Spelling mistake in Emporium window

[truesally]

You point out the mistakes in RStar's post, and then you start your post with a run-on. That's nice. Now, it would be acceptable to keep the above as once sentence, but at least throw in a comma between the independent clauses. ;)

I appreciate your gentle correction. I am a bit of a comma-phobe since it tends to be so overused. My sentences tend to reflect my speaking style, which is to say fast & furious ;) It's as if people might not want to wait to hear everything I want to say...hmmm...

It's (it is) interesting that no one has mentioned the atrocities in Pooh's world - "hunny" and "nock ples" and all its (possessed by Pooh's world) backward letters...Why doesn't Christopher Robin put a stop to that nonsense? He seems like an educated boy. :)

[kinglouie1967]

:D

My personal criterion is whether it might teach or reinforce poor grammar. Inconsistencies in Mr/Ms/Dr/OHolyOneWhoseHemI'mUnworthyToTouch are issues of etiquette, rather than grammar.

Not fixing the simple confusion between "its" and "it's" indicates laziness, or worse, on Disney's part. If I were with a child, I certainly wouldn't pass by the error without comment. :p

Perhaps. I posit, however, that inconsistencies in courtesy titles are a matter of style, rather than whimsical personal preferences.

A scholarly study of grammar -- the likes of which one would expect on the Mouseplanet discussion board -- is not limited to a narrowly defined assortment of principles.

Rather, style encompasses grammar, punctuation, capitalization and other rules of the English language upon which civilized society depends.

The foundation of language is effective communication, and one cannot be considered an effective communicator when one takes wanton liberties with courtesy titles.

As much as I detest poor communication skills, I wouldn't point out any of this to a child while visiting Disneyland for fear of being labeled a "boorish scold." I'm trying to keep that a secret! ;)

[kinglouie1967]

It's (it is) interesting that no one has mentioned the atrocities in Pooh's world - "hunny" and "nock ples" and all its (possessed by Pooh's world) backward letters...Why doesn't Christopher Robin put a stop to that nonsense? He seems like an educated boy. :)

Bears are notoriously bad spellers, so most folks have just given up on them. Why do you think Eeyore is so depressed?

[Osky]

I appreciate your gentle correction. I am a bit of a comma-phobe since it tends to be so overused. My sentences tend to reflect my speaking style, which is to say fast & furious ;) It's as if people might not want to wait to hear everything I want to say...hmmm...

As long as we are on the subject, I find it amusing that many of the great works of literature completely ignore the basic rules of grammar. Look no further than Hemmingway for the master of the run-on.

My job has me writing patent applications. If you ever want to see a true run-on, take a look at the claims in a patent. ;) A common sentence might have 200 words. :eek:

I generally tend not to correct people, as it brings up childhood trauma. My father would correct every piece of correspondence sent home from the school, and send it back with me to the office. He would include a little note along the lines of "how can I expect you to teach my kids English when you have not mastered it yourself?" Needless to say, that was always embarrassing. He also would take notes at parent-teacher night and open house, and then want me to work into an assignment every word or grammar item that was misused. Then the fun would really begin. Excuse me while I go find my happy place now. :)

[truesally]

As long as we are on the subject, I find it amusing that many of the great works of literature completely ignore the basic rules of grammar. Look no further than Hemmingway for the master of the run-on.

Wow, funny you mentioned Hemingway - I was going to compare my style to his but didn't want anyone to think that also meant I was a depressive, oppressive alcoholic chauvinist :D (Hey, three cheers for that beauty of longwindedness!)

Your point is a good one, though, that I often teach my students. Once you actually understand the mechanics of proper grammar & writing, you are allowed to break those rules to create your unique style. I can enjoy work that is "incorrect" if I know the author completely intended the "mistakes." ee cummings would be the perfect example - surely he was aware some words (like his name) should be capitalized and that perhaps he could "throw in a comma" occasionally ;)

Finally, dude, I am so sorry about the experience with your dad! I'm sure he meant well (I am probably an inch away from that behavior myself and I do love my kids!) but forgot about the impact on your good standing in Social World. Here's to you finding that happy place :)

[truesally]

As much as I detest poor communication skills, I wouldn't point out any of this to a child while visiting Disneyland for fear of being labeled a "boorish scold." I'm trying to keep that a secret! ;)


Have no fear! We can walk together and marvel at grammatical offenses :p JUST KIDDING! While I do love to proofread the world around me, I do not drag my innocent companions into the madness. Well, I try not to...If someone happens to ask if something is incorrect, I will give a brief discourse :eek:

Yours truly,
Boorish Scold
:D

[stan4d_steph]

Spelling and grammatical errors on signage and printed materials are indicative of sloppy business practices. If I'm going to print up many copies of something, or put it on public display, I make sure to proofread it first.

