More Typo Crime Scenes - and the Rewards of Vigilantism

I was at a petrol station in Dungarvan the other day when I spotted this gem out of the corner of my eye as I was gazing into the middle distance while filling the tank. I did a double take as I couldn't believe such a glaring possessive punctuation error could have made it to the printers without someone proofing it en route - but I suppose nothing should surprise me at this stage!

My typo vigilantism is getting worrying now - not alone am I winning the prize for the best entry in the Irish Times Terrible Typos competition which I blogged about here - but I spotted two errors in the Letters page of the same "paper of record" as it's dubbed - which prompted me to write to Madam Editor. I didn't get published in the Letters Page - rather I got an email from the Letters Ed thanking me for pointing out the error of their ways.

Sparing the blushes of the writers of the letters with the typos probably, or their own blushes for missing them in the proofing. I did ask if they can mess around with someone's letter and correct spelling mistakes and grammatical glitches, but that wasn't addressed in the reply I received.

So there I was wandering around a Home and Garden shop - again in Dungarvan, where I'm work-based - one lunchtime last week, and marvelling at the prices (high by my frugal standards) when this beauty leapt from the display stand, begging to be snapped. I duly obliged and here is the result. Isn't it amazing that the boss wouldn't check the spelling before putting the poster on display, as it is written correctly on all the boxes containing the same Utensils!

But then there'd be no fun for anoraks like me - and no market for books like the "Great Typo Hunt" one and the classic that (for me) started the ball rolling - Lynn Truss's "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"

By the way, in case you're (your!) wondering what I bought with my winnings from the Terrible Typos competition - well, half the tokens are gone - on two great books that I know will give me hours of pleasure. One is "Adrian Mole - The Prostrate Years" by Sue Townsend who penned that wonderful series of Adrian Mole books, taking us from his adolescent agonies to his male menopausal misery and beyond.

The other is Tim Butcher's new African saga - "Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa's Fighting Spirit" - his Boys' Own Adventure re-telling of following in the footsteps of Graham Greene's 1935 "Journey Without Maps". I haven't yet read Greene's book, and I guess that's another one to add to my wishlist. Tim was in Lismore two years ago at Immrama as a speaker and enthralled everyone with his account of his travails and travels in the footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley along the Congo River which he wrote about in "Blood River". I had the pleasure of meeting him at Immrama and the dubious pleasure of having him tell me he'd read an online review I'd written on Blood River after our Book Club in Lismore had read it!

The moral of that story was never to write anything about someone you wouldn't be happy to have them read in your presence - unless you're a journalist or a pol. corr. or suchlike.

I hope you enjoy these lighter looks at life and literacy - as well as literature!

My 15 minutes of (Irish Times) Fame - Terrible Typo Vigilantism pays off at last

Today I was having a long leisurely lunch with some retired public health nursing friends (reminding me I'll be in that club in another decade!) when I got a call on my mobile from a guy from the Irish Times. He called to tell me I'd won a €50 book token prize for my typo submissions in a competition in the paper last Saturday week in the Weekend supplement related to a book review on some geeky guys in the States who've written a book on the topic - The Great Typo Hunt.

Those of you who've been following this blog for some time will know that I've got a fetish about typos, grammar glitches and gremlins, and greengrocer's apostrophes, to the extent that I've photographed some gems on my daily rounds. Little did I think they would bring me the celebrated 15 minutes of fame when they'll appear in tomorrow's paper!

I did ask the reporter to ensure I couldn't be sued by the offending parties who might now become the offended parties with this unwelcome notice of their grammatical illiteracy. Of course the winner was the night classes "Enrole Now" which was supremely ironic and a cause of much local mirth - by the time the Principal of the college discovered it and had it removed the damage had been done. I also entered the "Dog Fowling" one.

I've written a few blog posts on the topic of typos in the past and for all my newbie followers who might like to look back at them - here are the links to the posts with a Grammar label.

Read the article here and check out photos 5 and 11 - my entries - and go forth and spread the word - the typo vigilantes are still on the prowl!

PS - who can spot the "Greengrocer's Apostrophe" in the article? Wonder was it a plant?

A Spelling Howler - or the chickens coming home to roost?

I just couldn't resist this howler I saw last week in the Caravan Park in Clonea outside Dungarvan - no point in not outing it as it is declaring itself to all and sundry on the roadside just at the park entrance. Makes you wonder is this an effort to protect hapless chickens from terrorist dog attacks or are the dogs in Clonea under threat from some wayward fowl? Whichever, it brightened up my evening when I saw it on the way to visit a friend who's spending her summer on the beach and if the weather is good I can't think of anything more chillaxing. We had a very pleasant evening so this just added to the fun.

