Slice of Life Story Challenge March 2- My Word, That’s Absurd!


I noticed a sign in a fruit shop in Williamstown ( a Melbourne suburb) the other day. My eye was drawn to it immediately.  I have the practiced eye of the spelling pedant. It comes from immersing myself in a lifetime career, awash with words. On a large sign, prominently displayed for maximum attention was the word, 'MANDARINES.' The extra E in the word mandarin screamed, ‘Look at me, flouting convention!’

It would have been no more noticeable, if accompanied by a flashing red light.
All I did was take a photo for posterity. I did not feel compelled to notify anyone of the need for Eradication of the out of place letter.

I did hear a story however, regarding two retired teachers who regularly met for coffee in different cafes. In their handbags they carried sticks of chalk, in order to correct spelling errors that they found on menu boards. Is this an urban myth? Not sure, but it certainly sounds plausible. The spelling police working undercover maybe…


Comments

  1. Richard2 March 2014 at 22:36

    I take pictures of these kinds of grammar errors to show my students. My favorite is to show them that "Liberty" was spelled mispelled at an accountant's office prior to tax season. If you can't pay attention to that detail, I don't want you touching my taxes! They spelled it "librety."

    ReplyDelete
  2. elsie2 March 2014 at 23:46

    Sometimes you just have to wonder about the sign creator. Is it too hard to verify spelling? I like your urban myth of teachers with chalk. It makes me laugh to picture it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Melanie Meehan2 March 2014 at 23:53

    It intrigues me how some of us notice added -e's like they are a blinking red light, and some don't at all. I'm sure that it's some deep brain visual processing thing, but I have always wondered what else it's linked to. I love this post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3 March 2014 at 00:30

    I totally notice misspelled words! Living in China, this is literally an everyday occurrence. The Chinglish signs are hilarious. Whenever I'm in an English-speaking country, it's more embarrassing than funny, but here, you just have to laugh. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous3 March 2014 at 01:01

    I, too, " have the practiced eye of the spelling pedant. It comes from immersing myself in a lifetime career, awash with words." Sometimes it is a curse. Should you say something? Is it that important? I had a friend long ago in high school who dated a boy that was attending an Ivy League college. He would return her handwritten letters with her errors marked in red pen. Needless to say, that relationship didn't last too long.

    ReplyDelete

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