This is not a grammar FAIL. This is a grammar WIN.

I like being a snarky little so-and-so about bad grammar. Generally, if I see or hear hideous grammar, I'm all over it in a very sarcastic way.

But sometimes there are exceptions. Sometimes somebody goes and uses a pseudo-word that I have mocked the hell out of before...and somehow makes it endearing.

Today that person is Roy Halladay. The Phillies pitcher known as Doc said "funner" in a little interview on the evening the Phillies not only became NL East champions for the fourth year in a row, but also clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs due to having the best record in the National League.

Dear Doc was covered in champagne. This is his first trip to the postseason. He's excited--can you blame him? Big League Stew reported that Halladay told Philadelphia broadcaster Gary Matthews "It's been fun, but it's only gonna get funner."

That's right. He said "funner."

And I freakin' loved it. I dare you, fellow grammar fiend, to not love it too (unless you're a Mets fan, in which case I'll understand why you hate it).

I swear I have not taken total leave of my senses when I tell you that sometimes, in very rare circumstances (especially those involving talented and attractive baseball players)...bad grammar can actually be good. Not good in the sense that we're going to want to use it in formal correspondence, of course...but good in the sense that it's charming and smile-inducing.

Bring on the funner! (And bring on the Phillies baseball, too. Halladay FTW!)

HUMP DAY GRAMMAR for September 29, 2010

The lovely LadyStyx found today's funny sign on FAILblog. While I'm sure whoever submitted the FAIL to FAILblog felt like the major reason for the FAIL was the plumbing system's overload of semen, we spelling specialists see another reason why it's a FAIL, right? There's no a in semen, kids. Or at least there's not supposed to be... (Whoever created this sign is also not so great with punctuation, but the real screw-up here is most definitely in the spelling.)

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

TO/TOO/TWO TUESDAY for September 28, 2010

I have a very timely homonym error for you guys today. But first there's something I've gotta get off my chest...

CONGRATULATIONS, PHILLIES!!!!

(That's one exclamation point for each consecutive year they've been the NL East champions.)

Anyway. That blogger was correct when he said the Phillies would win the division and clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That's definitely happened (yay!). He was also right about Halladay being the pitcher who would pitch the game in which the Phillies would clinch.

But he was not right when he said that "Rumor has it that Jayson Werth and Chase Utley were playing a mean game of Texas Hold 'Em en route to clinching a playoff birth...". Because, you see, it's not playoff birth. The playoffs are not being born. It's really a playoff berth.

Perhaps someone should hire me to teach my fellow Phillies phans about proper grammar...this isn't the only time a Phillies fan has needed a grammar lesson!

MISSPELLING MONDAY for September 27, 2010

Well, hello there, dear readers! I'm back after a brief hiatus, which could technically be called vacation even though it really wasn't. I took vacation time off work and did some fun things, such as celebrating approximately 2/3 of my favorite baseball teams clinching their divisions (Twins and Rangers, I can't wait to watch you in the playoffs...and Phillies, hurry the hell up and clinch the NL East already, OK?), got a massage, went to a concert by my favorite punk band that hardly anyone seems to have heard of, and actually got some sleep (that's a rarity). But I also worked like crazy on my book, and I'm proud to say that I'm now about halfway done writing the first draft of the book that's been my baby for a couple years now. I'm re-energized and re-inspired about the story as well as the writing process, and I'm beginning to think that having a complete first draft written by the end of the year is actually an attainable goal.

And now it's Monday, and breakfast was green tea (healthy) and Pixy Stix (not so healthy), and as a result, I'm giggling at absolutely everything. Being back at work is hilarious, the 68 (not even kidding) spam comments I moderated out of this blog were hilarious, and today's misspelling (above) seems hilarious even though it's really kind of mundane. Now if only I can keep this energy level for the rest of the day (to catch up on all my office work) and the rest of the evening (to write a few more chapters)...

Today's post is brought to you by the letter P...

It's felt like an eternity of a week, and it's only freakin' Tuesday. My foot hurts (something heavy landing on it will do that to it...) and I miss my high heels; flats are no fun. I've got major omigod-it's-almost-the-playoffs!!!!! baseball jitters. I'm a wee bit swamped at work. A couple Marc Jacobs shirts on Bluefly are beckoning to me, designer devils that they are, and I'm trying like hell to resist them.

