The Language Cop on the Supermarket Beat

jsw_img_6034_edited-1Montague Street Key Food: wrong.

jsw_img_6033_edited-1Trader Joe’s: right.

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12 Responses to “The Language Cop on the Supermarket Beat”

  1. Jessica 07. Apr, 2009 at 6:19 am #

    As a journalism professor often reminded us: “fewer turds, less shit”

  2. AEB 07. Apr, 2009 at 9:31 am #

    Yeah, the confusion in the top example probably had to do with the placement of the adjective–AFTER as opposed to before the noun, and separated by “or.” Thus making it seem less adjectival.

    Or is the issue plain unconsciousness of the difference between “fewer” and “less”?

  3. CJP 07. Apr, 2009 at 10:08 am #

    Grammar is the least of Key Food’s worries.

  4. No One Of Consequence 07. Apr, 2009 at 1:11 pm #

    The only thing that springs to mind are these 3 letters… “WFC”

  5. Claude Scales 07. Apr, 2009 at 3:19 pm #

    NOOC: “WFC”–Wisconsin Fried Chicken?

  6. jiker 07. Apr, 2009 at 8:30 pm #

    key foods on montague is terrible

  7. nabeguy 07. Apr, 2009 at 9:01 pm #

    Claude, I think that’s “who f’ing cares?” although I suspect you may be making some kind of reference to the whole Obama Fried Chicken brouhaha.

  8. David on Middagh 08. Apr, 2009 at 12:05 pm #

    “X items or less” has become idiomatic and is perfectly clear. Has everyone lost their mind?

    (Don’t bother complaining that “everyone” takes a singular pronoun. Clearly, it doesn’t always, and this has been true for hundreds of years.)

  9. Neighborhood Observer 08. Apr, 2009 at 4:47 pm #

    CS – Keep posting your great photos and stories. You enliven the blog. An English lesson now and then is probably healthy for all of us long out of school.

  10. Andrew Porter 26. Aug, 2009 at 12:43 am #

    For a Really Long Time (years?) Key Food had a sign which said, “Welcome to Brookly Heights”. About 6 months ago, they added a very small “n” to it.

  11. mrs. fink 26. Aug, 2009 at 7:42 am #

    to quote a well-intentioned remark on the rules of grammer – “this is something up with which i will not put.”

  12. The Where 26. Aug, 2009 at 9:46 am #

    GrammAr Mrs. Fink, only Kelsey applies to the alternate.

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