December 15, 2008

Samsung Doesn't Care Where It Puts Commas

I recently observed that as the economy has gotten worse, I've seen WAY more typos and misspellings all over the place - print media, online media, even chyrons on television. My writer friends agree they're seeing more of it, too. I suppose it's part of the overall downturn - companies have less money to pay copyeditors, etc. And it's one thing to see stuff on a web page that eventually gets corrected...but what about stuff like this?

"See how our...camera phone let's you snap and share..."

Whatever. It's so egregious that it's not worth tallying, but this slick little ad in particular I found annoying.

(EDIT: As has been gently pointed out to me, Samsung misused an apostrophe, and not a comma. Somehow neither I nor any of my equally language-obsessed friends noticed my error. Awesome.)

8 comments:

Yvette/innergeek said...

I was grousing just earlier today about the "Letter's to Santa" mailbox at the post office. Errant apostrophes are the bane of my grammatically aware existence.

Is it the economy or the increased usage of texting? Or is the increased exposure we have to the written word, thanks to the internet, that are just making these atrocities more prevalent?

I'm making myself sound like a grammar prick, aren't I?

Elizabeth McQuern said...

I saw your mention of that! Seriously. It's bothersome. Especially because I'm an underemployed writer. I see stuff like that and I turn purple thinking someone got paid for that.

Jess said...

"Funnest iPod ever" anyone?

Seriously, I write documentation for a major phone manufacturer (not Samsung) and the marketing stuff that corporate sends down is atrocious at times. We have had to do wholesale revisions, and it makes my head want to explode.

Unknown said...

Hi.
That's an apostrophe.

Which is hilariously ironic for pedantic types like myself.

Elizabeth McQuern said...

Holy crap, you're right. Hilarious, self-depricating edit to come.

carmilevy said...

Amen on every level. As one underemployed writer to another, I feel your pain. Implicitly.

Part of me is tempted to not purchase anything from companies whose products and services ship with such obvious errors in documentation. Then reality prevails and I realize I'll be back in Cro Magnon times if I insist on sticking to my guns. It's everywhere these days, and it's a sad statement on how far we haven't come.

carmilevy said...

Amen on every level. As one underemployed writer to another, I feel your pain. Implicitly.

Part of me is tempted to not purchase anything from companies whose products and services ship with such obvious errors in documentation. Then reality prevails and I realize I'll be back in Cro Magnon times if I insist on sticking to my guns. It's everywhere these days, and it's a sad statement on how far we haven't come.

Chancelucky said...

aren't apostrophes just commas that live on the second floor?

I personally think it has to do with the constant change of models, particularly for things like cellphones. It feels like they change features, etc. so fast that there's no time for anyone to write a manual or promotional materials....If they do, they probably spend all of twenty minutes on that part.