Verbal Remedy AKA Denise

Verbal Remedy AKA Denise
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Del Mar, California, The One That's In A State Of Steep Decline
Birthday
January 18
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Columnist, http://www.doesthismakesense.com
Company
Much preferred to the alternative.
Bio
Born. Grew up. Kept growing up. Started growing older. Still at both the growing up and growing older. Stay tuned.

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JULY 10, 2009 5:36PM

Good luck selling that "refridgerator"

Rate: 70 Flag

Craigslist.

Never have so many typed so badly and used spellcheck so infrequently.

Honestly, cats and kittens: There's so much wrong with the "For Sale" ads (let's not even talk about "For Rent" right now), it's a bloody miracle buyers or sellers ever actually manage to find each other at all.

Now, y'all know I'm a spelling and grammar wonk, so yeah--I wince when I see things like this ad:  

lense
The graffiti is my very own addition...a bit of an homage to the illiterate insults flung freely about in the Rants & Raves section...er...from what I've heard...

This poor poster. S/he is looking for a buyer with nearly $2K to burn, but doesn't realize that said buyer will probably be searching for a LENS, not a  "lense"? Damn. Good luck with that.

Also, I wish several other folks the very best of luck getting rid of:

  • The dinning table
  • The Frig (w door Icemaker  water despenser!)
  • The 35 mm Connon EOS
  • Vinal windows
  • Nurtisystem deserts
  • The used matress
  • The dreser
  • The glass tabel & four chairs
  • The perfect loui vitton suit case!
  • Various other kinds of funiture, furnature, furnuture
  • That '95 Toyato (you say Toyato, I say Toyahto...)
  • A plastation and a playsation

I could go on and on.  I just pulled those from crap posted in the last five minutes, my preciouses. (Ow, my head hurts.)

Thank heavens, though, some patient, tolerant geniuses have figured out how to make a web tool that turns my headache into your bargains!

untitled

 Typo Buddy 

  • Translates standard English into cretinous eBay- or Craigslist-ese
  • Ensures all variations of semi-literate gobbledygook are explored when you're searching for that hard-to-find item
  • Serves a secondary function as a source of dark amusement 
  • May cause nausea, vomiting, and loss of faith in the future of the human race (or at least its education system)
  • Should not be used by loosers and morans!

So, bargain hunters, have fun with it.

Me, I'm off to investigate a Calvin Klien swede jacket...

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If you find any typos that are particularly amusing or appalling, feel free to throw them down here!
I loved the Righ-Wing Nutjob who was holding up a sign insulting "Comy Morans". I would like contact info for the person selling the frig, since I've never frigged anyone with an ice dispenser -- sounds erotica! I will admit I have frigged a few who were cold as ice and willing to sacrifice our love.
aaaargh -- that should be Right-Wing Nutjob
I have a headake. I think that I have swan flue.

It's so sad about Farrah Faucet.
double aaaaaaaaaargh! That should read "erotic" not "erotica"!
Why, oh why, did I ever comment on this post -- the gods are against me!
I am laffing out lodu at Tmo Corlde!
And I LOVE the googlebots contribution in the right hand ads.
This is particularly timely, as I just typed to a friend that I didn't think they were "an imbicile...yet" and YES, I misspelled "imbecile" not once but TWICE in that email! And I KNOW how to spell it, I'm an editor, for Pete's sake. Thank goodness I wasn't trying to SELL anything. Still, I felt like a 'moran.'

Great post (pet peeve of mine, too) and rated!
(So it seems we know how to get under Tom's skin...typos!)
In Phoenix, there's

* Bridle Gown Size 10
* Electric scotter for sale
* BBQ GASS GRILL

Thanks for letting me play!
See...I was going to make the first comment, but I was certain I'd make a typo. Since Tom has so hilariously broken that barrier, I feel safer.

I alternate between being amused and being irritated by careless and clueless spelling.

[Off topic: VR, I read Scoubidou's post about leaving OS. I wanted to thank you for introducing him to me.]
Looser than what? ;)
Snorting at the bridle gown. That sounds like a haute couture concept, does it not? A bridal gown made of white leather bridles?

Snerking about misspelling imbecile (because I've done things like that too many times to count).

Sniffling about Scoubi.
Seriously, we have a great deal of fun on the Western Colorado list with the difference between "fridge" and "frig."
Hay dauter, Reely gud won!

