For Mr. Martin, Port Authority Bus Terminal, Manhattan
In 9th grade Mr. Martin, my English teacher, told us that for every instance we reported of improper grammar or spelling on a public sign or display we would get extra credit points. I remember reading Of Mice and Men and A Tale of Two Cities that semester but I don’t remember anyone in our entire class getting any extra credit. In 9th grade we were old enough to realize how small our town was and how few public signs and displays there were. We were disgruntled about the assignment and protested that we never see anything wrong, ever. We thought Mr. Martin’s extra credit was impossible to attain. For the rest of my life I will forever be plagued by my extra credit assignment and feel the urge write down a sign misspelling on an index card and bring it in to class the next day.
20 responses so far ↓
1 KRZYSIEK // Jan 27, 2004 at 8:42 am
even i can spot the mistake :))
if you really wanna laugh, rachelle, you should check this site out:
http://defus.metal.pl/eng/index1.html
click on BIO. ha ha ha
2 Jai // Jan 27, 2004 at 9:01 am
LOL @ KRZYSIEK’s link. Maybe those guys shoulda gotten a translator before putting that bio up. Or shall I say:
To the biography when from team needing we think webpages recover us to other country.
That was comment was pure chees
;0 - Interested in how Chicago goes, Rachelle. Keep us posted!
3 joe s // Jan 27, 2004 at 10:19 am
All of Mr. Martin’s previous classes had probably already hounded all the businesses in town to correct their mistakes.
When I was in third or fourth grade we had a spelling quiz every week. One week I misspelled a word, but the teacher didn’t see my mistake. I pointed this out, and the teacher made this big deal to the whole class about how honest I was, and so everyone would learn something from my shining example, she wouldn’t lower my grade to the 90% I deserved. I was completely mortified at being the dorky mr. goody-goody.
One week later. Another quiz. Teacher makes the same error. I point it out. Teacher was pissed. I distinctly remember her mumbling “Don’t ever correct me again.”
Looking back, it must have been really embarrassing for her to be teaching a snotty little kid who could spell better than her.
4 joel // Jan 27, 2004 at 11:10 am
this is an incredible post .. Rachelle your writing just keeps getting better and better.
5 ChrisM // Jan 27, 2004 at 12:41 pm
Of Mice and Men? Ever read Cannery Row?
6 Marc // Jan 27, 2004 at 12:52 pm
…or maybe it’s not real cheese.
7 Keith // Jan 27, 2004 at 1:00 pm
It always makes me wonder, if there’s some printer ethics to printing stuff with spelling mistake if they spot it during the proof phase. I mean this error is quite obvious.
8 Jessica // Jan 27, 2004 at 1:17 pm
Joel - so true - great post Rachelle!
Mark - hee hee.. good one.
Tien - don’t bother checking out their pizza
9 Ed // Jan 27, 2004 at 3:59 pm
Joe that reminds me of the time my 4th grade teacher asked me how many numbers, of 1-20, were divisible by 2. To which I replied “all of them” (she was looking for “10″ as the correct answer). I later saw that in a movie and it cracked me up to no end.
Guys if you want to see a funny site with mis-spellings, check out http://www.engRish.com. Don’t read it while drinking soda, it might come out of your nose from the laughter…
10 rachelleb // Jan 28, 2004 at 4:01 am
engrish.com rules!
11 Marc // Jan 28, 2004 at 7:37 am
Jessika - I wood have thawt you;d be moor kareful with your speling. =P Sorry about the silly post but Engrish.com got me all perspired.
12 rachelleb // Jan 28, 2004 at 7:55 am
marK! thats not vewy nice.
13 Ed // Jan 28, 2004 at 11:44 am
Ha! Laugh you at I. ror
14 NewYorkish // Jan 29, 2004 at 5:35 am
Hot Chees Pizza, Anyone?
If the owner of this pizza place in the Port Authority Bus Terminal can’t spell the most important ingredient correctly on his signage, what are the chances he can actually make edible pie? Chees Pizza [Rachelle B.] (For pizza aficionados, a blog dedic…
15 Slice // Jan 29, 2004 at 1:23 pm
Chees Slice
A photo from RachelleB’s website. [via NewYorkish]…
16 Don // Jan 30, 2004 at 3:56 am
Maybe chees isn’t cheese, perhaps they were following the truth in advertising laws. Chees could be some biproduct of the petrochemical industry, or a “food product” made from a genetically engineered cow’s “milk”. ;~)
17 mahraz // Mar 6, 2004 at 9:19 am
hi dear
i wante to know how can i make chees pizza and what is ingrediant thank you
18 mehdi // May 2, 2004 at 12:36 am
send me about you chees qualities and its chemistry
19 Gothamist // Jan 4, 2005 at 9:09 am
Signage Without Copy Editors
The NY Times Metro section tackles the New York Region > The Grate Amrican Dreem” href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/nyregion/04english2.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1104847622-hmIxNvgHS6FDZDbL1qCAOA”>world of mis-spelled signs, mostly by immigrants, ev…
20 DCist // Jan 4, 2005 at 2:34 pm
Wee Right Reel Güd
Continuing on today’s theme of incorrect signage, Gothamist points us to a funny article in the NY Times about the accidental art of immigrant poetry: signs around the city with grammar and spelling errors that make people smile. While we here at DCis…