PlEASE THAKS

Elizabeth found this note taped to a soda machine at a junk yard in Provo, Utah. Could this author have been trying to save space by making the L lowercase, and also excluding the N in THAKS? That would be the clever thing to do.

PlAYER Hater

Drew sent in this bulletin board want ad for a BASS PlAYER and GUITAR PlAYER. Besides the lowercase L's, there are other hints of dysgraphic action going on in Ken's writing, like the special WANtED headline. I hope the band they form is better than the letter case consistency in their want ad.

Oh lORD

Fellow blogger from complainaway took a photo of this tee-shirt in a head shop, and the store owner came running out to protest. Was he embarrassed because GOD IS COMING, but this shirt is not worthy of His greatness, because it uses a lowercase L improperly? This kind of ungodly error is what happens when you try to lOOK BUSY, but really aren't.

BlOODY L

I came across this box of Koo-Koo Pebbles cereal designed by Kevin Schmid randomly on the web. I love the packaging, everything is good ... except for that RICH BlOODY FLAVOR! That one slip of the lowercase L is a real cereal killer.

FlOWER POWER

Happy New Year! Sorry for the lack of posts in the last few weeks, hopefully 2008 will bring many more.

I'll kick off the new year with flowers, AlSTROMERIAS to be exact. I had never heard of these "Lilies of the Incas" until I looked them up to check the spelling, but took the photo anyway, figuring that "Aistromeria" was an unlikely name.

POlAND

Piotr C. of Poland submits this foreign language case of typographically inconsistent (but not entirely confusing, since the CAllAN L's are taller than the other letters) lowercase L usage:

Recently I visited the part of Warsaw I'd never been before. It was late in the night and we were waiting at the bus stop for the bus to come. And than I saw this poster, which was advertising some language school. When I saw its title I immediately recalled your blog.

The title says: "Caiian Method". It looks a lot like Hawaiian ;) But they obviously meant "Callan Method" and apparently those lower case L's in the middle seem to have their shape for aesthetic purposes (but still typographically incorrect).

Further writing states: "English 4 times faster", "Attention! New! Only with us!", and so on.

I like the speaking Pacmen!

Please RECYClE

Supposedly I live in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Brooklyn, but some of my fellow Park Slope neighbors don't seem to be living up to our reputation. Take this 6th Ave. sighting of the Recycle bin. Sure, it's just trash, but even the hot mommas in this neighborhood put on a little makeup and dress to impress when they go to the grocery store. I expect no less from our PlASTIC and GlASS bins, especially if the author is going to take the time to write the i's so capital they resemble uppercase T's.

Off-COlOR

Walk-ins may be welcome here, but this off-COlOR sign may result in a few walk-outs. Found by Grant H. in Austin, Texas, this is a perfect example of the lowercase L enigma -- the L in COlOR is the only lowercase L on the board, while all the other letters, including all the other L's, are uppercase.  I'd call the number on the sign to ask, but those 1's might be lowercase 7's.

COllEGE

Our readers are training their offspring to carry on the lowercase L mission! This one was spotted last spring outside Northeastern University in Boston by Jackie, daughter of contributor and fellow nitpicking blogger Bob H. of Why a Tittle.  As with many signs, the author passed with ONLY one uppercase L, but didn't make the grade in COllEGE.

HAPPY HAllOWEEN!

Melanie of Sammamish, WA writes,

I have been reading your blog for quite a while now which has kept me on the lookout for lowercase ls. I didn’t think that I would ever find one… until tonight. I almost caused a traffic accident because I was so excited about the find! I guess the marquee poster decided that this (pictured) would look less weird than HALlOWEEN lOCK IN. I think that I agree.

HAPPY HAllOWEEN!