(Also generic - take a Midrin)

Luv ewe - E

--rated--
I'm shocked VR. Spelling and grammar moroons like this are placed here for our amusement, sure, but they do a public service, giving us cathartic release at a time of great economic uncertainty, and where else are we gonna buy our used Cap-a-Cheeno Masheens?
Verbal: I think you and my wife are long lost sisters. She becomes psychotic over the misuse of apostrophes, quotation marks, and obvious cases of incorrect spelling. I think she views it as lazy, especially the incorrect splling ha ha.
This sort of ignorance makes me crazy too but after teaching for a while, my responses are becoming a bit duller. I can't fight an army singlehandedly.
Mis-use of the apostrophe in "its/it's." It's everywhere.
My favorite are the hand-lettered signs with the gratuitous apostrophes.

I once saw a sign in a Subway that read, "Help Wanted. No student's."

I was tempted to ask them, "Why not? Do the make fun of your punctuation?"
can i tell you how many solicitors will call and ask if i'm "mrs. moron"?

it's spreading.
my spaghetti o's are all s's. rAted!
That Tim Cardal is funy!
Heck I've seen typos this bad just reading BLOGS, now that is a sad thing indeed.
dinning is the Worst. I can't believe how many places for rent have a formal dinning room. Makes me wonder if it's all about the noise (home drumset, mayhaps?) of if they've accidentally misspelled "dunning".

~~~~~~~~~~

Have you "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss? Absolutely hilarious.
I'm glad you included the idea of searching for the incorrect spellings to find bargains. I had searched the world over for YEARS to find a rare Mademoiselle magazine from the early 1950s that Sylvia Plath appeared in. One day, I got the bright idea to put "Silvia Plath" into the search box.

BINGO!

$9.

It's worth THOUSANDS.

(thumbified because I am certain I probably spelled something wrong in this comment.)
Verbal,
“Typo Buddy.” Ridiculously witty and spot on. I smiled broadly at your sign-off line: “Me, I'm off to investigate a Calvin Klien swede jacket”

Calvin Klein makes special jackets for Swedes?!!!

I’ve often wondered, while reading personal ads of all kinds, whether all word processors come actually with spell check. I’ve also wondered why - if they do - they are not used.

But I swear to god every time I’ve started to write a piece to address this pet peeve of mine I’ve found so many typos of my own (correct spelling perhaps but wrong word ie: “to” vs. “too”) while proofreading that I’ve feared looking like a “moran” (moron) if I posted it.

Rated and thoroughly appreciated.
Ha! “actually come” not “come actually” I’m sooo busted again!

psst...Tom... I think this post is jinxed!
A recent Craigslist LA apartment ad promised a "specious" kitchen, which made my day. But for the worst of the worst, you'd have to browse LA's women-for-women personals. Unbelievable vulgarity, yes, but so poorly spelled and written that you could almost miss it.
...and it's not just craigslist, but almost every fiction novel I read I find at least one typo or mispelled word.

Today I was reading "The Last Oracle" and a passage was supposed to say "...she felt the tears coming..." but instead it said, "...she felt the teats coming..." Oye!
(Fins: That reminds me of clunking my way through Anne Rice's "The Vampire Armand," shrieking EVERY time she described how egg tempera is made with YOKES.)
VR, I can only salute your commitment to proper speeling. Well, and rate your post. I may be a looser, but by damn, spelling is right up there with gramma in my book. (Wonder how the old bat is?)

When I was in grad school, the company that rented those little refrigerators used to run ads in the school paper, advertising monthly frig rentals. I often considered calling them up; I was very lonely in grad school. Also, to this day, we call the fridge the frig in our house.
I love "specious" kitchen. My kitchen actually is pretty specious, though, come to think of it.
Verbal--My greatest and most consistent goof is misuse of apostrophes. And I'm anal about spelling. When my grammar is incorrect (like that last sentence), it's usually on purpose. However, I need to ask you...
"egg tempera is made with YOKES.)"
...did you mean "tempera" or "tempura"? The paint or the Japanese cooking batter?
Yokes - that's funny. I mean seriously, do the editors even READ these books?
How about some Stewart Whitesman shoes?????? : )
Oh, Verble, you slay me.
A post right up my alley, me pet peeve my dear. Glad you channeled me before I got a chance to.

LOVE

I'm off to meet Jon Henner and Incandescent at the Yard House, enjoy your church night.
My kitchen, btw, not so specious, but my bedroom? Yowsa!
Calvin Klien swede jacket, you say? Yum!
I wonder if Mark Sanford sends his e-mails via Craigslist?
RATED I do make typos, but I don't mysspail!
I wish my mother was still living...she would love this post!

:) Lolly
