Saturday, January 10, 2009

My Sweet What is What?

Saturday, January 10, 2009

[shaking head sadly] And to think the wreckerator put all that effort into dotting the 'i' with a heart, Phoebe N..
The Lunar Fox said...

It almost sounds like the decorator meant it to be really dirty, but someone "fixed" it by adding the roses over the dirty part. Yeah, that's it. That wasn't an obvious grammar mistake.

HorribleLicensePlates said...

Ah! This kind of grammar mistake drives me nuts!

Cottagecheap said...

Oh c'mon wreckerator! YOu can absolutely squeeze an E in there and a hearty apostrophe! COMEON!

Donna M. said...

"You think my sweet what? And where are my sprinkles?"

WriterGirl17 said...

I actually saw this as 'Yow sweet.' But maybe that's just me.

Leslie said...

I think your funny.

(Yes. It was intentional.)

Beth said...

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truess should be a requirement for anyone whose 'work' is going to be viewed by the public.

But then what would we laugh at...

Anonymous said...

I think that cake is adorable. If my guy got that cake for me he would SO get lucky! ;D

Unknown said...

One of the saddest grammar mistakes, I'm afraid.

Jennifer said...

your sweet rose???

Anonymous said...

This seems borderline cannibalistic. Like the decorator had "I think your sweet to EAT!", but decided to cover the latter with dainty flowers in order to distract you.

Anonymous said...

I'm waiting for the person who asks "But... but... what's wrong with it?"

Hehehehe.

Actually, I could care less (another one of my favorites!).

sendingtheclowns said...

I'm sorry, but would HAVE to tell the person behind the counter that the spelling & punctuation would need to be done over, correctly, before I bought the cake.
Then I'd probably have respond to "'Kay,whatever. What d'ya want changed?"

JHalmes said...

You make me not feel SO bad about my grammatical issues. I cannot stand it when I see stuff like this! I am the kind that spots stuff like this in newspapers etc. and it drives people nuts!!
Thanks for the great site and great humor!

miss jacobs if you're nasty. said...

i'm with donna. "i think my sweet sprinkles are missing!"

B said...

Grammar mistakes make me sad :(

Unknown said...

People, apostrophes, please!
~Amy B.

Anonymous said...

This type of error actually pains me. And I'm not even a teacher!

Anonymous said...

What's so bad is, to most teenagers now, that would not be a mistake. They really do think that is the correct usage for "your". I see it all the time and it drives me CRAZY! They think they're using it correct, even if they were to go back and read it.

Anonymous said...

Okay, the your/you're issue drives me about as crazy as the potatoe salad thing (which luckily doesn't show up on cakes so much). But the border on this cookie is so uneven that it makes my teeth ache. And I'm pretty much an "close enough for government work" person.
WV: adefund--the money set aside to send workers to spelling and grammar school.

Anonymous said...

Without people who don't know the difference between your and you're we all wouldn't have the opportunity to feel superior. I, for one, thank this cake wrecker.

Angie (from over at www.HalfAssedKitchen.com)

Anonymous said...

I am really astounded that people are that stupid. People your and you're are NOT the same!!! The other one that gets me is there/their/they're. I mean come on it's not that hard, just turn on "your" brain and think!!!

AsylumTanya said...

I actually saw this exact grammar mistake on a billboard close to my house growing up. It was a great teaching tool when it came time to teach this concept to my fifth grade students. They would laugh and laugh and then hopefully not make the same mistake themselves.

Anonymous said...

It took me forever to figure out what it said. My first thought was "yow sweet."

Hyena Overlord said...

When did they stop teaching contractions in school? If you don't (do not) know or are in doubt, spell the whole thing out. And it looks much nicer than apostrophes on a pastry. Grammar is a main weak point with me but I do understand a few basics from School House Rock.

