I think there needs to be a moratorium on using the words nine-one-one when discussing the attacks of September 11, 2001. The words nine-one-one indicate the phone number used to contact emergency responders. So, I think anyone who uses nine-one-one when they mean nine-eleven should be charged $25. And, if you do it on the teevee or the radio you should be taken out and shot. Media people should know better and whether they like it or not, they help set up the way people use language and by misusing this phrase they are saying to anyone who can hear their voice that it’s OK to sound like a moron. It’s not.
There’s a large sign near a local gas station/convenience store that advertises a family feast of a boatload of fried chicken for the low price of $7.99. They also use the word snack on the sign. So, which is it? A feast or a snack? Last night, as we were driving by, the better-half slowed way down so I could get a good look at the sign and then I went off. I’m prone to that, I guess. I declared that if I owned a sign store that I would have to kick customers in the ass while holding the door open because I would refuse to print signs that were stupid and contradictory. I wouldn’t be in business long.
Have you seen the Arizona iced tea bottle that tells you the tea is made with ginseng and jasmine honey? Actually what they mean is that it is there are three flavor ingredients–ginseng, jasmine and honey. Because they decided to let design win out over the appropriate use of commas, people are going to think there is either something called jasmine honey or that commas are just unnecessary. Maybe commas cost extra money and the Arizona tea company decided to save a hundredth of a cent.