I see these mangled ads all the time from dog breeders. If I am feeling charitable I assume that they called the ad in and someone else messed it up, but I doubt that's the case.

If you can't even SPELL the name of your breed and you think that an altered bitch has been "spaded", I don't consider you bright enough for animal husbandry. My husband thinks that makes me a snob but definitely NOT a looser.
snicker*
one of my pet peeves too. just can't respect the bad speller.
i had a boss that consistently spelled "tomorrow" "tomarrow". Used to drive me nuts. At least she was consistent!
Oh man. Typo Buddy is like one sign of the apocalypse.

This sort of thing drives me crazy on CL, too. And, um, on OS, too. (Since we have built-in spell check here, how is it so many people still misspell so many words??)
It's called a middle school education and making effort to proofread. (Occasional tipsy typing on a Friday night doesn't count). These things drive me crazy, too.
BTW, have you noticed how many people, even those who love him, can't spell our President's first name correctly? I see "Barak Obama" all the time on blogs etc. It's lucky people mostly just write "Obama" or it would be even more common, I suspect...
Uh Walter, don't you mean yolks? God will strike me down soon for all my erers.

Too funny. (Hope you didn't get too bad a headake from my glob entry.)
is wonk another word for nazi?
I like these that I've seen:

2 WEED WACKERS

Handyman/Honey Due list- get it done!

Jugging stroller ---is this a brest-feeding thing?

And my favorite, not really spelling but more grammar:

"in box Gerry Tall Wire Mesh baby or pet dog Gate"

I shudder to think what a Tall Wire Mesh baby looks like.
My friend is looking at a Fire Island "see view" rental this weekend, which is apparently the only way she'll be able to tell whether or not the house has a view of the ocean.

Ratted!
The best thing is that if you say something about the spelling or grammatical offense, the person gets indignant and claims that you are being too picky!
This looks like my last marriage license.
Now I know where to go when I need a good, cheap laugh!
Sadly, these aren't typos. This is how people spell. They honestly do not know better because they simply do not care. Text spelling hasn't helped matters.... seems people can' t figure out casual v formal any longer. Everyone acts like they're in their living rooms talking loudly, looking slouchy and speaking/writing any damn way they please because wtf not?
Downright depressing. the dumbing-down of this nation. Meanwhile, I think I'm in love!
it where's u down. It duz.
I mean downe. mibad.
This is a RIOT! I quickly went on Craigslist and found a "Chanel Big Tot" AND (I love this) a "Coogi T-shit". I had no idea that Chanel was making large size babies. I'm so out of the loop. Gah.
OMG, WTF! This reads like the LOLcats!
Craig's List provides great entertainment. My all-time favorite so far is "I have several intention codes." Intention codes? I opened the listing for an explanation. Extension cords. hahahahaha
Rated. But I dare not type more.
Funny! I myself am a creative speller sometimes. I wonder if the typos we see in newspaper classifieds are the fault of the advertiser (advertizer? advertisor?) or if the person the paper hires to input people's ads is the guilty one. Regardless, somebody doesn't know how to use spellcheck.
Am I the only one this lazy? When I write a word and the spelling appears incorrect, I choose another. "Recommend" becomes "suggest," for example. Pathetic, I know.
How many times have you seen the plural "women" used as the singular?
Actually, I prefer singular women anyway.lol

I get many many calls during which the caller will say,
"My frigidaire quit working."
Or, "My Kenmore went out."
I ask them, "Your frigidaire WHAT?"
After their further confusion, I walk them through the fact that "Frigidaire" is a brand name of appliances and, only THEN do we get to the actual appliance which typically turns out to be a refrigerator of undetermined brand.

As far as the statement, "My Kenmore went out", I ask, "Your Kenmore WHAT?"
"Oh, the dryer."
I enjoy replying, "Ok, your dryer went out? Did it go out on a date with the washer?"
It is not just stupidity/ignorance in print which may be so entertaining.
It is also the way in which people speak.lol

I just now had to answer the phone as, someone called about their microwave.
The guy asked, "Do you repair appliances?"
OK, he looked in the phonebook for an appliance repair business, correct?
WTF??!!
Well, after he asked if I repair appliances, I replied, "Just broken ones."

Ahh, life is funny when you can laugh at the fools and not be one.lol
yew prolly make misteaks too you no.
Along these lines, and with all due respect, please go read the post by deeepcleav.31 in today's OS. She hit your nail on the head.
Rated for making me laugh out loud more than once . . . as did many of the commenters.

Keeping this short so as not to tempt the gods.
