Wednesday 7 April 2010

Were you being funny, Mr Griffin?

Nick Griffin made me think. Oh yes he did. About puns.

While there may be several situations in which a pun is a bad thing, one of the worst must be when it just makes people think you can't spell.

When Griffin wrote the following on Twitter yesterday, my first thought was "he can't even spell Cameron right?"

But hang on! Could that be ca-moron? Geddit? Moron? You tell me.

Was it:
a) shoddy spelling?
b) a pun?
Cast your votes!

Oh, and while we're at it. I have a similar issue with a company called Aforedable Golf, whose sandwich board sign stopped me in my tracks the other day. I know they meant it. They just shouldn't have.

12 comments:

  1. I'm sure he meant it. He may be a hateful bigot - but he is an intelligent man. I think the bigger question is: what are you doing following him on Twitter?
    Speaking of mistakes intentional or otherwise, there is a hair salon in Portsmouth called Stylistic's. I don't think it is intentional.

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  2. What's up Chloe, do I not strike you as the über-right-wing type? Hehe. I was only experimenting. And I didn't inhale!

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  3. You didn't strike me as a BNP supporter, but then, what do I know? I love surprises. My friend just found out her dad is a transsexual - he turned up at her house wearing a skirt. Similar kind of thing, I think

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  4. Oh dear. Now I feel the need to clarify just in case my mum reads this and has a heart attack. I looked at Nick Griffin's Twitter feed once, yesterday ('once, yesterday' rather than 'once yesterday'), after noticing someone I knew was following him.

    I'm not a BNP supporter, surprise surprise - although I am a transsexual. Okay Mum?

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  5. There's also a Samwidges Sandwich Delivery Service in London. Good work Sam.

    For me, the point is if you're in any doubt as to whether or not they've misspelt it, then they shouldn't have tried it.

    Having just re-read what I've written, I've come up with a great idea for one of those characters in Microsoft Word who help you out in the bottom-right corner when it thinks you want help. Whenever you type a word that's not in its dictionary, a certain 'Miss Pelt', pops up and offers to change it for you! Oh!

    Dear Bill Gates...

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  6. Oh but people HATE that paperclip! I do try to be not quite as punchable as him.

    And why am I imagining Miss Pelt with grey hair in a bun and a wagging finger (and too many cats at home)?

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  7. i am miss pelt! cats and all

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  8. Is Miss Pelt transsexual as well?? And what about the cats? Certainly my male cat doesn't seem to know which side of the fence to sit on. I also have a collection of paperclips and bulldog clips - I particularly like the tiny ones, they are soo cute.
    When it comes to deliberate misspellings I worryingly worry that one day I simply won't notice because there are so many around that I have forgotten what the correct spellings really are.

    I really should get out more ...

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  9. Oh my God, she's striking out in the direction of Paperchase, clutching a bottle of gin to her breast. Someone stop her before she gets to the tiny bulldog clips - they threatened to take out a restraining order last time!

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  10. There's a particularly annoying van in Birmingham called Artic Food Service that drives ;) me bonkers.

    Not only have they spelt Arctic wrong but they have a penguin as an illustration. No penguins in the Arctic, innit.

    Wrong on so many levels.

    Here's the van: http://www.articfoods.co.uk/index-1.html

    Grrrr.

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  11. Perhaps they were having a playful tinker with 'articulated'? It's a common one - we had an awful lot of 'artic weather' on our mag back when it snowed. Lorries falling all over the place.

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  12. If only they could, ahem, articulate their punning aims. ;)

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Fellow lost souls

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Why did I turn out such a pedant? Well you'd have to ask my TV-banning, lentil-baking, library-enforcing, doctor-eschewing, beanbag-sitting, grammar-correcting, homeopathic, 2nd dan black belt, all-round no-nonsense mother. 'Cos me, I got no idea.