The cake-inscription industry would be lost without the exclamation point. See?
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wGr8njEWjtI/ShCQ1Z1wopI/AAAAAAAAC00/f50hOX8mJ1A/s400/Angela+K.jpg)
Even when you triple the amount of periods, it's just not the same.
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wGr8njEWjtI/ShCKsLV0u5I/AAAAAAAAC0M/ebBYx2S7_JI/s400/Angie+S+-+congrats+monica.JPG)
Here we have your basic punctuation sampler platter. For those of you who like to mix it up, we've got your period, your exclamation point,
and your extraneous quotation marks.
That's not to say you can't make a good Wreck even with a
correct exclamation point, of course:
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wGr8njEWjtI/ShCPvQOVSjI/AAAAAAAAC0s/F8Ev5NQBZRU/s400/Nicole+D+.+ow+.+spelling.JPG)
Of course, by "correct" I mean "a
gloppily crooked boomerang." And check out that inscription:
"Bon Voy...meh... I'm sure Zeb'll get the idea.
Besides, these ketchup packets are really hard to write with."
We all know the classically over-enthusiastic
Wreckerator:
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wGr8njEWjtI/ShCN_LN2-SI/AAAAAAAAC0c/zOVvJI-H4tQ/s400/Michelle+A+.+ow+.+thank+you+stacey+result.jpg)
Which submitter Michelle A. would like us all to know she did NOT order:
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wGr8njEWjtI/ShCSoSujwcI/AAAAAAAAC08/HWDJL8dUCBk/s400/Michelle+A+.+ow+.+thank+you+stacey+insp.jpeg)
See?
If those exclamation points are a little over-the-top, though, then these are more after-the-fact:
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wGr8njEWjtI/ShCOxqacJ8I/AAAAAAAAC0k/SAZ8D35Z4a4/s400/Jenn+M+.+ow+.+congrats.jpg)
Don't you love it when a good plan comes together? And check out the
pickled ginger accents -
mmmm. Appetizing.
Angela K.!, Angie S.!, Nicole D.!, & Jenn M.!,* Thanks!!!
*Not sure what a .!, looks like, exactly. Maybe a chicken with a tiny tear? Awww. So sad.
77 comments | Post a Comment
I assume that Monica's age being given as "20 years" is a euphemism. If so, then the quotes are justified.
Weird, two of the cakes have the same design. I wonder if they were actually done at the same place, or if it's a chain that advertises that.
At least the handwriting is nice on the Thank You!! cake.
Ahhh...!!! Hilariosity, as usual!!! Who teaches grammar today!!!
(notice all of my excitement?!?!)
: - )
Do you think that maybe the wreckerator is just so thrilled to have completed a line of text without having to scrape it off and try over that they feel they must punctuate that line as emphasis of their triumph?
That's my theory anyway.
Writing with ketchup packets...LOL!
Aw, we love our punctuation.
.!, The chicken with the tiny tear...
maybe because he's ordered a cake from one of these wreckerators.
At least Stacey's cake has nice -- if a tad overzealous -- penmanship.
My inner grammar-Nazi always feels so vindicated when I read things like this.
What! Horrible, "cakes" these turned out. To be!!!
DK
http://uberfoodnoob.blogspot.com/
Punctuation errors aside, those red roses are gorgeous! I wish mine looked that good.
Hey! Jen! Why! Do! You! Have! It! Out! For! The! Harmless! Exclamation! Mark!?
Don't! Like! Enthusiasm!?
Awe!Some. we teach "grammar" well in these parts'.
I always want cake after I read a post...hmmmmm...."!"
Oddly enough the first one is my favorite this go-around. Maybe it's because you usually find cakes with way! too!! much!!! excitement!!!! I don't believe I ever seen one with periods! LOL.... hmm for some strange reason I get the feeling the "monica" is a lot older than she says...
ROFL @ ketchip packets
Great post. I really have nothing more to add... I just love the WF today.
tangly- I get all tangly inside when I see a new Cake Wreck post.
I confess that I am guilty of an excessive use of the exclamation point button!!!
Scott may have preferred another color than pink for his lettering.
And why did both Monica's and Stacey's cakes have the egg shaped circle thingy? What is the purpose of this ring---to tie the flowers together in some ribbon for depth?
Zeb's cake looks more like strawberry or raspberry jelly than katsup, in my opinion. Reminds me of the stuff they jazz up cheesecake pieces served on a plate.
And lastly, pickled ginger?? Raw salmon, maybe or sushi. Isn't ginger yellow?? Thanks!!!
WV: foolle no fooling!
Usually I just laugh and laugh at these posts, but today I wanted to eat them. Maybe because the cakes actually looked edible? um...except for Zeb's. Poor guy....girl?
word verification: trubs. That is the EXACT word I would use to describe that gooey yellow cake thing.
At least they only go up to three at most. According to Terry Pratchett, it's five exclamation points that's the official sign of insanity.