Clearly, I need a good laugh. I bet you do, too. And now we can have one, courtesy of the Peeing Tom suspect who's apparently terrorizing a neighborhood somewhere in South Carolina. A Peeing Tom is probably worse than a Peeping Tom, wouldn't you think (since the former is stinkier than the latter)? Granted, it's likely they were actually referring to a Peeping Tom, but that's not quite what they wrote, is it?

Thanks to LadyStyx for spotting this one on FAILblog!

New acronym alert!

Misspelling-Laden Baseball--MLB for short. Yep, that's what I'm calling these guys. You know, the ones who seem to delight in screwing up the names of some very fine athletes. This isn't their first offense and won't be their last offense, but this one is a bad offense. Actually, it's three bad offenses all sharing the same small space.

Poor Evan Longoria got a double whammy of errors. They screwed up his first and last names. And then poor Pujols...I wondered for a second if perhaps his first name actually was Alberto, but upon further investigation, I found out his first name's actually Jose (middle name Alberto)...but of course we all know he usually goes by Albert (with no o)!

Misspelling-Laden Baseball, you guys are holy terrors on the interwebs!

MISSPELLING MONDAY for September 7, 2010

No, Copy-editors Needed Now. Abrams isn't pitching an "Alacatraz" drama. See, JJ's a smart dude. He was a co-creator of Lost, for cryin' out loud. I'm pretty sure if he's pitching a drama about Alcatraz, he knows how to freakin' spell it. Copy-editors Needed Now, this error is all on you!

Need Mauer power to stay awake... (I do talk grammar later in this post...really, I do...)

It's Friday...and thank goodness for that. I kinda feel like my eyes are bleeding. They're not, really, but after watching a Twins baseball game that lasted nearly five hours--and watching several innings of a real nail-biter of a Phillies game simultaneously--I feel a wee bit drained and raw. Although the Twins lost that insanely loooooooong game, at least it was nearly five hours of getting to watch Joe Mauer (above) and his magic sideburns (I've recently discovered I have a sideburns fetish--hey, don't judge, it could be much, much worse!). I seriously think I'm keeping myself awake today by looking up at that picture, murmuring "Ooh, pretty," and taking another large sip of caffeine.

Anyway...grammar! Funny grammar! That's what you're here for, right? Lucky for you, I've found something entertaining...

This is so cute. I mean, yes, it's a stupid and silly error, but it just sounds so charming. It sounds absolutely delightful to think that you can include whole alphabets in your passwords instead of just plain ol' boring letters. (But apparently you can only use one underscore, as they didn't make that plural...)

To those of you in the States, have a wonderful Labor Day weekend! I'll be back next week with more funny grammar...baseball rantings...or something!

My holy grail of spelling errors...

There's nothing special about this spelling error. It's really just your average, everyday misspelled word. But for me...well, for me it's a little different. Ever since I moved to New York, I've been trying to snap a not-totally-sucktacular picture of this freakin' error. I've been here for three years. And every time I take the train to the city, I see this sign when we're arriving at the Jamaica station. And every time I saw this sign, I'd try to snap a picture so I could post it here. But it's often difficult to take a decent picture when you're on a moving train...

(Nice action shot of those trees, huh?)

It's taken three years of trying to catch this error with my camera, and these are the two best pictures I've been able to take. In case the signs are tough for you to read (understandable, since the printing on the signs is small, and these pictures aren't exactly fantastic), the word municipal is misspelled--this sign spells it municpal. Every time I've seen this sign, I've always wondered what a municpal is... Is it friendly? Could I bring it to baseball games with me and coax it to cheer for the Phillies? Could I take it along to Betsey Johnson sample sales so I'd have a buddy to help me zip up the backs of my dresses in the fitting room? And would it help me be more efficient when taking photos of screwy spelling while I'm on trains so that it doesn't take me three freakin' years to take a simple picture? If so, I could really enjoy the company of a municpal!

HUMP DAY GRAMMAR for September 1, 2010

OK, so this isn't technically an error (as that is the name of the toy, and everything is spelled correctly), but it still looks funny, doesn't it? I feel kinda bad for Barbie--if she really does love woody, she must be pretty dissatisfied with putting up with Ken, as he is a) plasticky, not woody, and b) if I recall correctly, he's not really packin' much of anything...

(Thanks to CLAY for sending in the picture!)

Not Hump Day-related, but definitely a proofreading error... Did you know J. A. Happ of the Astros had a, um, two-shitter going against the Cardinals the other day? *giggle*

Happy Hump Day, everyone!