Cruisin' for Catastrophes

Katie sent me two photos of catastrophes that she found on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Anyone for some rock climbing?


For the second catastrophe, the ship's in-room shopping catalog confuses "then" and "than."


Being trapped on a ship filled with grammatical errors must have been terrifying. I'm glad that Katie survived and was able to share them with us.

Thanks, Katie!

Question Mark Catastrophe #1

It appears that apostrophes aren't the only form of punctuation that grocery stores screw up. Here's an odd choice for the end of this friendly reminder:


How noncommittal of them. Maybe it was written by one of those uptalkers who makes everything sound like a question.

Thanks to Carrie for sending in our first question mark catastrophe!

Missing the Forest for the Tree's

Remember Professional Sign's & Lettering? Vicki, who found that one, saw this one on the same day:


Professional Sign's & Lettering went out of business, but as far as we know, Mr. See is still driving around the Seattle area.

Thanks, Vicki!

Who Is Side Are You On?

Apparently, the San Jose Sharks had a preseason scrimmage called the teal and white game at which they gave out free t-shirts. I love free t-shirts, but this one was ruined by an apostrophe catastrophe on the back!


As readers of this blog know, it should be Whose Side Are You On?

Thanks to Craig for uploading this to AC's facebook group.

You Can Pick Your Friends, but You Can't Pick Your Kiwi's Nose

Here's one that Melissa posted to the Apostrophe Catastrophes facebook group:


"I pick Kiwi's what?" Melissa asks. "Her nose? Eww."

Thanks, Melissa!

We Couldn't Have Said It Worse

Domicile Furniture, which is a pretty funny name in and of itself, ran a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune that featured "two wonderfully different types of errors," Winona writes. In the first photo, they add apostrophes to words that are already possessive.



Oh, and if we want to be really picky, that hyphen should be an en-dash. They also don't seem to understand the phrase couldn't have.


And, finally, cutting edge should have a hyphen. Thanks, Winona!

Friend's in Low Places

I accidentally crashed a fundraiser for the Somerville High School basketball team and found this flyer lying on a table:


It's a little blurry (I was drinking margaritas!), but you can definitely tell that there's an apostrophe catastrophe at the top of the sheet. I think I'll donate money to the English department instead.

A Punctuation Error on My Own Site

A reader named Brian noticed that one of the ads on this site contained a punctuation error. There should be a period at the end of this sentence about used Hondas. See the right side of this screenshot:


Posting a screenshot of my own blog feels so postmodern. It also reminds me of how Stephen Colbert has a portrait of himself standing in front of a portrait of himself standing in front of a portrait of himself. I want one of those for my apartment, by the way.

Thanks, Brian!

Pimp My Punctuation

My former roommate Molly sent me this photo from an auto-body place in Elizabeth, NJ:


There's nothing like an errant (and backwards!) apostrophe to add even more class to a place where you can get your windows tinted.

Thanks, Molly!

Same Place, Different Catastrophe

A couple of months ago, I posted an apostrophe catastrophe from a tourist information kiosk in Boston. I walked by there again this weekend and noticed a new sign with another punctuation error. Check out the blue section of this sign:


Stop making Boston look bad!

Too Many Republican's and Other Problems

This blog's best contributor, my friend Merry, sent a screenshot of the Pez web site that's littered with errors. This pains her because she's a big fan of Pez dispensers. How many apostrophe catastrophes and other mistakes can you find?


Thanks, Merry!

Why Do You <3 Bad Punctuation?

This photo has been making the rounds on the Internet, but I thought it was worth posting anyway. I received it from a reader named Doc. For those of you who haven't seen the Why Do You <3 the Devil sign, be prepared. This may be the catastrophe to end all catastrophes.



The sign-maker (I believe it's from New Orleans) is preaching fire and brimstone. He needs to repent and believe in punctuation. Of all the people he hates, the only one he didn't punctuate with an unnecessary apostrophe is druggies. Also, what is high fullutent? However, I do share his dislike for freeloader's and wifebeater's.

Lord, have mercy!

Chicagolands

My friend Carolyn took a photo of this apostrophe catastrophe on her TV:


She writes, "In Chicago, 'premier' apparently means 'the one that does not understand basic grammar.'"

Thank goodness for DVR, and thanks to Carolyn for sending this!

I Dropped My Basket of Groceries When I Saw This

This sign was posted twice in the meat section of my local supermarket:


Besides the apostrophe catastrophe, I was disturbed by the phrase "beef product." Is it really beef? It makes me think of the fake butter that a lot of movie theaters use on their popcorn.

I Should Dress as Lynne Truss for Halloween!

Despite the title, this posting has nothing to do with Halloween. Instead, it's about another badly punctuated t-shirt from CafePress. Alison, who has a blog on PublishersWeekly.com sent me a link to this shirt:


Alison writes, "I'm assuming that it's not an ENGLISH teacher who coined that slogan/created that design, but...? You never know!"

I certainly hope not. Thanks, Alison!

Not Actually Very Honorable

Turi snapped this photo at the University of Nevada, Reno, during the Race for the Cure breast cancer walk/run:


"I can see why no one wanted to stand by the sign," Turi writes.

Catastrophe News Network

Another day, another apostrophe catastrophe from my friend Merry. This time it's from CNN.com.


If you look closely at the middle of this screenshot (click to enlarge it), you'll see that the writer added an 's to the end of Obama. "Obama's slams McCain..." doesn't make much sense.

Thanks again, Merry! Check out her other submissions here.

Greek Cheese's Revenge

Jan from New Hampshire has seen this badly punctuated sign at two different branches of the same supermarket chain, so they must be coming from the corporate headquarters.


She writes, "This particular notice, however, attracted a fellow apostrophe
hunter, and I thought it was a nice touch." Click on the photo to enlarge it.

You can see Jan's other grocers' apostrophe catastrophes over at Apostrophe Abuse.

Thanks, Jan!

Pertaining to Upcoming Events

Remember the e-mail I received that said "your invited" to a Halloween party? I've gotten it about five more times since then, and it annoys me every time. Unfortunately, that's not the only Halloween your/you're confusion out there. When I was buying some costume accessories online, I got the following message:


Also, there should be a period at the end of that sentence. These guys should switch their your/you're with Mos Def's. In this political video, he declares, "Your an American!"



Thanks to my friend Rich for sending the Mos Def video. It's most definitely a catastrophe. (Sorry)

Extra, Extra! Read All About the Bad Punctuation!

Krissie uploaded this photo to Apostrophe Catastrophes' facebook group:


The Wall Street Journal is a highly respected newspaper, but this is its second appearance on this blog. Can we revoke the WSJ's Pulitzer Prizes?

Thanks, Krissie!