I've been visiting and adoring your blog for a couple of months now, but just started sharing the posts with my 12 and 13 year olds. They love it!
Our hands-down favorite? The Kentucky Wildcat on 3/30/09. We laughed until we cried.
These cakes are exciting!! You just can't help it with all the exclamation marks!
@Stacie: I'm with you. Bad as the punctuation is, most of these cakes look delicious, especially Stacey's. Of course, I doubt that ginger goes well with a typical cake.
I wouldn't have noticed the periods on the first cake if no one had said anything. I first assumed they were just specks. Now that I know better, I think William Shatner dictated that cake.
lol funny!
Zeb's dead baby, Zeb's dead.
I'm a little disappointed that the "at" sign, colon, question mark and parenthesis got jilted in Le Tour de Punctuation. What cake couldn't use an explanatory parenthetical statement? These suuuure do.
And I'm with Joyce on this one, the alleged "pickled ginger" is smoked coho salmon. Mmmmmmm....fishy....
www.captainjackmakesport.blogspot.com
All pretty cakes messed up by decorators who didn't take English class.
Raychel from MyCreativeWay.blogspot.com
Thank you!!
Jen!!
aren't I clever?
Brianna M.
Zeb's dead baby, Zeb's dead.I beg to differ ... but I'd rather be dead than eat that cake!
Moondog: =D I had to laugh because I read your post as "Zeb's dead baby" and not "Zeb's dead, baby." I'm not sure if the punctuation was intentionally ironic, but it was very well-placed! And dig the Pulp Fiction reference.
I think I lost my appetite at the mention of ketchup on a cake >.<
Oh, and gues who preordered the Cake Wrecks book?!?
Did you guess me?
Cause I did! :D
Pickled ginger on a cake? Good grief.
Oh my, all other wrecks aside, that pickled ginger is just too weird!
As a cake decorator who holds a degree in English language, your site is perfect.
Sorry, I "meant" th@ it>s perfect!!!!!!!
I think on Scott's cake, the periods are actually those round sprinkle-thingies you see elsewhere on the cake.
Monica's was pretty, even with the punctuation errors.
What we have here is a gross!! overuse! of exclamation points!!!!!!!!
That third cake looks like it's frosted in mustard and the words written in the ketchup. Ugh.
~Amy B.
Hooray, excessive. punctuation!!
I know someone who insists there's a space between the end of the word and the exclamation mark; the good news is this person only uses one at a time.
!LoL! @ Zeb's cake!
Euwww...ketchup, yuck! How funny! And these people get paid!
Anna Marie, Rusty, and Bandit
i'm pretty sure 2 of those cakewrecks were Costco cakes--which, are actually super yummy--but I guess all that yumminess just couldn't be contained and exploded onto the cake in the form of unneccessary exclammation points...
So many crazy people employed at bakeries- Terry Pratchett does tell us that multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a diseased mind (!!!)!
Also, as this is the first post I've commented on, having only found this blog a day or two ago (I finished reading the backlogs this morning... too much time on my hands now that school's over o_O) I would like to say that you are awesome, both in your chiding ridicule of terrible cakes and in your manifest geekery. :)
@FelixAndAva
I originally thought that too, so I studied it more closely. There are NO pink dots other than the periods. And what's the chance of getting only pink dots after the words? It's definitely purposeful.
Most of these cakes aren't really badly done, just the script is off. (Except for Bon Voy.)
I think on Scott's cake they were going for dripping sarcasm. That or he's being wished happy birthday by Captain James T. Kirk...
Highly suspicious!!!!! Suspicious that you indeed CAN get a job without a high school diploma!
Ok...I recovered from the laughing fit and I'm back because cake number 3 is seriously bumming me out.
I mean, seriously, couldn't someone not half ass it? It's like missing literally half the word and they compensated with a non descript squiggle!
Let's hope Zeb really did get the point and didn't think "what the heck's a Bon Voy?".
Brianna M.
These.
Are!!!
Great'
WV: "spermis"?? Okay, I'm so not going there...
Thanks!!
for all!!
the great!!
postings & stories!!
your' putting!!
on your'e!!
BLOG!!!!
hahahahaha Man these folks are a trip aren't they? It's a shame the Stacey cake was messed up, they did a great job on the piping.
Meow!
http://kitty-cakes.blogspot.com/
@Maya
You made me laugh out Loud. Ha! Ha! Ha!
"Aw, Ma, I ain't gonna need no more of that anglish schoolin'! I'm gonna get me a job down at the supermarket in the bakery, deckeratin' cakes!"
So I ordered a cake for my daughters birthday. And what I asked for was this: A cake with a field of flowers, and several bees flying around it, and the words Happy Birthday to Bee!
The decorating was gorgeous. The flowers looked like you could smell them. The bees were adorable. And the writing was yellow with black piping over it. Absolutely delightful.
