That's good fish.

Franklin's (Hyattsville, MD) is one of our favorite local restaurants. After church on Sunday I had "Fidel's Favorite," a tasty cuban sandwich, while Becky had the pasta special with sausage and broccoli rabe. Nobody at our table was a big enough spender to go for the Grilled Atlantic Salmon, however. I know the economy is rough, but does Franklin's really think this is the way to increase profits? I guess if gas prices are falling, maybe people will be more willing to pay twelve-hundred dollars for some salmon.

Isn't that called lemonade?

The picture's a little fuzzy, but it says "Lemons--Perfect for orange juice." 

This, of course, flies in the face of generations who have followed the tradition that orange juice is best made with oranges. Good for Giant for shaking things up!

(Thanks to Mimi for this submission and thanks to the Giant produce department for another winner.)

Lost in translation 2

From Shanghai, this is the cough drop for the man with nothing to lose. This is made all the funnier by the fact that our Beijing-based tour guide referred to men from Shanghai as "pansy eunuchs."

Are they French?

I stumbled across this special at Giant on Sunday afternoon. Sure, it's a horrific typo ... but doesn't it make them sound fancier?

Geography/World History 101

I'm sure Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland might have a thing or two to say about the labeling of this flag.

I saw this last year when voting in the "cafetorium" at Hyattsville Middle School. The principal was nice enough when I wrote her a short email to bring this error to her attention and to discuss the differences between England and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but she apparently didn't care enough to fix the problem. Chalk one up for the PG County Schools. Isn't this kind of like labeling the US flag "Virginia?"

While waiting in line to vote this morning, I snapped this picture before being told cameras were not allowed in the polling place.

Lost in translation

On our trip to China this past June we enjoyed friendly tour guides, pushy salespeople, and beautiful sights (even if seen through a perpetual haze). We also enjoyed the results of attempting to translate Chinese characters into understandable English. English words we got; understandable English,  not so much.

If I ever start up a band, "Barbecue Speculation" will be its name. Too bad most French Horn players don't start bands.

(credit goes to my alert wife for snapping a shot of this in a restaurant window as we hurried down the street)

Toonces, have you been shopping again?

From a recent recall notice for pet food: "Mars Petcare US today announced a voluntary recall of a limited number of bags of SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend dry cat food sold at Wal-Mart locations in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia. The pet food is being voluntarily recalled following a positive test result indicating a potential contamination with Salmonella. This product should not be sold or fed to pets."

As my wife said, "I should say it shouldn't be sold to pets! What gives them the chutzpah to think they can pay for anything they want, anyway? Those cats, always trying to act so intelligent."

Introduction

Sometimes it's because we're sleepy, sometimes we're too stressed, and sometimes we just don't know any better. The result? The butchering, often to comical effect, of the English language. Whether it's from a menu written on a chalkboard or a mass email sent at work, the English language doesn't seem to garner the respect it once did. 

Rather than forming a crusade to teach good English, I figured I'd simply try to compile some of those glaring mistakes/errors/gross abuses of the language and post them here. Enjoy!