Since I’ve read Eats, Shoots & Leaves, I’ve been on the lookout for anguished English in Gotham. I’m just like Batman, except I’m seeking bad punctuation, grammar and spelling instead of crime, and I’m not so much fighting these errors as I am taking pictures of them for my own amusement and maybe yours.
Anyway, it comes as no surprise to me that much of the trouble is caused by ladies. Here we have a large incorrect sign overlooking West 34th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.
Of course, the Tannery House could mean what it has written, but stocking shoes exclusively for one lady, even if she’s Imelda Marcos, is a waste of precious shelf space in the high rents of this city.
I hate to bring attention to this next one because it’s in the Village outside my favorite barber shop, staffed by friendly Russian guys who ask in a thick accent if I want my usual “business-style haircut.”
But it’s even worse than the Tannery House boo-boo and not just because the Russians recently raised their prices from $9.99. It starts out fine with Men’s Haircut, then your eye drops to the fanciful Ladie’s. Unlike Lady’s, Ladie’s isn’t even a word, and it’s at this point that an English teacher would drop to the sidewalk and writhe in pain.