Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 47 total)
  • Semi literate notices at work.
  • Our head office is in Scotland, so we get the occasional “outwith” in our internal notices, which is a bit of a rarity down here.
    Some stuff doesn’t make much sense in any dialect though.
    You’d think that somewhere between the concept and the printing, someone would have looked at this and thought, “Let’s rewrite it in plain English”.

    Anyone else got any ?

    grantway
    Free Member

    Believe it or not sometimes you just have to say the obvious
    Sad isn’t it !!

    mogrim
    Full Member

    Alas, between the concept and the printing falls the shadow.

    The current notice at work exhorting us to maintain the urinal flusher button pressed for a whole minute is irritating, though. Apparently it’s “for our health”, though quite who would be drinking from a urinal is a mystery to me. Alternatively, they could just fix the flush mechanism.

    cranberry
    Free Member

    My organisation recruits from 35 countries, 34 of which don’t have English as a first language. They still wouldn’t create something that bad.

    alpin
    Free Member

    i worked at M&S whilst at college as a trolley & bag boy. in my spare time – of which i had lots – i’d go around with a red marker pen correcting the spelling and grammar on the staff notices.

    i got a warnimg once from my manager because i had corrected her bosses notice and had been caught on camera.

    each time her boss saw me after that i’d smirk at her.

    codybrennan
    Free Member

    Maybe not quite in the same vein, but a few years ago this:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/thus_cw_challenger_disaster/

    happened where I work.

    I have absolutely no idea whatsoever who sent the photo in:)

    hautgrimpeur
    Free Member

    That’s irony – yes?

    samuri
    Free Member

    We used to have a fascilities manager who would send out some messages in text speak and others with such a variety of grammatical and spelling errors in, it was hard to understand what she was going on about.

    But the one that has stuck in my mind for around ten years now was along the lines of….

    “There is a perturbing piece of wire in the rear car park, please watch your step”

    It certainly had me worried. (I think she meant protruding)

    samuri
    Free Member

    Oh, and this one at my current place of work (sorry for the poor photo).


    cleaning staffs by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

    project
    Free Member

    Doing my aprenticeship, a lecturer drew a large circle round a black hot casting just knocked out of the sand casting box, he wrote OT next to it, one of our fellow students, said whats OT mean and proceeded to pick up the HOT casting, he got burnt.

    iDave
    Free Member

    at least they can spell facilities 😉

    Kato
    Full Member

    This beauty was in the corridor the other day

    Cougar
    Full Member

    I have a theory.

    Once of a time, professional signwriters corrected their customers’ requests. They eventually got so sick of halfwits bellowing “that’s not what I ordered” that they now print exactly what is asked of them, irrespective of how stupid it is. Then at least if they get complaints they can go “well, look.”

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    “Caution scolding water” printed large on notices above each sink in the Gents.

    I washed my hands very thoroughly, but quickly, as a result.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    A high percentage of my staff (and across the industry) are dyslexic – I must remember this next time I ask a certain member of staff to re-label the racks, bags etc in the kit store.

    High Ropes Resque Bag is still written across the rucksack a year later….

    gravity-slave
    Free Member

    Bargain! How much for two?!

    samuri
    Free Member

    at least they can spell facilities

    😉

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Also,

    I think you mean “semi-literate.”

    HTH.

    (-:

    project
    Free Member

    Kato, the small non sexualised generic person on the plastic a board has no shoes , feet, handsor even a name badge.

    Pieface
    Full Member

    Our heating failed at work. It was due to a leek in the pump. I bet the plumber was surprised.

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    Not a sign as such, but I give you:

    Cougar
    Full Member

    That must either be intentional or dyslexia.

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    That must either be intentional or dyslexia.

    Neither sadly. Just Gateshead.

    BigJohn
    Full Member

    i worked at M&S whilst at college as a trolley & bag boy. in my spare time – of which i had lots – i’d go around with a red marker pen correcting the spelling and grammar on the staff notices.

    i got a warnimg once from my manager because i had corrected her bosses notice and had been caught on camera.

    each time her boss saw me after that i’d smirk at her.

    9 red marks needed there.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    of which i had lots

    At least he knows not to dangle his prepositions though.

    It was due to a leek in the pump.

    This is bloody funny, I am still chuckling 🙂

    skiboy
    Free Member

    I can’t wait until the morning, the signs at work are quality product , mass of poor spelling 😀

    One of the project engineer’s spelling is so bad he we had to pull him up on it, the customers business is worth 2.5m per annum and he is the first point of contact, they were livid 👿 I just wish I could publish the email hehe

    wallop
    Full Member

    I make it 10 red marks needed.

    wallop
    Full Member

    Actually, maybe 11.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Had a little giggle at the No Fuss Endurance DH race, after I noticed the race number boards had spelled it “Endrance”

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    On a similar note, Kenda had giant ad banners at SITS that said:

    “Kenda Tires”

    Does it? Well probably best to avoid them then.
    Perhaps not the best cultural confusion to make at a 24hr race.

    brooess
    Free Member

    i worked at M&S whilst at college as a trolley & bag boy. in my spare time – of which i had lots – i’d go around with a red marker pen correcting the spelling and grammar on the staff notices.

    i got a warnimg once from my manager because i had corrected her bosses notice and had been caught on camera.

    each time her boss saw me after that i’d smirk at her.

    The internet, helping stupid people advertise their stupidity to the entire world since 1994 (or thereabouts)

    To give you a warning for correcting a senior person’s incorrect grammar is just immature and a sign of poor management and culture. Shame they didn’t thank you for improving the quality of their communications. On the other hand, was the warning for your own poor grammar? 😉

    big_n_daft
    Free Member

    samuri – Member
    Oh, and this one at my current place of work (sorry for the poor photo).

    still no locker then 😉

    wee-al
    Free Member

    Man, that buy one one get free properly tickled me.

    At my old job there was a sign with an arrow pointing at a “valve for realising”. Used to make me smile every time, seemed exestential in a comedic way.

    Xylene
    Free Member

    In the wife’s Moo Ban (village) in Bangkok there is a life support truck for when you get knocked off your motor bike.

    It reads on the the back

    Live Subsport – I will surely want to watch curling when I’m lying dying on the road.

    globalti
    Free Member

    Not quite the same but in a similar vein we had an MD – he didn’t last long – who once got his secretary to send a memo round to every member of staff about wastage and the amount of rubbish like pens, rulers, Tipp-ex and other crap in their desk drawers. This memo about wastage was written on a word-processor then printed on two pages with the second page having just the three last lines.

    marco
    Free Member

    wee-al
    Just read that whilst having a slurp of coffee – ended up with a big coffee/snot dangler out of my nose.
    Still laughing now, think thats the best thing i ever read

    jimification
    Free Member

    Sorry, don’t have a photo of it but a market stall in Horsham last Christmas offered:-

    Ladie’s Perfume

    and…it seems a bit unsporting (not to mention OT) to start posting bad translations (“Engrish”) but this is one of my favourites….

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    At an edinburgh housing estate where I was filming a few years ago “No Ball Games Prohibited”

    AngusWells
    Full Member

    When setting up a local rival to Ikea always check that your chosen trendy name really translates properly and reflects the product you are flogging:

    theteaboy
    Free Member

    Don’t have a photo of it but there was a sign in Dentdale that said:

    Slow

    Lams on’t rode

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