Meridian, Portland and the word Pizza. Totally lame!

Another favorite. Again, in south OKC. Nothing strikes fear in criminals like illiteracy.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/8343/picture3hjz.png

I'm frankly surprised 'Trespassers' wasn't spelled with an apostrophe (i.e., "Tresspasser's"). I never cease to be amazed at the number of folks who think any word ending in "s" has to have an apostrophe.

And I don't text all that much, but I spell out and punctuate all my words, to the amusement of my 20 Y/O daughter.

May I contribute on a related thought? When I go into a store and see a price sign reading .99 cents, two pennies should suffice (even allowing for a penny tax). Right?

Not that I had high expectations, but.........

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/2633/picture5pw.png

Saw these two at NE 23 and Classen.

The all-time best grammar is the business card for attorney Lionel Hutz. The card reads:

Work on contingency
No money down

When he takes Homer on as client he asks for $1000 but Homer breaks out the above card.

Lionel takes the card and says it was a typo and corrects it as follow

Work on contingency?
No, money down!

Not that I had high expectations, but.........

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/2633/picture5pw.png

Saw these two at NE 23 and Classen.

Damn. Joe the Plumber has really hit rock bottom

Damn. Joe the Plumber has really hit rock bottom
Well, he seems to have nabbed a kind of cute gal. That ought to count for something.

The thing I've notice with "apostrophe abusers" is that they're not even consistent. They'll have several pluralized words in the same sentence/paragraph/Facebook update, and some will have the apostrophe and some will not.

Worst apostrophe abuser I know.

If you're ever driving the stretch of Boulevard in Edmond between 2nd and Danforth, keep your eyes peeled for an apartment complex (on the West side of the road near the old High School) called The Corner's.

I have seriously considered buying some brown paint and painting over that apostrophe.

I firmly believe that the internet with email and instant messaging has been a huge contributor to this problem. I'm super picky about spelling and grammar and can't tell you how many times I've been in a hurry when sending an email to a customer and saw an error when I looked at it later. I always worried about what they thought about me when they received it but, after it's sent, it seemed a little strange to send a correction to a business client. It probably bothered me more than it did them but I still want to look professional.

Mid, maybe it's owned Mia Corner?
8^)

!!

Not that I had high expectations, but.........

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/2633/picture5pw.png

Saw these two at NE 23 and Classen.


I bet they at least know Classen is NW and not NE.

I bet they at least know Classen is NW and not NE.

I originally typed NE 23 and Santa Fe (since that gas station is where they hung out for a week or so), and then looked at iPhoto and saw it tagged it at Classen. In my hurry I didn't correct the NE to NW. But, either everyone else didn't realize it or knew what I meant. But, since I know you only meant it in the friendliest and helpful of ways, then thanks for pointing it out.

My favorite is when you ask someone how they are doing and they say ‘Good’. Really? What are they doing that is so good? The correct response is ‘fine’ or ‘well’. Bad and good are answers to moral questions.
Good and bad may also refer to mood as adjectives in which case either would be a perfectly fine answer to the query. Personally I have no problem with good and bad used in reference to health either. It seems to me no more prone to miscommunication than using "feeling well" to mean excellent tactile sensitivity. Although I doubt that is frequently misconstrued either.

...
Hey, if anyone knows that The Oklahoman has a spellchecker (and sports scores too, cause they're backward a lot) position available, let me know. Cause they have major issues too!

This bothered me for years, but when I got married, I understood - my wife's been a copy editor for decades and it's just the way the software they use works. I had thought they typed stuff up in a word processor, then took that spell/grammar-checked item and stuck it on a page, then repeated over and over again until the pages were full of stories and ads. But the page layout and pagination software (Quark, or Adobe, or some proprietary stuff) just doesn't have spell-checking capabilities. Which I think is just wrong, but that's why papers still use human copy editors (and unfortunately, way too few of those to catch all the problems).

Deleted--too slow to be relevant...

Well, he seems to have nabbed a kind of cute gal. That ought to count for something.

And she seems rather well dressed and coifed to be out on a streetcorner begging. JMHO.

There are times when the "typo" is done on purpose. Was often told by management when putting up the reader board to sometimes misspell a word (or turn a letter backwards etc). Sales of whatever item we were pushing that week would increase (over the previous week when the correct spelling would be used). It was an attention getter. Many people would come through and comment, "Did you know..." (ordering the item) we would smile and thank them for letting us know.

There are times when the "typo" is done on purpose. Was often told by management when putting up the reader board to sometimes misspell a word (or turn a letter backwards etc). Sales of whatever item we were pushing that week would increase (over the previous week when the correct spelling would be used). It was an attention getter. Many people would come through and comment, "Did you know..." (ordering the item) we would smile and thank them for letting us know.

Wow, people are easily led around by that invisible ring in their noses.... That's just so unacceptable, though. Specifically to me, of course, but probably to millions of other people - I can't really speak for them, I just suspect that most people would have complete disdain for this practice, but hey, it's all for the almighty $$$, so it must be fine to do, since that's all that matters in the USA these days.

People that spell well are made. I have never seen an illiterate that can spell well. We have a family friend that just finished 6th in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and if you think she was able to do that by natural talent you're crazy. She had to work at it.

wow... just when I thought people couldn't get any dumber.