The writing? Happy brthday to "our" "Bee" Those last two on separate lines.
The cake was fabulous. And I took a picture but it was too dark to submit. But it was truly, truly memorable.
I liked the cake with the roses, it was a pretty cake
For the "Bon Voy" cake, it looks like there's a small katakana tsu (ッ). In this context, it's making the end of the proceeding syllable abrupt, cut off. Maybe like "Bon Voy'" or something like that.
So awesome. The first cake was obviously decorated by William Shatner. The second one needs to go on the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks--my second favorite blog.
I can't read any more of cake wrecks until I get a release from my doctor.!!. I laughed so hard yesterday that I've (been) get'in' back spasm's ever since!?! and am on muscle relaxers and theraputic massage.:/!
I bought the Thank You!! Stacey!! cake from Costco. I'm fairly certain they use the same designs at all Costcos.
I had included a picture of my order form beause as regular reader of this site, I did NOT want a disaster for a farewell party for my former boss and so filled out the form as carefully and neatly as I could. *Shrug* The cake was delicious though!
Costco cakes. $17.99, serves up to 48, two layers with that tasty chocolate cream cheese filling (my favorite) tastes darn good for the price, the roses are pretty, lots of them for the kids who insist on a flower, they change the decos for the seasons, and they provide the entertainment as well. Who could ask for anything more?
Words. Fail. Me.
Is it wrong that I eat cake every day now because of your blog?!!??!!!?????!!!!!
You know, as tragically sad as these cakes are...well, they're CAKES! If it were me, i'd prob just laugh and eat it anyway. What can I say :)
@PetalsYoga, my ArchiveBinge of this site gave me a MAJOR craving for some form of cake. Getting cupcakes at the grocery store bakery worked out fine for that.
Is it just me or does the Zeb cake look like the back of a smiley face's head? I agree it looks like it is written in ketchup (or maybe smiley face blood?). But it looks like Mr. Smiley had some dry skin, because it is peeling a bit in the middle...ew.
Bob, actually Monica's cake was to celebrate her 20 years of service to the company. So no excuse for the quotes.
As a chronic over-punctuator (if that's even a word!), I have the horrible feeling that if I ever get a job in a bakery, my cakes would turn out like the Thank You!!! cake!!!!!!! lol!!
(See what I mean?!!)lol ;)
Maybe. Scott's. Name. Is. Really. Scotty.
What's with the ellipse/flower motif? And don't bakeries at least test the Wreckerators for decent handwriting before they allow them to touch the piping bag?
the "Bon Voyage" cake reminds me of when I was in elementary school and was taking spelling tests. If I didn't know how to spell a word, I'd just scribble something that looked vaguely like writing and hope that my teacher would mark it as correct.
Yeah, that never worked for me, ether.
Was anyone else reminded of the Office episode where Dwight tried to plan a birthday party? His decorations include a banner that says, in plain font, "It is your birthday." which cracked me up when I saw it.
Cakes should make more use of the interrobang, perhaps‽
(See how this can be read two ways‽ One excited and one questioning‽)
.!,
It's a chicken wearing a monocle, silly!
on the second cake "congrats." is an abbreviation so the full stop is actually correct, grammatically.
love this blog. especially the babies on carrots... wtf?
Look on the bright side Michelle!!!!
At least the decorator spelled "Stacey" correctly!!!!
Perhaps the decorator was one of those teenage girls who use tons of exclamation marks. In that case, consider yourself lucky there were no lowercase i's for the decorator to put a heart over instead of a dot.
Happy. "Birthday". CAKEWRECKS!!!
What's wrong with an extra exclamation point? Grammar should be a slave to the expression of language. I'm always puzzled by people's reactions to the "overuse" of punctuation. I just watched an episode of "in Treatment" on HBO where the therapist commented that in America, we see suppressing our emotions as a sign of maturity. I think this is a perfect example of that. Don't be *too* happy. It's soooo uncool in this age of irony, apparently.
I think it's kind of sad that someone would even be offended by an extra exclamation point on a cake. "Oh dear!" Talk about sweating the small, inane stuff. If a cake isn't allowed to be "exciting" than what's the point of a cake?
There's 'over the top,' then there's 'down the side...'
.!, looks like a chicken with a monocle...
Pip pip tally ho!
Oh, hey, I saw that "Bon Voyage" cake yesterday! (Though, sadly, without the inscription.)
At Costco. It's kind of a terrifying color in person. It made me think of radioactive goo. I don't really know why anybody would ingest it.
Perhaps the first Wreckorator (Happy. Birthday. Scott.) was going for a Comic Book Guy vibe - you know, kinda like Worst. Cake. Ever.
If I had been decorating the last cake for a friend or family member, the giant exclamation points would have been intentional. (And there probably would have been several more, even larger.) But if I was a professional and I was making that cake for a customer, I would definitely tone it down a bit.