[kinglouie1967]

"The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction." -- William Blake

[jazzjunkie]

The foundation of language is effective communication, and one cannot be considered an effective communicator when one takes wanton liberties with courtesy titles.

As much as I detest poor communication skills, I wouldn't point out any of this to a child while visiting Disneyland for fear of being labeled a "boorish scold."

Well, if I were loudly calling public attention to such errors, tut-tutting and head-shaking, feel free to label me a "boorish scold". I would ask a child (of appropriate school-going age) who is with me, why she feels that particular grammatical choice was made. It would go some way towards considering the reason why some "good", even "canonical", writers sometimes ignore such rules.

Good communication also takes note of appropriate register. I humbly submit that it would certainly detract from the magic, if Disney were to apply courtesy titles to all its characters. To me, Mr Toad is a pompous fellow, and his title reflects that. Similar reasoning may not apply to other characters, and to institute the titles uniformly would, to me, constitute poor communication. Kenneth Grahame would probably agree.

The spellings of "hunny", "Eeyore" and so on, are of course intentional, and magical in their childlike quirkiness. Is the Emporium window error intentional? If so, I wonder what the intent is. If not, then it must be an oversight, which may not reflect well on a huge company that has sold itself on its associations with quality and perfection. What would Walt say? :~D

That said, I wouldn't let such small things bother me for a second, if I were in Disneyland for the day, much less lose any sleep over them.

(On a side note, I think, Grundler, our fathers were somewhat similar in the respect you mentioned. Off to my happy place now, too...)

[tod]

I can enjoy work that is "incorrect" if I know the author completely intended the "mistakes." ee cummings would be the perfect example - surely he was aware some words (like his name) should be capitalized and that perhaps he could "throw in a comma" occasionally ;)

E. E. Cummings used regular capitalization in real life. It was only in his poetry that he used call-it-alternate capitalization and punctuation.

And can we start putting the commas and periods INSIDE the quotation marks, please? Just because Jeopardy! does it doesn't make it right, you know.

--t
fighting the urge to recommend people read Richard Mitchell's work on grammar. You'll never stint on grammar again if you do.

[kinglouie1967]

Good communication also takes note of appropriate register. I humbly submit that it would certainly detract from the magic, if Disney were to apply courtesy titles to all its characters. To me, Mr Toad is a pompous fellow, and his title reflects that. Similar reasoning may not apply to other characters, and to institute the titles uniformly would, to me, constitute poor communication. Kenneth Grahame would probably agree.

But would Mrs. Lincoln? :)

[tod]

I was at Disneyland yesterday and I looked at that window again. I remember being irritated at the error -- and it isn't there any more.

Yippee! Somebody is reading this site at TDA!!

--t

[Osky]

I was at Disneyland yesterday and I looked at that window again. I remember being irritated at the error -- and it isn't there any more.

Yippee! Somebody is reading this site at TDA!!

--t

I looked for it on Saturday and didn't see it. I wasn't sure if I was looking in the right place. Glad they fixed it.

[potzbie]

I looked for it on Saturday and didn't see it. I wasn't sure if I was looking in the right place. Glad they fixed it.

Yes, I can confirm that I was at DL less than a week ago, and looked in every window of the EMPORIUM, reading every word of the open books, looking for the bad "its".
It is gone (a pun?).
They (whoever "they" are) must have fixed it.
I think there were a maximum of two instances of "IT IS" or "IT'S" I found in the open books.

I did see one window 100% empty. What diorama shall DL place in the now-vacant EMPORIUM window?
Was that the window where the spelling error was?
Hmmmm...
Can the original poster give us the location of the window?
What scene was it?
What was the sentence?
If it was the empty window, this data may not be available now.

(As of 9/13/05, I bet we will have hundreds of MousePlanet readers rushing to the EMPORIUM windows, looking for the empty window. -- What power! What clout! -- The ability to urge people to look for nothing!) :)