Glad you posted this. I'm searching for furniture deals on craigslist all the time, but to read it is to suffer a thousand paper cuts. Some of my faves:
in tables or inn tables (not just a typo, but they truly don't understand the concept of "end tables")
tv "amore"
elagant cheery bedroom suit
Have you read tequilaanddonuts "Devenverse" from last night? Pics from her file of "interestingly written" signs. It's a hoot! I love this post, too--and the comments are just as much fun! Rated because it made me laugh out loud (and annoyed the cat!). D
Hey, y'all! Thank ewe four you're visets and for sharring all the typo's you found too. I've ben gigling and snorting sence the specious kitchen. :-) Also noding my head along with youse who are also anoyed by these kinds of pet peaves.

Oh, and Walter, tempera paint, not tempura shrimp.
One of my favorite signs was in front of an Atlanta church:
Join us in worship Sunday. He is in our mist.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned chester drawers. I see that allll the time.
Amen! I've been called a grammar/spelling nazi for years, and wear the label proudly. I'm not that damn old (yet), but it seems that basic skills that should have been learned in elementary school either aren't being taught anymore, or aren't being taught effectively. A typo is one thing, but with spellcheck so readily available, wtf is up with people not being able to spell?

Rated.
Just wondering. Is there any relation between a great price deal and the native English language challenged?
Yes, now you have attracted "refridgerator" ads like a magnet.
So funny, SO true - and lookit all those appliance ads!
FWIW, spelling is important to me, and I fail to understand the worldview (if that's what you call it) of those who can't be arsed to use a dictionary or a spellchecker (although I've read research that indicates misspellers are more inclined to creative thinking than good spellers--o woe is me).

With that said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruki%27s_Law

Also see #474 and (thankfully) #474:

http://www.flayme.com/flame/04-psychology.shtml#Spelling

Just sayin'.
This poste is helaryus.
Bae swelling is on of my pet peeces. LOL!
I'm surprised no one passed on this site:

http://www.yousuckatcraigslist.com/

Enjoy, enjoy.
Saw a couple of photos recently of a street crew painting "Shcool X-ing" and then another one that said "SOTP". If I knew how to link those photos I would...but, you'll just have to take my word for it.
Here's my entry for particularly appalling -- Writers Guild is spelled without an apostrophe. Seriously. Is there some new rule that would explain this? Or just more of teh stoopid?
I read about 50 books a year and rarely DON'T find places the editor missed. Drives me crazy, especially apostrophe abuse (and I make a point of marking the f'ups) -- but my all-time favorite is a billboard on I-64 east of Knoxville TN, advertising a "restaruant." I went to the restaurant in question and told a manager about the misspelled billboard. Months later nothing had changed. Sad.
Oh, me too! Craigslist is full of them. Trouble is that the buyers might be just as iggnernunt as the sellars.
Dont be axin me no mor queshtuns bout dis.
One of my own especial favorites up here in rural NB is when the local papers run ads for pets that are "spaded." That's how most folks pronounce it as well so I guess the term has become official!
Just to keep you on your "tooes" Your fist "mis-spelling" is not exactly that....see below

lense

noun
a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images [syn: lens]
Ah, spelling always brings out the true believers (like me!) and the apologists.

Guy, I dunno what dictionary you're lookin' in, but mine does NOT (emphatically) include "lense" as an alternative to "lens." Nor does Merriam-Webster online.

Besides. How hard is it to READ THE BLOODY BOX THE THING CAME IN? (Yes, I've seen multiple "lense" sales with photos of the original box next to the item, and the box, having been printed in a country where English is not even the primary language, clearly reads "lens.")

Ah, but I rant on, and here it is, a glorious Sunday...

Time to go make some bacin and eggs and tosat.
Some of you are casting stones, I think…

What bothers me much more than the typos and carelessness are the pretentions of spelling and grammar snobs who understand their own language far less than they think they do. Example #1: a colleague who was deeply annoyed by my having written to say that I appreciated his having "spelt out his expectations for his students on his syllabus." Overreaction and overcorrection (especially since it was intended as a compliment!), though I will admit that I generally prefer "spelled" myself since "spelt" invariably reminds me of the grain. Ex. #2: while I'm on the topic of syllabuses, the notion that the correct plural in English must be syllabi is one of my favorite examples of snobbish overcorrection (and I invite anyone who would insist that I'm wrong about this to provide an historically accurate Latin noun declension chart for the term... just make sure you're certain that you're right about which declension it's in before you start!). #3: and finally, while I'm on the subject of overcorrections in the pluralization of supposed Latin cognates, I'm completely mystified by people who say it shouldn't be octopuses but octopi (wrong on two counts... the word octopus is Latinized Greek, so, if anything it should be octopodes, but both octopi and octopodes are ridiculous--the first because it's simply wrong, the second because it's overly pedantic... which is exactly what I become when pretentious but otherwise intelligent people try to correct me on words like "spelt," "syllabuses," and "octopuses").
