Spooky Scary Catastrophe

Happy Halloween, readers! I hope you all have exciting plans for debauchery this evening. If you're in Boston, I would suggest avoiding the place that ran the following ad in the Improper Bostonian, for obvious reasons.


I consulted with my friend Louisa on this one to make sure it wasn't referring to "The Jock's Halloween Party," but we concluded that "The Jock" is not pictured in the ad. I think it would be kind of hard to be an athlete with that much silicone in your chest.

Trick or treat!

Victory at the Boston Garden

As you may have seen in this entry from last December, the bathrooms at the Boston Garden were riddled with apostrophe catastrophes. But last night, as I ran past the concession stands to make it to my seat in time for tip-off, I noticed that they had fixed the punctuation errors!

Before:

After:

Congrats to the TD Garden on a rare apostrophe success -- and to the Celtics on their trouncing of the Bulls.

Boy's, Boy's, Boy's

Lady Gaga would not approve of this sign because she knows that one boy is never enough.


Thanks to Brian for sending in this apostrophe catastrophe that he found at an amusement park.

Happy Halloween to all my readers! If any of you dress as a punctuation mark for Halloween, be sure to take a photo and send it to me.

Teach Your Children Well

Melissa from Utah wrote that her younger brother found this apostrophe catastrophe at his school:


Shortly thereafter, Melissa's mom found an apostrophe catastrophe at a salon in town that is owned by someone who graduated from the high school where the filing-cabinet catastrophe was spotted.



Melissa concludes that it's not entirely the salon owner's fault because she was never taught proper punctuation. I would have to agree.

Thanks, Melissa and Melissa's mom and brother!

Work Menu Catastrophe

A friend of mine who prefers to remain nameless has been annoyed by the apostrophe catastrophes on the menus at her office for months now. I'm sure she's not the only one who is annoyed because she works at a publishing company! She writes, "A building full of editors and copyeditors and proofreaders and no one lets them know there's no apostrophe in omelets?!"


They also spell "swordfish" wrong. And why is "A" capitalized in left side?

Thanks, mystery person!

I Need to Recharge My Brain

Today's entry comes to us from a blog reader named Ramesh in Chennai, India. This is one of the worst multiple apostrophe catastrophes I've seen in a while. Readers, prepare yourself for the horror.


The word "accessories" manages to remain free from spelling and punctuation errors, but almost every other word on the sign is wrong.

Time for a cooldrink, indeed.

Thanks, Ram!

It Is for Waitresses'

Emily from St. Louis found this apostrophe catastrophe in a bar the other night and says she was "appalled."


The sign is pretty hideous; I think the font is just as appalling as the apostrophe catastrophe. Some might argue that the apostrophe implies that the area beyond the sign belongs to waitresses only, but I don't think that's what the sign makers had in mind, so I declare it a catastrophe. Not that I'm a psychic or anything. What do you think, readers?

Thanks, Emily!

Mushroom Lover Is...

Nicholina took this photo of a tray at a Carl's Jr. location in Singapore:


The punctuation is appalling, but that photo is making me hungry.

Thanks, Nicholina!

Seventy-Five Percent Wrong

Jim was shocked when he noticed that three out of the four words on this sign contained apostrophe catastrophes.


As we know, mens and womens are not words, but what if the store is owned by more than one guy name Gary? Jim called the store to investigate and learned that there is only one Gary. Maybe Gary should hire someone else named Gary to help him proofread.

Thanks, Jim!

Gaga Ooh-La-La

Ever since I heard "Bad Romance" for the first time yesterday, it has become difficult for me to accomplish anything besides listening to it on repeat and (mostly successfully) trying to avoid dancing in my cubicle. So, in honor of Lady Gaga (and certain friends of mine who knew she was brilliant all along), today's chosen apostrophe catastrophe is the ubiquitous womens error. Reminder: women is already plural; womens is not a word.

My friend Merry took this photo at Wonder Bar in Allston, which happens to be across the street from one of her previous apostrophe catastrophes, Blanchard's.


Thanks, Merry! It has been too long since I posted one of your catastrophes.

Catastrophe at Disneyland

In the 50+ years that the Dumbo ride has been operating in Disneyland, I wonder how many people have noticed the errant apostrophe in the word it's on its sign.


Does "It's a Small World" have the opposite problem?

Thanks to Brian for sending this one in!

Bonus Catastrophe!

For today's entry, we have a double whammy -- a spelling mistake and an apostrophe catastrophe. Before going to Santa Cruz, Cathy saw a listing for Chic's with Sticks and had to see it in person.

Here it is in all its glory:


Cathy says that, because of the misspelling, the name of the store makes her think of a scene in the desert with "circle of sheiks stitching and bitching and drinking cosmos."

Thanks, Cathy!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Catastrophes

It's only mid-October, but I'm already sitting here in a fleece jacket, slippers, and a blanket, which might explain why I chose the following apostrophe catastrophe for today's posting.


Jami, from the Apostrophe Catastrophes Facebook group, had the misfortune of receiving this decoration as a gift. I think I would have preferred coal.

In case you were wondering, day's is the only error in this decoration. Till is a perfectly valid word.

Thanks, Jami!

Wasn't that a Song by Wings?

Charles' wife found this apostrophe catastrophe in the yellow pages when she was looking for job ideas:


Anyone want to hire her as a proofreader?

Thanks, Charles!

Go Twins!

Today, I am a Twins fan because they are playing the Yankees. And, as luck would have it, I have an apostrophe catastrophe to fit the occasion. Justin has informed me that the Twins' future home, Target Field, features a punctuation error in one of its sections.


The club is paying tribute to several legends, but the apostrophe placement implies that there is only one legend.

Well, regardless of the team's poor punctuation, I hope they crush the Yankees tonight.

Thanks, Justin!

Misplaced Fine

Apparently, the man in the photo below was fined for not producing any rubbish.


Well, I think the fine itself is rubbish! Instead, the Green Council should have fined the shop owner for having an apostrophe catastrophe in his sign.

Thanks to Claire for sending in this article from the Daily Mail.

Porn on the Streets of New Orleans

There's only one Larry Flynt, so there ought to be an apostrophe in the name of his club on Bourbon Street.


Apostrophe catastrophes aren't barely legal; they are completely wrong.

I also found some amusing unnecessary quotation marks in the bathroom at the airport.


In fact, the board wasn't welcoming me because I was on my way out of the city at that point. I apologize for the blurry photo. I think had one too many hurricanes.

We ARE in Your Shopping Bag

Michelle, from my brand-spanking-new book club, sent in this apostrophe catastrophe from OneKingsLane.com:


The red text reads, "Some items we are in your shopping cart..." That makes a lot of sense.

Thanks, Michelle!