I have several pet peeves including bad grammar, laziness, and meanness. But the one my students seem to enjoy is bad spelling (and/or grammar). They find these in print and bring them to me for fake money. It sounds silly, I know, but it really does make them more aware of others’, and hopefully their own, spelling and grammar. I put printed mistakes on my bulletin board’s “Hall of Shame.”
Here are a few of my personal favorites. Some I got pictures of; the rest I wish I had.
This I found at a really fancy store.
I asked my students to read it.
“The early bird GET IS the worm,” they chorused.
Ahh, the sound of education.
This sign was in Rosebud, Texas.
Do the sno cones own something?
Oh dear . . . . "mapel" flavoring. Anyone want some of that?
I know, they spelled it correctly on the bottom, so maybe it is the name
of the fake maple flavoring?
Sign outside home in rural North Carolina:
“FILL DART WANTED”
No comment.
There are two misspellings on this sign. My third through sixth graders recite
“drop the e add ing " almost daily. And, you must have vege (pronounced “veggie”) on your “table." And I'm not sure why the "b" in vegetables is the only lower case letter?
(The official spelling is "cantaloupe".)
Okay -- this one reads "ICE CREAM SHAVE ICE"
Now, the word "shave" is functioning as an adjective modifying the word "ice," therefore it is technically a participle and should read "SHAVED ICE." The way it appears now, it is a command, as in, "HEY YOU, GO OVER THERE AND SHAVE ICE!"
I love the color lavender, and the smell of lavender.
This should read "Help Chili's" because the word "Chili's" is possessive, as in "Chili's restaurant". Secondly, at the bottom you see they are having a DRAWLING.