I posted a few beauties from the local papers some weeks back and I'm happy to report that the Sponsor's are now sans apostrophe and this week are plain old Sponsors! I doubt they read this blog for their Eureka moment but were probably advised that in this instance their use of the "Greengrocers' Apostrophe" was a tad excessive.

This is the fourth post on ghastly grammar and spelling typos and it probably won't be the last - they are so irresistible and if they hit my "Eats Shoots and Leaves" radar then they will inevitably end up here. Have a look at the others here if you feel inclined and I hope you'll get a giggle from them as much as I did - I'm not quite Lynn Truss going around hijacking offending signs with stick-on apostrophes, but I do try to capture them for posterity when possible, though I often miss the best because the camera's not to hand passing the butchers, or the small ads in the supermarket notice board, or wherever unedited notices are posted.

May they brighten up your day wherever you are - and keep on sharing your gems with the rest of the blogosphere. I've had some great links to other blogs in the past via comments so keep them coming.

Apostrophe Anarchy - Grammatical Gremlins or Glitches?

I found these crimes against punctuation in the local papers this week and couldn't resist adding them to my growing collection of assaults on the English language and grammar. I have already ranted on this theme in previous posts here , here and here- and it looks like there's fodder a-plenty to fill many more posts in the future!

As I drive around in my work I am always drawn to signs on the road - often temporary - which are hilariously erroneous and always try to have the camera at the ready, that's if it's safe to stop and snap. Sadly I missed one recently about agricultural "machine's" entering and leaving a field, but don't you just love these ones here?


The rain is lashing down this weekend, and I thought it's time for a rant; the weather has been so good this summer we can't moan about it as we have done for the past number of years, and we are rapidly running out of conversation topics. As a national past-time you can't beat talking about the weather - a topic guaranteed to bring about national unity in a way that the Government can only dream about.

It never ceases to amaze that these kind of gremlins get past the editing departments of the newpapers, local or national, and I am not out to "get" them, as they perform a great service to their community. However, some judicious editing and proof-reading wouldn't go astray, as I think it's a bit OTT that there are so many glaring errors in one week between two papers.

My worst nightmare in writing this kind of post? Getting it wrong and having a "Greengrocer's Apostrophe" (or even a "Greengrocers' Apostrophe" to pluralise it!) moment myself - would serve me so right for being so sanctimonious about the hapless copywriters (copywriter's?!?) who get it so spectacularly wrong. My son (who oft berates my Eats Shoots and Leaves grammar fascism) pointed out the sponsor's one to me before I'd spotted it, and that set me on the trail of headlines - and I was pretty surprised to turn up the rest in one week's issues!

After all, their Sponsor's mightn't Get's it or wonder what kind of fishing competition can a club with only one angler host? I'm sure Cappoquin has plenty, as I am sure that there's only one crafty Paul alluded to in the article below!

I am sparing their blushes by not identifying the offending media but I am sure you can find plenty in your own locality - just be a little vigilant and keep smiling - there's plenty out there to brighten up a dull summer's day!

The burning question is - are they Glitches or Gremlins? You decide!

Spot the Difference - homophone headaches

First there was this sign...



...then there was this one...

Can you spot the differences? Answers in the Comments box please!!!

These two wedding signs caught my pendantic eye some weeks back so I thought I'd share them with you. I know some of the readers of this blog are grammar and spelling anoraks like myself, always ready to gripe over a grammatical gaffe or spelling slip-up. I have already ranted here and here about language mangling and some hilarious posters.

These were obviously spotted fairly quickly but not before a costly sign had gone up by the hotel entrance. To spare their blushes I won't reveal their identity, and in all fairness they have resolved the problem quite quickly.

It was noted by a few people who commented on it, but I have seen mistakes like these homonym and homophone errors so often lately that may creep into such common usage to become acceptably interchangeable. It will probably continue to be a pet peeve and put me up there (or their) with Lynn Truss and John Humphrys in the language policing stakes.

Apart from these glitches, the venue is great and I have no doubt that it offers good value. The total package is around €5,000 for what's listed, and I think this is reflecting recession times for all you wannabee brides out there.

More crimes on grammar - and Lismore Courthouse Theatre.

I haven't had a minute to blog lately but I haven't gone away, just busy. These two gems of mangling of the English language came into my radar in recent days and I just couldn't let them pass without sharing. Such blatant assaults on the English language are something that bring out my inner anorak and inspire "word rage". Suffice to say - Lynne Truss, watch out! The kids call it an "Eats Shoots and Leaves" moment and they are probably right - I was always intolerant of the "Greengrocer's Apostrophe" of superfluous and misplaced possessive apostrophes where plurals were intended, and the newspaper headline seems to combine a number of atrocities!

The words you and yours (or you're!) and its variants seem to cause endless headaches - I know spell-checkers are a get out of jail card for many but in an editing situation surely letting a glaring grammatical faux-pas like this headline for the local elections pass into print is unforgiveable. I won't even identify the offending paper, to avoid unnecessary blushes. Suffice to say it ain't a million miles away from here!

