Slow-Slowly

I have walked by this vending machine countless times. This machine sits in a row of other vending machines. Some of the machines have written on them, "Push in and pull out SLOWLY." The red sign has a mistake because the word SLOW should be followed by -LY. When a describing (modifying) word tells how and tells about a verb, it is an adverb. Adverbs often end with -LY.
Examples:
1. The slow car is red. (Tells what kind of car and doesn't need -LY.)
2. The red car moves slowly. (Tells how the car moves and needs -LY.)

Rare public forum is rare

Thanks, Michael, for this one. I had to read it a few times to find the redundancy. (I am tired and have a headache. Excuses, excuses.) It is nice to know that, "Such a rare public forum on ethics is rare." My guess is that this was an error created when the article was edited.

Clearance

The glare almost covers up the misspelling. It's CLEARANCE, not CLEARENCE. This was found in Family Dollar in Bryant, Arkansas. It was REALLY close to the checkout counter occupied by a clerk. Whew!

Splitting Hairs/Splitting Infinitves

Once again, I revisit the split infinitive. This headline says, "Daughter urges Okla. voters to not vote for father." The infinitive, which is to plus a verb, is to vote. There is a valid argument that there are times when avoiding a split infinitive is awkward. Writing the headline as follows makes as much sense and flows as smoothly: "Daughter urges Okla. voters not to vote for father." I can see no good reason to split this infinitive. There is security in these old rules. Cling to them. Cling to them.

Savvy?

I guess that this should be Savvy Seconds. (I considered an informal spelling of save-y, as in save money and be save-y.) This store is adjacent to the gas station at the intersection of Salem and Congo in Salem/Benton.

Walgreen's Islands

In my quest to stock up on the $.19 G2 pens, I found this error. The space between rows of merchandise is called an aisle. Another name for an island is an isle. I didn't see any islands in the store.

Hot Springs: Hot Bed of Mistakes

Tees doesn't need an apostrophe, but children's does.

No apostrophe needed. This one is from a Hot Springs, Arkansas, visitor's center.

Instead of We Sale, it should be written We Sell. This from an Econo Lodge.

The abbreviation for MANAGERS should be MGRS, not MRGS. I took this one myself and got a bit worried when a couple began staring at me because they thought I was taking a picture of them. They didn't seem like the type who would appreciate my finding the mistake on the sign, so I scurried to the car and left.

The comma after research is unnecessary because this is just a compound predicate, not a compound sentence. This is from a brochure promoting the building of a fairplex and passing of a sales tax in Saline County, Arkansas.

No grammar error exists in this sign, but I laughed when I imagined someone talking to a desk. This sign could be more accurately worded, "Please help us by informing the desk personnel." I HATE ALL CAPS!

Walgreen's Bathroom Entertainment

I found this sign in a Walgreen's bathroom. I love the tone of this note. I can sense the frustration of the manager who wrote this. The larger print section contains a run-on sentence. There should be a period after walls to separate the two sentences. Enviroment should be spelled enviroNment. The subordinate clause IF YOU NEED PAPER should be followed by a comma.

Feel up with gas

Thanks to the unknown-to-me photographer. This is a second-hand picture. The mistakes in this photo are best explained in a list:

1. Pre-Pay and Cash should not be capitalized.

2. After an introductory subordinate clause, there should be a comma. After If you are paying by DEBIT/CREDIT card should have a comma after it, as should If you want to feel up and are going to use a DEBIT/CREDIT and don't want to use it at the pumps.

3. The most glaring and most humorous mistake on the sign is the use of feel up instead of fill up.

4. Instead of take you card, it should read take your card.

Misplaced Phrases

Thanks, Mrs. Donna, for this one. She found it in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. There are several ways one could interpret this headline. I am not sure whether the name of this charity walk is "Walk to Cure Diabetes" or "Walk to Cure Diabetes Over the Big Dam Bridge." I think it is probably the former. Either way, this headline is confusing. According to this headline, they hope to find the cure for diabetes on the bridge. Hey, I'd be happy if they find a cure no matter where they find it. I have walked the bridge, and I didn't find a cure there, though.

**Why didn't they capitalize kick?

Except/Accept and How to Make Cents

I initially noticed that according to this sign Big Red (on Congo in Benton, Arkansas) is advertising that it does not take EBT cards. Probably, the sign maker intended to say that this store will ACCEPT EBT cards. Upon closer examination of the sign, I realized that Lipton Tea is actually being advertised for less than one penny. This should have been written $.79 because the tea likely costs about 3/4 of a dollar not 3/4 of a penny. If I were confrontational, I could try to buy some tea for less than a penny. That is not really my style, though. I am a bit more passive...hence the blog.

Parents Sues/Sue

This is a screen captured from www.detentionslip.org, a site reporting wacky news regarding education. The subject and verb of the headline do not agree. The subject is Parents. Girl is not the subject because it is part of a prepositional phrase. We should not say/write parents sues; we should say/write parents sue.

Criticism

I found this one in the basement of the Central Arkansas Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. The book sale was awesome. Of course, this should read, "Criticism."

I found this one at Sutherland's, a hardware store. No apostrophe is necessary. The word should be written BOXES. A plural is needed, not a possessive. Seperately should be spelled separately. A comma, not a hyphen, should follow FOR HELP. There were several copies of this sign posted throughout the store.

Inspriation/Inspiration

Notice that inspiration is spelled inspriation in the headline. It is spelled correctly in the body of the article. This is from the arkansasmatters.com website for KARK Channel 4.

Don't Work

Since the implied subject of this statement is this, the sign should read, "Doesn't work." It would be incorrect to say, "This don't work." Furthermore, there is not an apostrophe on the incorrect contraction. Find this sign at the Sinclair gas station in Marshall, Arkansas. Thanks, Robin.

Loose/lose Bladder Control

This is an advertisement from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. This person meant he/she would LOSE control not LOOSE control.

SonS-in law

Sitting at Little Rock's Pops on the River, I nearly choked on my funnel cake and lemonade when I saw this mistake. Really?? Son-in-laws??? Make hyphenated words such as this plural by adding an s to the initial noun. Sons-in-law...mothers-in-law...daughters-in-law...ladies-in-waiting...