Sine of the thymes

Who is the more powerless one here: the tattoo's bearer of the tattoo artist?

Most of you who know me well enough will say that I tend to be a stickler for proper grammar in and usage of the English language. Perhaps that is a trait I inherited from my mother; like hers does, my comprehension grinds to a screeching halt when it encounters improper grammar, bad spelling, poor ambiguous phrasing or punctuation gone awry. We often lament not only the errors made but also the fact that a significant segment of the population are either ignorant of or apathetic to (or, horror of horrors, both!) the errors that appear publicly in speech, writing or in imagery.

For the month of April, I decided to make an album on Facebook called "Sine Of The Thymes". In it I challenged my family and friends to send in pictures of language faux pas as seen on signs, advertisements, public documents and the like, each a true sign of the times in which we live.

Would you "wush" your car here? Even if costs only "20 $"?

The month is not yet over but I must say that this has been and exercise in hilarity and resigned frustration, with local and international content. It is funny to see where and how some of these errors appeared, especially for words that you wouldn't possibly think could be misspelt (see photo above). The frustration aspect lies with where some of these errors surfaced and that no one sought to correct them (as the customs declaration form debacle showed; you have to see it to believe it!).

Although some of you may not be on Facebook, you can still access the album entries by visiting this link. You will at least get to see the errors in all their glory and the witty captions I made for each, often with satirical replications of the error.. If you are on Facebook, you'll also get to see the comments as well (some of which are priceless!). 

One bit of advice for all of you in passing ... Your tattoo artist may be an artistic genius but he/she may actually be quite horrid at spelling; remember to proofread their work on your body before an unfortunate error becomes permanently etched on your skin!

And keep those examples coming!