Tag Archives: grammar

Grammatical inconsistency at Meijer

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My friends and I are lame.  Not in the literal sense, but in the “omg, you’re so lame!” sense.  We find little things to glom on to and then glom away.  Possessive pronouns and recursive acronyms (e.g. ATM machine) are two of our favorites.  It is with great amusement, then, that I wander the clothing section of my local Meijer store.  Let’s take a look…

meijer_boys

This is the clothing section for boys. Note that because of the use of the plural form, you can find clothing for not one boy, but multiple.

Young ladies can find their wear here. As with the boys, there is clothing here for multiple children.

Young ladies can find their wear here. As with the boys, there is clothing here for multiple children.

Once again, we see the use of the plural form of the noun for infants and toddlers. So far, the store has been very consistent.

Once again, we see the use of the plural form of the noun for infants and toddlers. So far, the store has been very consistent.

Juniors is silly term, in my opinion. Regardless, it is a plural noun and all is right with the world.

Juniors is silly term, in my opinion. Regardless, it is a plural noun and all is right with the world.

Uh oh. Here's a change. Instead of using the plural, like in other sections, they opt for the plural possessive.

Uh oh. Here's a change. Instead of using the plural, like in other sections, they opt for the plural possessive.

Hmm, now we're back to plural. I'm a little confused by this, maybe the next sign will make everything clear?

Hmm, now we're back to plural. I'm a little confused by this, maybe the next sign will make everything clear?

Here we go. Oh wait. What's this? Singular and not possessive? It seems more like Meijer is yelling "WOMAN!" like some sexist jerk. For shame, Meijer, for shame.

Here we go. Oh wait. What's this? Singular and not possessive? It seems more like Meijer is yelling "WOMAN!" like some sexist jerk. For shame, Meijer, for shame.

A picture isn’t always worth a thousand words

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If a picture was always worth a thousand words, I’d have written the entire collection of the Library of Congress several times over.  I’m not a photography bus in the traditional sense: I don’t keep up on the latest cameras, I don’t spend hours in a digital darkroom enhancing my photos.  I just like to take pictures.  Posed pictures don’t interest me much, I’d much rather capture life as it is.

This life often includes still life.  I often combine my love of roads with my love of taking pictures, with the end result that I have a lot of pictures of signs.  Since my posts of late have been largely technical, I thought I’d take some time to have a bit of fun with some of the pictures I’ve taken.  I’ve got a large stash of photos, so this theme may be repeated in the future when I have nothing else to say.

The Dairy Queen has doors to that are hard to open.

This particular selection begins with a picture taken last week at the Dairy Queen near Meijer in Lafayette.  Brian and I were sent on an ice cream run by our wives.  We were nearly thwarted by the door, which is hard to open.  Instead of fixing the door, the management decided a nice-looking sign was just as well.

Excessive quotation marks amuse me.

The second photo comes courtesy of the Lafayette Menard’s home improvement store.  Apparently, the helpful staff could use some instruction in the proper use of the quotation mark. Improper quotation, possessive pronouns, and recursive acronyms (ATM machine anyone?) are three things that my friends and I tend to get excited about.

Illinois rest stops have no shame.

The third picture was taken at a rest stop somewhere on I-70 in western Illinois.  I understand that the idea is to get motorcycle riders to wear a helmet, but is that really the most appropriate wording?  Maybe so, since if it was worded differently, I wouldn’t be sharing this on the Internet with my ones of readers.  You win this time, Illinois.

Which road is just south of Bloomington? That Road!

The final picture today is one of my personal favorites.  If I ever move to the Bloomington area, I want to buy a house on That Road.  I imagine most conversations would go something like the legendary “Who’s on first?” sketch done by Abbott and Costello.  This picture means so much to me that it is on the digital picture frame in our living room.