The other photo was seen in a college bar in Ireland and happily entreats the patrons to leave the premises "quitely" in order to respect the neighbours and young "familys". This might seem like I'm being even more pedantic than usual but I don't know how this got past proofing to printing at a signmakers, and as it did I despair for the standards of grammar in current usage. Now I sound like a right grumpy git, but believe me I had a good laugh at it.



And finally... I just had to share a photo of the lovely fruit hamper I won in the raffle at the show in Lismore some weeks back, A Night at the Movies, which was absolutely fabulous - staged by the Lismore Dramatic Society with a large cast of local talent - including our daughter and lots of other teenagers. They did song and dance selections from Grease, High School Musical, Hairspray and Mamma Mia and it ran for five nights over the May Bank Holiday weekend, for almost three hours a night. The standard was excellent (I know, I'm biased) and they played to a packed house each night, fully booked out in advance.

The Lismore Courthouse Theatre is a great intimate venue for the Dramatic Society plays and musicals, and shows how well the creative use of space works -it is also the venue for the local district court which sits monthly, some might say for more theatrical drama!

You can see the Courthouse in the photo at the top of my Blog - it's the big stone building with the clock tower and is at the heart of the town.

The theatre will host a number of the events at next month's Immrama Festival which I wrote about earlier here. Watch this space for more news on that great gig!

Spell-check and Grammar Night Classes anyone?

This sign was posted to a pole on the road to work for a week or so last autumn, near Dungarvan in Co. Waterford. I nearly crashed the car when I drove past it the first time and thinking I had been seeing things, I looked out for it later in the day when passing the same spot. This time it was on the way back into town, on the other side of the road. No chance of anyone missing it!

I thought of this when I read Kristin's post on Student Howlers, and on commenting on it realised we are both what could be kindly termed Grammar and Punctuation "Anoraks" - my kids and hubby call me pedantic and they are probably right, but I defend my right to be boringly pedantic in the interest of good English!

One of the funniest books I read in the past decade has to be Lynn Truss's "Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" which is all about the mangling of the English Language by poor punctuation and grammar. The title comes from the following joke.

A panda walks into a café, sits down and orders a sandwich. After he finishes eating the sandwich, the panda pulls out a gun and fires some shots in the air, and then stands up to go. "Hey!" shouts the manager. "Where are you going? You just shot at my waiter and you didn't pay for your sandwich!" The panda says to the manager "I'm a PANDA! Look it up!" and he throws him a badly-punctuated wildlife manual. The manager opens his dictionary and sees the following definition: PANDA: large black and white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

The bugbear for all members of the Punctuation Police has to be the so-called "Greengrocer's Apostrophe" which renders every plural noun a possessive. "Apple's - 6for €1" is a good bargain but gets me off on a rant every time I see it.

The wonderfully curmudgeonly John Humphrys of BBC 4 "Today" fame has written another hilarious book on the same language assassination, called "Lost for Words: The Mangling and Manipulation of the English Language" . Both these books are just the tip of the iceberg of a whole genre of books that lament the sloppiness and lazyness that has resulted in kids being taught English by teachers who never learnt the basic rules of good grammar. Children who don't know how to "speak proper" are writing essays in txtspk ( has been done, in the UK an exam essay was submitted that had been written in the text shorthand that is the first language of all digit-happy children from their pre-teens).

So I was gobsmacked with the poster for the night classes, and wondered how long it would be before someone realised the bloomer. That would be about a week! The school is a very reputable secondary and post-leaving certificate college that runs excellent Fetac courses. I mentioned it to a colleague who had also noticed it. He said the principal had become aware of it, and was probably highly embarrassed that it had been printed and posted without proofing. It makes you wonder about the printers that didn't notice alarm bells ringing. I guess they didn't hear them, as I read an article this week about the havoc wreaked by homonyms (words sounding similar with different meanings: e.g. threw - through; phase - faze) that slip under the radar of the spell-checker. Proof-readers have a whole new challenge now to catch the culprits before they hit the printers.

I hope I am not being holier-than-thou in all this - it is just something that bugs me, and I am not a grammar whiz by a long shot. I was appalling in school in formal grammar; parsing and analysing sentences passed me by without as much as a glance, and I am totally at odds with the rules of adjectives and pronouns and verbs. One thing I did learn in school and at home was to spell correctly and use "proper" grammar almost intuitively - from a lot of rote-learning and by reading widely. My mother was very intolerant of lazy speech and I would never get away with quaint colloquialisms like "I done that" so I guess a lot of it is pretty ingrained.

Thanks to Kristin for inspiring this post, and apologies if I've annoyed some of you by being a tad pedantic on my crusading hobbyhorse!