Fun with Homonyms....and the like

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Wisconsin is known for giving it's Governor one of the most powerful veto powers on earth. Many years ago when Tommy Thompson was still governor, the headline on the paper was "Thompson's Pen is Mightier Than Sword". And there actually was a smaller space between pen and is. The whole state was laughing.

Not sure if this is a true story or merely apocryphal.

Supposedly, in the early days of vanity license plates, someone in CA got one that read "PEN15"

 

[wolverineTrumpet]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Today at McDonald's there was a sign that read, "There Back" and had a picture of an apple pie or something. It was just a printed piece of paper. I was going to say something when I noticed someone had penciled in a y' . I got a good chuckle from that.

Years ago I tried to explain to a co-worker that her e-mail with, "your order went threw" was incorrect. She insisted that spell check said it was right, and would not listen to anyone who disagreed with spell check.


And, while not a homonym, just a similar word, my favorite mistake was a when a project manager I hated had a sign outside the conference room that read, "Meeting moved to [room]. Sorry for the incontinence."

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Today at McDonald's there was a sign that read, "There Back" and had a picture of an apple pie or something. It was just a printed piece of paper. I was going to say something when I noticed someone had penciled in a y' . I got a good chuckle from that.

Years ago I tried to explain to a co-worker that her e-mail with, "your order went threw" was incorrect. She insisted that spell check said it was right, and would not listen to anyone who disagreed with spell check.


And, while not a homonym, just a similar word, my favorite mistake was a when a project manager I hated had a sign outside the conference room that read, "Meeting moved to [room]. Sorry for the incontinence."

Along your McDonald's reference, the Quizno's across Robert St. from the Warren G. Berger Federal Building in St. Paul that read, (Picture of a coupon) "These coupons are no longer excepted at this location. Sorry for the inconvenience." My coworker penciled in "accept" over "except," and someone changed it back to the original misused word by the next time we were there.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Today at McDonald's there was a sign that read, "There Back" and had a picture of an apple pie or something. It was just a printed piece of paper. I was going to say something when I noticed someone had penciled in a y' . I got a good chuckle from that.

Years ago I tried to explain to a co-worker that her e-mail with, "your order went threw" was incorrect. She insisted that spell check said it was right, and would not listen to anyone who disagreed with spell check.


And, while not a homonym, just a similar word, my favorite mistake was a when a project manager I hated had a sign outside the conference room that read, "Meeting moved to [room]. Sorry for the incontinence."

I cannot find the article I read in which every possible word was spelled incorrectly for its meaning yet was spelled "correctly" by spell check.

I did find this however:

Spell check will not fined words witch are miss used butt spelled rite.

and from the same link:

Eye halve a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea.
It plainly marks four my revue miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a quay and type a word and weight for it to say
Weather eye yam wrong oar write.
It shows me strait a weigh as soon as a mist ache is maid.
It nose bee fore two long and eye can put the error [airer?] rite.
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it,
I am shore your pleased two no.
Its letter perfect awl the way.
My checker tolled me sew.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

I cannot find the article I read in which every possible word was spelled incorrectly for its meaning yet was spelled "correctly" by spell check.

I did find this however:



and from the same link:

That doesn't hold up as true as it once did, though. MS Word will now apply the word against the context in which it's used. While that doesn't solve all problems, it has caught me a couple times while writing an email.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

I don't want this comment to be about politics; I am merely taking an example from politics to illustrate a broader human trait.

A vacancy in the US Senate occurs. The Governor of the state in which the vacancy occurred appoints the interim Senator until the special election can be held.

A black person is appointed Senator.

Some people might say it is an example of "diversity" while others might say it is "tokenism." Yet it is exactly the same action either way!


I recall something similar:

I am dedicated.
My spouse is determined.
My children are persistent.
People I don't know are stubborn.
People I dislike are mule-headed.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

I don't want this comment to be about politics; I am merely taking an example from politics to illustrate a broader human trait.

A vacancy in the US Senate occurs. The Governor of the state in which the vacancy occurred appoints the interim Senator until the special election can be held.

A black person is appointed Senator.

Some people might say it is an example of "diversity" while others might say it is "tokenism." Yet it is exactly the same action either way!


I recall something similar:

I am dedicated.
My spouse is determined.
My children are persistent.
People I don't know are stubborn.
People I dislike are mule-headed.

They're working their magic in that state over there.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

earlier in this thread, someone (I wish I could remember who so as to give him/her appropriate props ) had mentioned heteronyms: words that have the same spelling yet are pronounced differently.

Like INcense, the stuff people burn to produce a pleasant smell, or inCENSE, what you to do make someone really angry.

There is a wonderful radio program on WMNR radio every Saturday evening at 6 PM EST (see www.wmnr.org) called "One Great Song" in which they play the same song as recorded by a variety of different musicians.

I did not realize, for example, how popular "My Favorite Things" is among jazz musicians. That song has been covered by quite a few different people. Same tune, multiple instrumentations. Great stuff.



PS If you like big band music from the 30s and 40s the show that follows is fun, too, "The Big Band Hall of Fame."

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Seems like there is a "Go Red" campaign going on for some cause.

Looks weird on websites, though...goredwomen.com sounds like they lost the race against the bulls at Pamplona!

 

[joecct]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Seems like there is a "Go Red" campaign going on for some cause.

Looks weird on websites, though...goredwomen.com sounds like they lost the race against the bulls at Pamplona!

No No No!!!
It's the creeping Red Menace that we thought we eliminated in the 1990's! The commies are coming back!

Next we'll have May Day Parades, government control of the health care systems, bans on gun ownership, the demonization of the bourgeoisie, and media as a tool of the government!

 

[The Exiled One]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Seems like there is a "Go Red" campaign going on for some cause.

Looks weird on websites, though...goredwomen.com sounds like they lost the race against the bulls at Pamplona!

There's a company that specializes in selling pens. The name of the company is Pen Island. You can visit their website at work, it's perfectly safe. However, if anybody checked your browser history...

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

There's a company that specializes in selling pens. The name of the company is Pen Island. You can visit their website at work, it's perfectly safe. However, if anybody checked your browser history...

yeah, or driving east on I-90 in Massachusetts, approaching Springfield, there is a big billboard advertising life insurance. At first glance, I thought it said "contact massage nt.com" but I think they meant "contact mass agent.com"

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Oh, why not:

 

[joecct]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

There wolf!

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Saw another ad today in which the person who picked the name of the website apparently didn't look too closely at how it might appear...

Advertising the Florida Keys, directs you to fla-keys.com. where you might also look if you want to find offbeat people.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

An oldie but goodie I saw the other day.

Did you know that the word 'gullible' does not appear in the dictionary?!?

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

An oldie but goodie I saw the other day.

Did you know that the word 'gullible' does not appear in the dictionary?!?

How's that a homonym? Isn't that a pun?

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

Isn't that a pun?

I guess you might consider it to be a "meta-pun."

What's the full thread title? "....and the like"


I wonder how many people actually go and look up "gullible" when they hear this statement.


I hope very few!

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

There was an idiot from an island in the Aegean Sea. He was a real Cretan cretin.






The town garbage dump was full to overflowing. They issued an order to the workers, "refuse refuse" until we get the situation under control.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

I saw a sign today that read:

Lots for Sale.