My favorite typo ever was painted on an aging truck with a gun rack. In very fancy lettering it read, "The Right To Bare Arms."
What do you expect from Craigslist, which is the Pennysaver of online sales venues? They might as well say

I am sofa king wee Todd Daye.
What do you expect from Craigslist, which is the Pennysaver of online sales venues? They might as well say

I am sofa king wee Todd Daye.
Ads on Craig’s List: a "rod iron patio set" and a dresser whose "droors work well."

And from the garden:
- "I digged up some plants, frist come frist serve."
- "For sale: Perinial Plants."

Yes, the blooming episiotomy is so lovely this time of year….
"Blooming Episiotomy" = FANTASTIC band name. :-D
AR--You and I spent so much time learning all this stuff while other adolescents were out on those stupid dates. And what happens??? We see $400,000 per annum Tv witches writing and talking about "laying" around in the islands. Existential howl.
You must love texting. Great post!
Well, for my husband and I, it is a huge annoyance to he and I, that nobody seems to get it about objects of prepositions . Even our children who are lawyers from NYU!?
I once corrected the spelling of "refridgerator" (I just said "There's no 'd' in refrigerator") on a 'fridge nazi note (because the author was part of the documentation group, as was I) and I was told, in no uncertain terms, that the term "fridge" is short for "Frigidaire," which is the French word for refrigerator. Since we were in New Orleans, it was the French spelling. Well, shut my mouth.
The one I loved best on Craig's List was 'big sturdy brown coach'.
Craigslist job posting: Sioux chef
* I thought a bridle gown was something for a horse.
* "almost every fiction novel" as opposed to the fiction reference or the nonfiction novel? And don't give the pretentious example of In Cold Blood.
* "Verbal--My greatest and most consistent goof is misuse of apostrophes. And I'm anal about spelling." This made me think of Anal Remedy as a blogger's name.

I have sent PMs to several people here with the subject line "A message from your copy editor." It has been received well. However, when speaking with people, I often can't help myself from correcting them. This frequently annoys people, until they hear me correct myself.
I never tire of comments from my readers who inform me "Your a looser." RATED!
Do street signs count? Almost had an accident this morning after passing a large sign that read "Warning Damster." As I was considering what that meant (something to do with a hamster dance?), I almost hit a large orange dumpster parked in the middle of the street. Oh, and a few years ago, I had the pleasure of discovering an official sign posted on the side of the local criminal courts building that read, "Pubic Entrance."
Now I'm pissed that you revealed the way I find the DEALS! Those typos mean that fewer people looking for say, a 'refrigerator,' will find them! Damn you and your reportage!
Sometimes it is really hard to puzzle out what people are trying to communicate when they spell the way they talk. It takes us back to an earlier time when spelling was not so standardized.
Verbal, when I was teaching college freshmen, I gave them a pop quiz on their reading assignment, Kurt Vonnegut's "Fates Worse Than Death." I asked, "Which did Vonnegut say he'd rather die for, virginity or petroleum?"

A couple weeks later, I'm getting caught up on grading, and I find the quizzes, and on the first question, someone has answered "Varginade."

I wonder if that's like Gatorade.
"At least be honest with we, the American people, so we can properly weigh in with our elected officials before they vote."

This was in an EP a couple days ago. I hated the post and think the writer looks like a guy who would make his wife sanitize herself before he touched her. But I LOVED that sentence. I made a noise like Lily Tomlin, the phone lady. What WAS her name? Damn.
I missed this post last year - but it is as timely in 2010 as it was then. My dog died recently and I searched for a new friend on craigslist. I found 'pure bread' - 'potty trained' 'chiwawa' and several other new and wonderful breeds. It is shameful that people don't know their from there, to from too ... its from it's, etc. There aught to be a law!