Anything goes

theresak · 17. Jun 2015, 09:22

OK, I may be turning into Victor Meldrew, but I couldn`t let it pass.......................

I bought a print of Durham Cathedral and a tea-towel of Durham & the North-east from a shop called the Edin***** Woo**** M*ll for a friend from Down South. When I got the tea-towel home, Northumberland was spelled with a double L, and Hartlepool with a Y instead of an E. I took it back to the shop this morning & asked for one with the correct spelling." Oh, we know about the two tiny mistakes," I was told - " you would have been told before you paid for it." I was not. There were dozens still on sale in the shop, all with the incorrect spellings. " We sell hundreds, " said the assistant, " no-one notices, or if they do, nobody minds. It doesn`t matter these days, does it?"

Actually, I think it does matter, and reflects badly on the shop in question. I left without a replacement tea-towel.

Fings ain`t wot they used to be.

barbara12 · 17. Jun 2015, 09:51

Dear me another sign that standards are dropping..no wonder you are annoyed...especially has its a gift... :roll:

Kitty · 17. Jun 2015, 10:31

In that case, it must be OK to say that Buckingham Palace is in Loonydon. Just 2 tiny mistakes.

Hope I won't be thrown in the tower of Loonydon now. :?

stickywicket · 17. Jun 2015, 17:01

theresak wrote:

" no-one notices, or if they do, nobody minds. It doesn`t matter these days, does it?"

I have a horrible, sinking feeling that she's right. My hackles are well and truly up. We are straying dangerously into the era of personal spelling. It does matter because the reader is left to interpret the sloppy result. I feel a My Fair Lady moment coming on. "Why can't the English teach their children how to write?"

In my youth they'd have been giving those towels away not selling them.

Good for you for refusing it. However, you are not V. Meldrew. I know because I'm married to him

dreamdaisy · 18. Jun 2015, 03:05

The ability to spell is not a reflection of intelligence but it is a courtesy to the reader. Text-speak is the one area where personal spelling flourishes but it's downright rude to use it in a more formal setting . . . and as for predictive text, that's the one that gets my goat. Why don't posters check before they post? I love the Amazon ones where they state 'I shall defiantly be buying this again.' Good for you!

Apostrophes are easy if you have been taught correctly and not by some poor sap who themselves was 'educated' in written English during the 70s and onwards (although progress is being made in that area now). The difference between complementary and complimentary is not rocket science (with an 'e' it's free (we will send you a complementary pen) with an 'i' it's I am paying you a compliment) but when papers such as the Times and the Telegraph can't get it right well, what hope is there?

Correct spelling matters but errors can be very entertaining. Who was the 'King of Spain' cricketer? Was it Ashley Giles? DD

LignumVitae · 18. Jun 2015, 15:43

The sad thing is that will have been proofed by whoever designed it and then by the client as well before it was signed off ready for print. It was a designers best and money spent by a client but neither of them (nor the printer) noticed. If it didn't matter to those folk what hope the rest of the population?

theresak · 18. Jun 2015, 16:09

I did actually fire off an e-mail to EWM' s HQ, telling them the whole tale, and asking whether they had anyone checking the work before it was printed and supplied to their shops.

As yet I've had no reply. I have, however, had some of my friends offer to 'go shopping' at the store next week asking for correctly spelled tea-towels.

LignumVitae · 18. Jun 2015, 16:30

I bet you've had no reply because they are busily chasing the email trail to see who signed it off and spent all that money without proofing it properly. It's odd that the staff seemed to just see it as ok and they weren't sold as seconds as you might accept - it would've one thing to sell them off at a reduced cost with the errors flagged. It's another to sell them normally and just tell customers (allegedly) as they buy them.

theresak · 19. Jun 2015, 05:44

I think I`ve got a result in the tea-towel saga.

I had an e-mail this morning thanking me for informing EWM of `my concerns.` They are instructing the store to remove all the mis-spelt merchandise, and intend to check all future merchandise for correct spellings. It does beg the question why they weren`t checked in the first place. As a teacher, whenever we wrote class reports - in the days before technology - each one was checked for spelling mistakes by the Head before he would sign them off.

I`m not decrying people who find spelling difficult, but the people of Northumberland - my hubby is one - and the folk from Hartlepool might just have been a tad annoyed their home town was not represented correctly.

I shall have to employ a Secret Agent to check that the offending merchandise is indeed removed, as we are away on holiday from Monday.

stickywicket · 19. Jun 2015, 05:49

Re school reports. Several of us were once in the staff room writing them, chatting, and passing them on. This was fortunate as one recipient discovered that the staff member who had just written the report (while talking of her husband) had written 'Ken is working hard.' Whoops!

theresak · 19. Jun 2015, 06:15

frogmorton · 20. Jun 2015, 04:27

theresak wrote:

I did actually fire off an e-mail to EWM' s HQ, telling them the whole tale, and asking whether they had anyone checking the work before it was printed and supplied to their shops.

As yet I've had no reply. I have, however, had some of my friends offer to 'go shopping' at the store next week asking for correctly spelled tea-towels.

That's what I would have done.

I want to do the same to Tesco's who have overhead signs, one of which says:

TV's

:roll:

Theresa I would love to hear the outcome.

Thanks

Toni xxx

Anything goes

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