Tuesday 18 September 2007

Word-o-Grouch-a-Blog™

I am not in a good mood this morning so I am wasting my time and yours grouching about trivia.

Huge ad in the Metro today, full colour, double pages, for New Capital Quay which is a Thames-side development in or near Greenwich.

In large text it says (inter alia) this:

London's new waterside village on its own gated peninsular

- Gak!!!!

Visiting the parent company's page about this development my eye is drawn millimetre by painful millimetre to this:

This property has it's own microsite.

- and to this:

... enhancing the Thames frontage with active waterbourne installations

I really don't get it. When people are not sure that something is right, why don't they check? How long would it take or how difficult would it be? Or are they just always sure they are right, and it would be too time-consuming or expensive to have someone else look at it? And if it's a case of predictable ignorance, what would be wrong with sticking a notice on the office wall that says "Don't use it's unless you mean it is or it has" or "Attlee is spelt thus and no other way"? Gak, gakk, and aaargh I tell you.  

I mean, come on ... this, that you are reading now, is just a blog. I am a careless writer: I make mistakes all the time. So what? But I am not being paid to do this, and I am not publishing it in front of millions of people, many of whom I wish to spend money on my product, or believe in my government (haha same thing!), or whatever. If one of those were the case, you'd hope I might put more thought/time/effort/money into mistake-avoidance, wouldn't you? Yes? No? What??

Once again I have to wonder: is it just me, and should I really try to get some medication in the hope of avoiding the life-shortening effects of all this rage? Mind you I did just this weekend get a very nice bottle of Rioja for helping out at a gig (more of which later) and that has much the same effect.

Ooh yes, while I am at the Galliard Homes site, let me just pick out for you a couple of gems:

Build elements are arranged around a series of homezone entrance courtyards...

... The arrangement also enables strong visual and physical permeability across and within the site.

Who writes this stuff? What does it mean? Does it actually mean anything, in any language, anywhere? Could it perhaps have been written in English instead? Hmmm.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Am I a horrible person for not seeing what is wrong with the 1st and 3rd quote?

Strawberryyog said...

No, not at all. The first has an unwanted "r" on the end of "peninsula" and the third has "waterbourne" for "waterborne" unless they are trying to say something extremely specialized, odd and archaic. And if they are I will apologize very seriously, having first taken some convincing. :)