Thursday, May 1

faux pas

Thank you, Mrs. Marsteller. You, teacher of secondary level English, have continued to make me aware of grammatical hilarity, even beyond your years as my instructor. For that (and other things) I will be forever indebted.

Last Friday, calling for work, I heard:

Hi, you've reached the voice mail of _____. Your call is important to me, and I'm sorry I was unable to answer. Please be sure to leave me your name and number and I'd be happy to return it. (name? the number? I was laughing so hard I could barely leave a message)

And last month, on the way to the OB office we passed a florist. The sign said this:

THINK SPRING BOKAY $9.95 (are you SERIOUS?!)

10 comments:

Abby said...

Our florist in town had that same sign - it's the actual name of the arrangement - play on words. So, they WERE serious :-)

Jenny said...

How is spelling "bouquet" "BOKAY" a play on words? Am I just dense??

Rosemary said...

The sign caught your eye, didn't it! You remembered the message AND the price. That's GOOD advertising!!
I love the voice message story!

Mama Mia said...

Oh, Mrs. Marsteller! How I loved her! I am forever grateful for the English education I received. And you're right, it does give us many reasons for laughing at another's ignorance!

ruth said...

Ha! That's too funny! Maybe the "play on words" is a combination of the company owner's names? Perhaps young entrepreneurs Bo Peep and Mary Kay have combined resources and are attempting to market their new line of floral design. :)

In any case, that type of marketing bothers me too--even if it proves effective. We have a diner near us named "Cheeburger, Cheeburger!" I just don't get it, and it drives me nuts. And it really bothered me when one of Will Smith's recent movies came out entitled "The Pursuit of Happyness."

The Two of Us said...

Jenny, just so you know, "Marsteller" is spelled with an "e" at the end and not an "a". I did think it was hilarious that in this specific post you spelled her name wrong. :) I have to always remember "bank teller" to spell it correctly. :)

Jenny said...

Hey, Sandra, are you sure? I always thought I remembered her saying it was "stellar" because SHE was stellar!!

Hmmm...

Mama Mia said...

It's Marsteller. See for yourself!
http://www.fellowshipbc-lakeland.org/content/view/44/39/

Jenny said...

chalk it up to PIR and a very faulty memory. Thanks, girls!

The Two of Us said...

Sorry I had to be right. :)