Take pictures of examples of spelling and punctuation so horrible that they make me feel a bit sick, and post them on here for other language geeks to gawp at.

And it’s been a while…

This one’s courtesy of the California DMV.

specifically, the use of the word “compliment,” although it makes limited sense given the context in which it’s being used here. The word “complement” would be more appropriate.

From Wiktionary:
Compliment
and
Complement

Found this just today and it can’t wait. :) Setting aside the l33t-sp33k for the time being, how many instances of bad punctuation can you spot? (There’s at least one that may or may not be, if you consider context.) I counted 8 for sure, and two or three more potential ones.

But that’s not all. This is touted as a “babysitting” service with a video-gaming focus. But doesn’t that image in the lower left look like a depiction of a first-person shooting game? (In an office or classroom, no less?) The way I see it at least, most kids of an appropriate age for games featuring handguns will also be of a reasonable age to not need babysitting.

It’s not my intent to rag on this company, but some proofreading would have gone a long way here. It’s been brought up that limited understanding of English can be an issue, but in my experience at least, limited English skills and simple bad writing can usually be readily differentiated.

What’s an “installion”? It’s related to countertops possibly.

I don’t drink, but cocktail menus can still be interesting. So you can get that one over ice with … with … yes?... A mystery drink?

I think this is good as done. A few more to post still.

It would seem, with modern-day cigarettes, the ill health effects from smoking don’t last as long after quitting as they used to.

Alright … this isn’t a spelling or punctuation issue, but this wording is entirely too easy to misinterpret. The message that was certainly intended here could be conveyed more clearly in as many or less words: “Quitting smoking can greatly reduce…” or just “quitting smoking greatly reduces…”. Furthermore, this isn’t exactly a “warning”...

ps: I don’t smoke.

this time in a new place. (This is from the liner notes of The Beach Boys Ultimate Christmas)

Another one I saw last night was at the gifts+cards+ornaments store at the center where I often go. (I had my camera but didn’t want to get whinged at otherwise I’d show you. A camera phone would have been nice here.) This involved a sign that was printed out on the computer, and one would think be easy enough to proofread and fix if you needed to. Apparently not: you see, there was a Sepcial on the items on that one shelf.

I’ll let you find it. :) Right now I’m too lazy to look in the dictionary but I’m almost certain that’s not a real word…

This is from a magazine. Or mroe precisely a somewhat-informal freebie (but still printed) zine from here in town.

Lightbulbs maybe? Closest I can think of. (As an aside, on signs like these it’s always interesting to see how letters and numbers might be used to substitute for others that are short of stock, backwards P for a 9, inverted M for a W, etc.)

Seen at the local fare. And this is a permanent sine to. (I’ve noticed old variants of spelling on some words that have Y in place of I: tyre, pype, etc. But I doubt this is the case here.)