"I think you are sweet." Very reminiscent of the old style Valentine's.

wvotd: pinge As defined in Urban dictionary: The amalgamation of the three popular music genres: punk / indie / grunge. Pioneered by the self-proclaimed fathers of Pinge - VinylresiN.
Yo, peep dis 'resiN whippin' dis pinge sh*t - word!

Hayley said...

Haha, people mixing up "your" and "you're" is one of my pet peeves! arrgh!

Jamie said...

Aw, that is tragic! Sans error, that cookie cake would be very adorable, but that grammar steals all the attention away from the cake's basic cuteness.

Word verification: liqui. I'd liqui a boy who bought me that cake but was quick-witted enough to get the error fixed before giving it to me.

Bedlam said...

little mistake, pressed for space.

ksaldria said...

*eye twitch* I hate it when people screw up your and you're. Gah!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to start a bakery department proofreading service, because I can't help but wonder how many other employees looked at it and didn't even notice.

Anonymous said...

It looks like it says:
I think yowi sweet

WM said...

The border is really uneven, the roses aren't bad, but what are those green squigglies? Never seen squigglies with roses before. Grapes, maybe, but roses?...all that aside from the grammer error, the fact is, that if you are going to write on a cake...how about a handwriting class? Concept?

Anonymous said...

Allie- people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

"What's so bad is, to most teenagers now, that would not be a mistake. They really do think that is the correct usage for "your". I see it all the time and it drives me CRAZY! They think they're using it correct, even if they were to go back and read it."
...
"What's so bad is THAT to most teenagers nowADAYS, that would not be a mistake. They really do think that THAT is the correct USE OF "your". I see it all the time and it drives me CRAZY! They think they're using it correctLY, even if they go back and read it again."

Probably still wrong, but a good deal more correct than your effort!

*~*Lis*~* said...

I have a friend who works at a LARGE insurance company and signs all e-mails with "your welcome". It's in her auto signature - everyone she sends an e-mail too gets that. And she's got a Masters!!! In what I don't know...

Anonymous said...

I'd still totally take this one. It looks delicious and the thought was nice. Unlike some other notable cakes we've seen.

Tama said...

I have friends in college who do this - drives me CRAZY!! I think, how are they ever going to find a job if they can't figure out "you're"??

E.A.D. said...

It's one of those utterly stupid mistakes. Like forgetting to carry the 2 when adding up a list of numbers.

Kaci said...

This makes me sad...in so many ways.

Scooter said...

seems like there could have been a little heart shaped apostrophe in there...

Anonymous said...

Is this an iced cookie? Kind of looks like one, but that might be the angle.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else read that as "I think yowl sweet" ?

Anonymous said...

Ah! The children of "whole language" learning...where we threw out the phonics and spelling books and allowed them to spell how it sounded... are now entering the workforce. As a 1st Grade teacher, I cringed at the idea when it was introduced because I knew this was coming. At least the baker's self-esteem is intact because no one ever used a red pen to correct his/her spelling and grammar years ago.

Anonymous said...

Heh... I think they spelled "sweat" wrong. And then covered up something with the roses. Hoo-boy!

Anne said...

The sad thing is that 80% of the population would look at the writing on the cake/cookie and not even notice that there is a problem. In fact, if I had written "their is a problem" in the last sentence, they wouldn't notice that either.
And don't get me started on two/to/too or lay/lie or any of the other things that most people are ignorant about.
I should start a blog about signs at work that have grammatical errors. Probably some one out there already has a blog like that.
I come to your blog every day for a laugh. I even have started taking my camera to the grocery store so that I can find something to photograph to send in to you!
If you ever get tired off doing this blog, remember that you bring a smile to many people every day!

Mella said...

As someone who learnt English at school and got hammered with the your vs you're thing in class , I feel validated now

Poster said...

I can't believe no one has quoted this yet, but: "Y-O-U apostrophe R-E spells 'you are.' Y-O-U-R SPELLS YOUR!" Ah, Friends and Cake Wrecks, a perfect match.

