Spellbound in NYC

It is almost Halloween. The stores have all the Halloween goodies you can imagine; for kids as well as for adults of any age. Pumpkins of all sizes are around and so are some signs in dire need of a [Halloween] spell check. I admit that especially while I am typing I depend on spell check, too. But once you are tricked into trusting your spell check to do the work, then other people’s eyes are in for a treat. Misspellings can occur and as long as they are blamed on your software people tend to overlook them. That is until the eyes catch them when they appear on a big sign. The following are some that I have spotted around New York City. I often use them as a classroom warm up activity with my ESL students to see if they can spot the misspelled words. Now, I’d like to share them with you and I start with my favorite:

 HMME or HOME

Home and in this case HMME is where the heart is! Well, what do you expect when goods are being made in countries where English is not the first language! Still it made it to a New York store and by now keys are probably hanging from it in someone’s HMME.

 Visit 10 Time Gat 1 Hot Ston Free

Or rather visit 10 times and get a free hot stone massage. Now don’t mix the massage with the message! I wonder if voice recognition software was used to type the words. If so, there is a greater need for developing a program to recognize various accents and intonations.

Double Fix your Prix Fixe

Now, with this you can truly excuse the French! Prix Fixe in French means fixed prices and even though New Yorkers have long learned its meaning the translation is commode for the 55 million plus visitors a year to the City.

Break Your Fast with Breackfast

I guess misspelling of a word is not something to get tied up about when it is early in the morning and you are half asleep after finishing a night shift in the city that never sleeps, or heading to your daily grind. The misspelling is not much of a big deal as long as you get your hot coffee and bagel in a New York minute.

 One Extra Powerful P to Support the Cause  

Sometimes it makes you wonder what caused the word support to end up missing a second P. Despite this there is clear support for a good cause.