pencilectomy

We all know that English is a funny language. How else can you explain the words bough, through, and rough all being pronounced differently despite ending in –ough?

English is also tricky phonetically and especially when it comes to there, their, and they’re. All different words, all different meanings, all pronounced the same.

For the most part, Joe Average will know the difference and use the word which pertains to the conversation. Even kids tend to know the difference and may use the correct one. IDK, perhaps I’m giving them too much credit in this world of SMS shortcuts and acronyms.

(And just to show my age and how long I’ve been online, here’s one for you: “A/S/L?”*)

Then there’s this ad that I grabbed from an email. It was for an event that Monster Energy Drink was returning to after an absence of a couple of years.

Now let us all pop open a can of Monster, lift it to the heavens above and proudly proclaim in unison…

“THERE BACK!”

Say what?

I can’t place the blame for this most grievous error entirely on Monster because chances are they didn’t see the ad; it could have been thrown together by the event’s organizers who are mostly volunteers. Trust me. I know.

But come on, there’s no way this makes any sense so it should have been caught by anyone who may have seen it.

Then again, maybe [sic] theirs more to it.

*”A/S/L,” for you younger ones, was chatroom lingo for “Age, Sex, Location” back when chatrooms and IM programs like AIM, ICQ, and YIM were the big thing. Total icebreaker when someone new wandered into the room.

In social media circles today is Throwback Thursday or, as it is known by its hashtag, #TBT.

That said, I thought I’d post this picture as a way to participate in the festivities. It was taken in 2011 and lost among the thousands of phone pictures I’ve taken over the years. I just happened to come across it today while scouring my 2TB external hard drive and want to share it since it most definitely falls in line with this blog’s subject matter.

In Mexican supermarkets, there’s almost always a pan dulce (sweet bread) display case that is full of product. For health reasons (and local law requirements), the displays have a pair of tongs at each door so that customers always have them available when picking up their bread.

Tongs. But tonsils?

Obviously, something got lost in the translation when this sign was made because picking the bread up with your tonsils is not only very unsanitary, but also physically impossible.