Anonymous said...

I think your sweet, but Im not relly shure. Ill git back 2 U.

Tatersmama said...

I think your dumb!
Their is nothing wrong with that cake I just decorated! How DARE you correct my grammar?


I would have laughed my patootie off at that spelling... if the darn thing hadn't pained me so!

Scritzy said...

Dear Cake Wreck's,

Whats wrong with this cake?

You'res Truely,

Scritzy

Cami said...

I thought it said "Yowl"

Zhoen said...

I thinh yowl sweet?

Not baked goods, baked bads.

Anonymous said...

I the English language dead? Doesn't anyone go to school anymore?

MyCatCouldDoBetter said...

I would bet that the person who decorated this cake was getting paid minimum wage. Ergo "You get what you pay for." That or the spell check bounced!

Anonymous said...

I visit Myspace Bumper Stickers quite a lot, and if you think this is bad, you should see some of the bad grammar there. I have passed up many a funny sticker just because of the poor grammar. The American education system ought to be ashamed of itself!

Anonymous said...

The subject line echoes exactly how I respond to that particular mistake -- "my sweet what?" Then again, I was the girl that responded with "where?" when a boy asked me to "go" with him in sixth grade, knowing darn well he meant "go steady"!

Now, at a couple other readers...

@oldfartteacher -- "Whole language" worked well for my peers in the mid-1980s, based on the "get well soon" notes with accurate homonyms the class sent whenever I was in the hospital. However, my younger brother & maternal aunt/uncle were taught via phonics, and if they were bakers, their work would be on Cake Wrecks! ;o) After tutoring kids & adults struggling with school, though, I think that what works depends on how the person learns.

@Lauren -- Since comment areas on blogs are part of an informal dialogue (i.e. conversation), most of hers would be more acceptable as she's writing the way one would speak. Either way, there's a world of difference between noticing a basic spelling error and nit-picking conversational grammar based on style rules that haven't been taught in the last 30+ years. Sheesh.

Susan said...

If only it had been done in blue roses with "me" instead of "I" and "you" instead of "yowl," it could have been a perfect Cookie Monster tribute.

ME THINK YOU SWEET! Cow-a-bunga! Ummm mum, mummm, mummmmmmm!

Anonymous said...

Former English Major....I agree. Besides, I hate the word "nowadays". :)

Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth) said...

What I can't help wondering is whether the client ordered it to be spelt like that. The customer, after all, is always right (not!).

KidsCakes said...

Do they make proofreaders for cakes? If not, then they should...lol.

Julie from wwww.CakesAndKids.com and www.PartiesAndKids.com

Glory von Hathor said...

Ah, spellcidents.


(Personally, I think the wreckorator tried to hedge their bets with a fudged e tailing off from the r.)

Anonymous said...

It would have been better if the decorator put "UR" instead of "your". Throwing in a lil txt lingo

/looking down shaking head

Bri said...

This has made me sad...
It's a little cute though...at least the sentiment is cute.

Brianna M.

Anonymous said...

I bought a cake out of a case for my FIL for his birthday. I asked the counterperson if they could put "Happy Birthday Ralph" on it. They said they could.

I shopped, came back for the cake, and on a whim opened it, and it said "Happy Birthday Ralf."

I asked her to correct it, I even spelled it for her. Got the cake back, took a peek, it said "Happy Birthday Raphl."

I gave it back a third time and WROTE out Ralph for her. She finally got it.

We both laughed and were good-natured about it, but only reinforces the theme of this whole blog to me.

And I hate when people say "quite" when they mean "quiet"; "loose" when they mean "lose"; and "alot" when they mean "a lot."

But then, that's why I majored in English in college. ;-) I enjoy fixing that stuff.

Daily reader, Jules

bowlwoman said...

UGH! Your/you're is my biggest grammar pet peeve. Srsly, ppl, lurn too spel!