Ordinarily I'd be pointing out yet another case of the possessive being used where the plural should be (unless the creator of this sign only had one umbrella for sale and used a contraction for "umbrella is", which I really doubt). But although I just drew your attention to the error, that isn't really the focus of this post.
This, however, is: There was something supremely endearing about the pencil scrawl to the right ("Arm Brella") that makes me forgive the other error. I saw it this morning in a Chelsea hardware store window, and it literally stopped me in my tracks. It instantly reminded me of a deck of cards that my adorable Poppop -- a hilarious, brilliant, multilingual man with very little "formal" education ... a man who sacrificed his education to support his family as a baker in Europe -- boldly inscribed with the word PINOKL (pinochle).
He's been "gone" for almost nine years now, but all it took was a little thing like this to make me feel like was walking beside me on Seventh Avenue this afternoon.
fresh-baked at 10:12 PMP.S. He WAS there. I often see him too! It's sad, but lovely! That's it for now "dahlink"!
Offered by: mamanita on June 29, 2002 8:00 PM"Denk yuh Juhdie" for all the kind words about my beloved daddy and your fabulous pop-pop! He would've "luffed" your tribute to him (deservedly so)! Leibers!
Offered by: Mamanita on June 29, 2002 7:54 PMP.S I was going to write LOL ... just for a laugh
Gads I'm feeling devilish today!
you get noticed for two reasons in the movie world
you ARE brilliant
you LOOK brilliant
show me one person that has both attributes?
and if the grammar sucks ... don't sweat it!
Life's for living
I called my grandfather Poppop, too. His wife was Mummum to me.
Offered by: Kim on June 27, 2002 1:30 PMSkip: Does this mean that you not only want him to be mute in his movies, but that you want him to seduce me again as well?
Offered by: Jodi on June 27, 2002 1:29 PMIf he would only work wordlessly a little more often...
Offered by: skip on June 27, 2002 1:07 PMWhoops. Sorry, Aaron. I don't like to give incorrect attribution.
I did get the joke, though, about the quotation marks and the irony/untruth.
(Oh, and for the record -- whatever record that may be -- I'm not really a fan of Keanu's acting. It's not my fault he appears in my dreams, wordlessly seducing me with those brown eyes.)
Offered by: Jodi on June 27, 2002 12:37 PMYou actually saw it on mine.
The bad grammar is the misuse of quotation marks. Unless somebody SAID that this was a "Safe Passage," or the sign is in reference to another Safe Passage...somewhere else....Those quotation marks can only imply irony, or untruth.
Just like I'd call Keanu an "actor."
The joke is, there is no such thing as a safe passage to the Gaza Strip.
Offered by: aaron on June 27, 2002 12:33 PMAaron, I think I saw that on Finny's site a few weeks ago. But where is the instance of bad grammar? I'm so confused!!!
Offered by: Jodi on June 27, 2002 12:01 PMbest "Improper Grammar" sign ever:
Offered by: aaron on June 27, 2002 11:55 AMIt's a card game you frickin moron.
Offered by: dan on June 27, 2002 11:26 AMwhat's pinochle?
Offered by: sc0tt on June 27, 2002 9:18 AMi bet you wear black lot
Offered by: herbie on June 27, 2002 8:19 AMhow about "uhm...brella"?!?
Offered by: giorgia on June 27, 2002 6:44 AMOOOOOOH! The irritation of signs! I don't care who you are or where you are.....HAVE SOMEONE PROOF YOUR SIGNS FOR YOU! Especially if you work for a large corporation and you're sharing your brilliance with the rest of us.
On the other hand, your Poppop sounds like the sweetest man on earth!
Offered by: Joan on June 27, 2002 5:09 AMI can see that I'm going to have to start sharing my secret photo collection with you... bad signage pictures. Mostly hand written. Hopefully, none written by native English speakers. LOL
My favorite all time:
Help Wanted
For Waitress
Spotted in a greasy spoon window in Holbrook, Arizona outside of the Petrified Forest National Park.
Offered by: Desert Mermaid on June 27, 2002 3:49 AMZel, my dear, read the post entitled "Miss Lawrence Lays Down the Law"!
Offered by: Jodi on June 27, 2002 12:44 AMYou're an english teacher aren't you?
*g*
