Last week I went to the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane for a travel industry lunch (around 1200 people - quite a major affair).

The Grosvenor has been taken over by the Meridien group and thus is now officially known as the Meridien Grosvenor.

The 1200 tickets, printed on high quality card in full colour, invited us all to the MERDIEN Grosvenor!

What's more, the post-prandial entertainment was given by some schoolchildren from Bletchingley - but rendered on the invitation as Blethingley!

What a terrible impression that conveys to a prestigious group who've each paid around £60 for their lunch - and just for the sake of a few pounds expenditure in proof-reading!

Richard English

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard English:
...the MERDIEN Grosvenor...

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You don't suppose that's a subtle French attempt at scatological humor, do you?

The French? Subtle?

Richard English

The French? Humourous?

Perhaps they've several proctologists on the board?

I know this is a rehashed subject, but I think the lack of editing (I agree; that is atrocious!) is partly due to the use of computers. E-mails are sent out in such grammatical shambles that it is sometimes funny. Read this one that I received a few days ago; I am on the board of this basketball group:

"It's is Dec 7th and I am emailing you my brother and I's First set of games," Mind you, this kid is in high school, and I am assuming that it is due to lack of editing.

Now, granted this is like comparing apples to oranages, and yet I think this lack of editing got started with spellcheckers, grammar checkers, and e-mail sloppiness.

A French restaurant served its patrons escargot, 12 to a serving and delivered fresh daily, for years. One day, only 143 escargot were delivered instead of the usual 144 so the twelfth customer to order them received only 11 instead of his usual 12. He complained and the resulting negative publicity eventually caused the restaurant to close.

For want of a snail...

Oh, you really had me going! Somehow I was trying to relate this to the subject, quite unsuccessfully, I might add! Brilliant!

Hab: "You don't suppose that's a subtle French attempt at scatological humor, do you?"

R.E.: "The French? Subtle?"

Graham: "The French? Humourous?"

Me: The French? Attempting to do anything, instead of just grandstanding?

As Jay Leno said, "I don't know why people are surprised that France won't help us get Saddam out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn't help us get the Germans out of France."

France wouldn't help us get the Germans out of
France."
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Awwww, Shufitz, just over a year ago you, Kalleh and I had dinner with a Frenchman who was a part of US Intelligence. One of my favorite writers, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, was shot down over the Mediterranean while flying a Lockheed Lightning. What do you suppose he was doing over German occupied territory in a US-built fighter? Sightseeing? Nooooooo - helping get the Germans out of France!

Speaking of proof-reading, I had occasion recently to ask one of our marketing staff in the US to contact a (very unhappy) customer.

Her email started with the words:

Thank you for your email. I apologise if we have caused you any incontinence.

Ros

I apologise if we have caused you any incontinence.
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Ohhhhhhhh, Ros, that nearly caused ME some incontinence! Wonderful!

That reminds me of an advert in a newspaper some years ago that was attempting to promote air travel to Las Vegas. The headline read, "Gambler's Fly Free." A gold-plated zipper, perhaps?