Saturday, November 14, 2009

Misanthropes from Injury

I write for a few local newspapers, and I have been known to include typos in my work.  Not intentionally, mind you, as if to discover whether or not my editors are actually doing their jobs, but because I find editing my own work really difficult.  I know what it's supposed to say, so my brain often tricks me into thinking things are correct even when they aren't.

Apparently, I am not the only person with this problem:



I'm not going to comment on the random capitalization (I know it's the beginning of each line and that's not exactly random, but it's pretty random in terms of rules for capitalization).  Instead, I would like to focus on the line that reads, "To avoid others from injury!"

My response to this line is, "Huh?"

Is Injury the city in which the Fitness Centre is located, and because it wasn't the first word in the line, it just didn't get that much-deserved capital I?  And how will putting away my weights after I use them save me from coming into contact with other people from what apparently would have to be my hometown?  And is everyone who uses the Fitness Centre such a complete misanthrope that directions for avoiding others is desirable?

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Extra words...What I really need are some extra words.

I've been hanging on to this little beauty for a while because I hadn't quite decided if it was a grievous enough error to be considered a disaster.  But I've decided to go ahead with it because of the enthusiasm in the last line.



You probably realize that the phrase, "the usage of," really irks me because it's such a glaring example of how not to be concise.  It's not technically grammatically incorrect, but stylistically, it gets low marks.

What I really love, though, is that Management is apparently the cell phone abuser.  Why else would the sign so enthusiastically thank Management for refraining from using his cell phone in line?