Tuesday, November 11, 2008

We Couldn't Have Said It Worse

Domicile Furniture, which is a pretty funny name in and of itself, ran a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune that featured "two wonderfully different types of errors," Winona writes. In the first photo, they add apostrophes to words that are already possessive.



Oh, and if we want to be really picky, that hyphen should be an en-dash. They also don't seem to understand the phrase couldn't have.


And, finally, cutting edge should have a hyphen. Thanks, Winona!

7 comments:

THE GRAMMARPHILE said...

Damn right everything must go--including the copywriter/proofreader/whoever was responsible for this punctuationally disastrous ad!

Marty said...

Not to mention the phrase "couldn't of said..." That drives me nuts when I see it! Proper English: couldn't HAVE said. Grrr. Just found your blog--love it! You and I are kindred spirits!

Rollin said...

Hey, i commit that error a lot, the using a hyphen for an en-dash. Sometimes i do get it right, but i just never really knew which way was correct. I think i got it now. It always sticks to the previous word, right?

Becky said...

In this case, it should be an en-dash because it's between two numbers to indicate a range.

Anonymous said...

You know, I know when to use M dashes (—), N dashes (–) and hyphens (-). M dashes are overused but they're designed for abrupt changes in thought. An N dash is used for numbers. A hyphen is overused too. Sometimes you're supposed to hyphenate certain adjectives. The people at the furniture store apparently don't know how to make an N dash by typing Alt + 0150

Anonymous said...

I forgot the M dash code too. Alt + 0151

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