So I get a call last evening from my son, "Dad, you have to check out this photo that I just sent you - it's classic." The photo was indeed a classic snapshot of our continued descent into illiteracy. There was a time when we expected a certain amount proofreading to be exercised before something went public, whether it be a newspaper article or a store sign. It reflected poorly on you if you made gross errors in spelling or grammar. No longer true - today there's no shame in being careless about the English language, nor any effort to correct one's mistakes.No, it's not that I secretly long to be an English teacher. I grew up in a time when students suffered through learning the difference between affect and effect, imply vs. infer, and understanding why it should have been Winston tastes good as a cigarette should. The purpose was to help keep us from embarrassing ourselves as we started our careers following graduation. What's happened?
I guess part of it is Bill Gates' fault. We expect Word to find all our spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. The sign does make a sentence without spelling errors and conveys meaning (i.e., we do not reject $50 or $100 bills - the opposite of the author's intent). So Word blesses it and away we go to the Signs Tomorrow shop. There's no proofreading skill by the writer to see if the statement really conveys what they are trying to say.
I think we also have to take some of the blame for not responding when we see the language being openly mugged. I'll bet that in today's PC world that very few - if any - customers have bothered to point out to the shop owner that the sign is fodder for Jay Leno.
As we continue down this path I guess this is what our future looks like for communication...
