In celebration of the OWL

You don't have to be a Purdue alum to completely appreciate their Online Writing Lab. Their advice is sound, fast, and easy to understand. If you need a top-up on your grammar and mechanics, they can help. If you need help with your writing, they've got you covered. They just started a grammar blog which, given their credentials, should be a huge success. Well done to the OWL. I'm a commited supporter.

There is nothing merry about marryoke

This week I had an unfortunate encounter with a marryoke clip on YouTube. Why unfortunate? Marryoke is a cringe-worthy mix of twee, cheese, and mere mortals bursting into song for no reason. None of these should be present at a wedding or in the following celebration of such a union.

I can't even begin to think of what Emily Post would think of this, but Miss Manners is pretty clear about it...

"Another vulgar example where people forget their wedding manners is when some people using their "day" like running it like a show business.

No doubt it is a day to get creative, as Miss Manners Wedding Etiquette says "...the perpetrators fail to understand the difference between making an occasion enjoyable and making a significant event into a mockery."

That is, secret fantasies should remain fantasies. We must apply discernment to whether we are going distastefully over the top in our planning, decoration, theme etc. There is a way to go "over the top" without compromising on elegance."

Keywords here are elegance, enjoyable, tasteful... That's what the entire wedding day should be about; marryoke is the opposite of that.

Whose and who's

One of our beloved followers has requested a clarifiation on whose and who's. Liz, this is your wheelhouse, so I hand it over to you.

In poor taste, in more ways than one

I saw this ad, for Bone Suckin' Sauce, in the Lakeland catalogue (it was in the work breakroom). All I could think is, who named this condiment? What's the point of having a juvenile humour-based phrase on a food item, and one you'll most likely enjoy in the garden with a bunch of friends around the barbeque pit? And what if your grandparents are at the event and ask for more bone sucking sauce and all the pre-teens through mid-twenties spit out their food with laughter?

Naming a food seasoning the same thing that some immature guy can offer as a fellacio-based joke or something you'd find sold in Ann Summers is in poor taste, and certainly not something Emily Post would have in her kitchen cupboard.

Shopping is not a journey

This entry is at the request of the smallest member of our household (she's in the photo, giving two thumbs-down). She does not like shopping at a local grocery store due to their incorrect usage of "with" in their signage. Small child's explanation is, no one who works there is shopping; they are working. We are the ones doing the shopping. After giving this some thought, I completely agree. This usage of "with" is confusing, especially to those learning the language for the first time. The store staff members are not going on the shopping journey with us; they are facilitating the journey. If we were in a plane, then the airplane staff could correctly say, "Thank you for flying with us" because we all flew together; shopping is a different matter.

Small child suggests, "Thank you for shopping in our store". I agree.

(on a different topic, yes, this makes me a very proud parent)

England's Top Scorer

Yes, in Watford again, I took this pic in the window of Primark. Although we locals are rather excited about the World Cup starting next month, this t-shirt is not a way to support the England squad. It's clearly not an ironic t-shirt (I do love that t-shirt genre), since no one who isn't getting any would wear this to be ironic. It isn't meant to be worn by any of the England football players, since it's clearly a woman's garment. It has not been created for the England women's football team since the t-shirt was on sale to all who want to shop at Primark.

The only message I see is pride in "scoring" the most shags in the entire country. This is, at a minimum, tacky and, at a maximum, a public health risk.

Two apostrophe crimes in one photo

Yesterday I went to Watford to get my hair cut. As a approached the salon, I noticed both signs (how could you not, especially the HUGE one in the window), both of which need editing. My concern on the BLOW DRY'S is that this clearly wasn't an in-house sign; it's not like the manager asked someone on the staff to quickly print out a sign about this exciting blow dry offer. This sign is a size that only a professional printer could've processed. Why didn't someone at the printers have a quiet word with the owner of this sign and suggest some other phrasing, so the message isn't sadly incorrect?

The blue Gents Haircuts sign is easier to fix. Someone just needs a small apostrophe-shaped piece of white tape to make it state Gents' Haircuts.

(Thankfully this salon's grammar weaknesses do not impact their cutting skills. My hair looks great.)