Friday, June 08, 2007

PlANT


As I waited in the checkout lane at the Key Food grocery store on 7th Ave. here in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I was disappointed by the concoction of upper and lowercase letters as written on the potted plant, which read "Not ForSAle". Not because I wanted to buy the plant, but because it was just another reminder that lowercase L freaks are slowly taking over the world. Admittedly, this example strays from the rules for a proper lowercase L event, because the "e" following the lowercase L in SAle is also lower case. But since all the upper and lowercase letters were written as the same size, and the lowercase L follows two uppercase letters, the sign is mildly confusing.

The plant that was "Not For SAle" ... priceless.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's also funny are people who write "potted plan" rather than "potted plant" and "by" when they mean "buy".

William Levin said...

Thank you, Anon ;-)

Skittles said...

i never noticed the lowercase l is so widespread. i saw one, too and took a picture of it. would you like to see?^^

William Levin said...

Yes, Skittles, please send your photo!

She Her Me said...

Too funny!

dpapanastasiou said...

Gee, are those people serious enough for themselves? I mean, why do they do that for saving time purposes? It drives you off completely...but I could be of a tease, meaning: how can you stand looking at those written "kind" phrases. Dont you go blind, or something xaxaxa.....you should write next to it: BUY A VOCABUlARY, SAVES YOUR WRITING DIGNITY! :D :p XEXE

Lee said...

This whole lowercase L thing is interesting. Shows up more than I would expect. Seems like those that do this are not using a full swiss army knife of tools upstairs. Mixing lower case and upper case is odd to begin with. But, why add the extra confusion on that lowercase L?

Anonymous said...

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems that people with not native English will never write lowercase L in UPPERCASE words. Nice idea to make a whole blog on one SMALL lowercase L point!

firegal said...

i can't wait to find my first lowercal l!

Anonymous said...

I've lived in England for over 25 years and I have NEVER seen an example of such alphabetical abuse.

emilia said...

I don't believe I'll ever be able to look at an uppercase letter L in the same was ever again.

someone said...

I think I have fallen in love with you.

Anonymous said...

nice blog! I think i know why people write lowercase L's. Simple. Its saves time and space.
I do it, sometimes. But now, after reading ur blog, I realise that L's are as important as A's and E's and that they have a right to written properly. I promise i wont do it again. :)

Calamity Jane said...

Since you are/were in London you may have noticed the new Olympics 2012 logo with a small 'l' for the capital of our capital city ... tsk tsk

Calamity Jane said...

Oops - forgot to post the website:

http://www.london2012.com/

DUNCAN said...

they kinda ruined the decrotive purpose of the plant by putting "NOT FOR SAle" scribbled on the pot with a magic marker...

Rudi said...

Outstanding topic for a BlOG.

HIlARIOUS and interesting at the same time... my favorite kind of writing.

Keep up the good work, and congrats on the BlOG of interest.

Bizzy Girl said...

I AM TOTAllY lINKING YOU TO MY BlOGSITE UNDER 'BlOGS THAT I WISH WERE MINE'. Seriously...this is right up my AllEY along with apostrophe abuse and non-words like 'irregardless'. Great blog idea!

Symbiosis said...

Interesting observation!

Anonymous said...



L is my letter...
maybe is cuz' my name is Lissette,


but i Love it!


hehehe...

Nice post.

MUa!

The Bran-ster said...

Sadly I'm one of the lower case l freaks and unfortunetly sometimes confuse myself. This blog however, is rigth up my alley and I love it. Thanks for sharing.
Bran's brain

tg said...

In general, interesting blog. This particular example, though, is more about a misplaced uppercase A than a lowercase l . . .

Katie Bowen said...

That's just upsetting.

Kim Thomas said...

Too Funny!!!! Best line: "it was just another reminder that lowercase L freaks are slowly taking over the world"

Anonymous said...

Looks more like:

"Not Fors Ale"

to me. Terrible kerning...

Keep up the good work!