Sales support …

Today, this local news headline ran in the Port Huron (Michigan) Times Herald newspaper:

“Yard and bake sale to support marching band”

(click here for the real story)

What comes to your mind?

Here’s what came to ours:

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Boring performance?

Today, we saw this news headline on CNN.com:

“Israel stages biggest-ever war drill”

(click here for the real story)

What comes to your mind?

Here’s what came to ours:

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Hit the spot …

Another “funny” from the wikiHow list:

“How to Spot a Con Artist”

(click here for the real story)

What comes to your mind?

Here’s what came to ours:

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What’s cookin’?

More fun with headlines …

Today, we found an interesting WikiHow article entitled:

“How to Make a Chicken by Typing Characters on Your Keyboard”

(click here for the real story)

What comes to your mind?

Here’s what came to ours:

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Just wait’ll we get our grammar on you …

Oh, Hanes …

Gentlemen prefer good grammar. The lady prefers good grammar. Look who we’ve got our grammar on now!

You may choose to “Go Tagless” … we just hope you won’t continue to “Go Grammarless.”

We were shocked when we heard the announcer on the Hanes TV commercial say (when referring to their men’s t-shirts):

“… a collar that lays flat … that’s the comfort fit promise.”

Then, we checked the Hanes Web site, and sure enough, the error lies right there in plain sight:

Hanes Classics Men’s ComfortSoft® TAGLESS® Crewneck – Lay Flat Collar!

(click on image for a larger view)

So, we probably should not have been so shocked. After all, we did discuss “lay vs. lie” in our Lost causes? and Lie like a rug … posts a while back, however, we cannot just let it lie. And, it seems that the English language, at least the American usage of it, is evolving to include such deviations from what has long been considered proper. Ouch!

We’ll just say that this continues to lie on our list of pet peeves, and we remain hopeful that advertisers will lay off the mistakes and come to their grammar senses.

We’ll lead the charge by laying down the grammar law, arresting and citing the copywriters and sending them to word court.

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Graduate level grammar?

‘Tis the season … graduates everywhere.

We were surprised to find this mistake in DentalLife (magazine supplement to the Austin Business Journal):

(click on the image to enlarge)

“Dr. Loveless is an LVI alumni“

So, here is the lesson of the day:

alumnus. n. (singular) a boy or man who has attended or been graduated from a school, college, etc.

alumna. n. (singular) a girl or woman who has attended or been graduated from a school, college, etc.

alum. n. (singular) gender-neutral abbreviation for either of the above.

alumni. n. (plural) as in a group or association of former students and/or graduates.

Dear Dr. Loveless, unless you are schizophrenic, in which case, the grammar would be “Drs. Loveless are LVI alumni,” you are an LVI alumnus.” 🙂

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Noteworthy …

Today, a Topeka (Kansas) Capital-Journal newspaper headline reads:

“Future graduates take note”

(click here for the real story)

What comes to your mind?

Here’s what came to ours:

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7th Inning Stretch …

More fun with headlines …

One of today’s iGoogle WikiHow items is:

“How to Pitch a Hammock Without Trees”

(click here for the real story)

What comes to your mind?

Here’s what came to ours:

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Demogratically correct?

OK, we know that by posting this, we will likely ruffle some political feathers …

We just couldn’t resist exposing this blatant error in a mass email from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

“Barack Obama is a better man than me”

We’re not taking sides, but, really … come on, Jim … you know better!

When it comes to good grammar, even Republicans may be better men than you.

(click on image for larger view)

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Love hurts & onions make you cry …

We were fascinated by this headline and enlightened by the advice:

“Onion Soothes Wasp Lover’s Sting”

(click here for the real story)

First, we never knew that wasp lovers could, themselves, sting … must be in the Museum of Believe it or Not.

Second, and seriously, what marvelous properties the onion has!

Third, thanks to the People’s Pharmacy for the valuable information and for giving us fodder for our tongue-in-cheek posts.

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