lAUGHING OUT lOUD

Sorry again for the lack of posts in the last few weeks. I just finished producing a music video for Passover, called "20 Things To Do With Matzah". It doesn't have much to do with lowercase L, but one of the YouTube comments did. I'm happy to know my audience are LOl!

REFillS PlEASE

Lowercase L reader Violet found this at a Mexican taqueria. I would ask the author of this sign to PlEASE explain why he got ALL correct, but PlEASE is not at all correct. And REFillS is not so bad, at least it's possible to distinguish the dotted i from the lowercase L's. And this is the first sign that was actually posted high on Coke.

SlOPPY SlOPE

On the exact same street intersection here in Park Slope, Brooklyn, using the same bright orange colored boards, apparently the same author was hired to construct these ROAD ClOSED signs and post them on 3rd Street and 7th Avenue almost exactly a year ago. The signs certainly are different than they were last year, since the closure time is now 4pm instead of 3pm, and this year they were written in a bold style. So this author either has never seen this blog to learn a lesson in improper use of lowercase L's ... or he is fully aware and choses to mock me.

Loony ClOONEY

Wendy W. found this supreme celebrity example of lowercase L lunacy — and apostrophe abuse — on the People.com. It almost looks as if Renée Zellweger is pointing directly at the L in GEORGE ClOONEY, as if she is mocking the fan who wrote the sign. This one ROCK'S!

WAlK-INS

Lowercase L reader Jeff muses,

Thanks for doing this blog. I was delighted to find it because this enigma has perplexed me for years. I mean, what's so hard about case consistency, especially with the "L"? I like to muse about what some of these people would do with words like "willing", and "hillbillies". I see the phenomenon a lot in the grafitti of my co-workers, but I think I'll stick to signs like this one. It was on the Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook, CT. The other side was correct, but was clearly written by somebody else.

Thanks, Jeff, and WAlK-INS like this one are certainly welcome.

OlD POST PUB

Missoula, Montana artist Marc Moss made my day with this colorful contribution:

The Old Post Pub in Missoula, MT has some great lowercase ls. They originate from the chalkboard above the bar that displays which beers they have on tap. The artist dissed The Kettlehouse, Blackfoot Brewing Company and Flathead Lake Brewing Company. (All 3 breweries have great beer, BTW).

In addition to the bastardized brewery names, you'll do a double-take with DOUBlE HAUl IPA, and freeze with terror at the sight of COlD SMOKE.

Unnatural SElECTION

I found this sign at a convenience store a few weeks ago when I went home to visit my family in Vineland, New Jersey. It was in Vineland that I first started noticing the lowercase L phenomenon as a child, so it was no surprise to find this highly unnatural SElECTION as I purchased my Mega Millions lottery tickets. I'm surprised I didn't win the lottery that night ... after finding that lowercase L gem, I was feeling lucky.

lOST IN TRANSlATION

Mike found these stunning examples of lowercase L "Engrish" translation in a Shanghai supermarket. You might say the person who constructed this sign wasn't using his noodle when he spelled out NOODlES, but at least he has the excuse of English as a second language.

I guess he was no literary genius, either, judging by this remarkably vague sign leading us to the lITERARY STYLK THING.

FAll SPECIAl

Local Brooklynite Bethany B. found this one a few months ago on Court Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. I believe this FAll SPECIAl could mark the fall of civilization.

I like this alternate photo below — if you click enlarge, you can see the reflection of stunned bystanders all gathering around to witness the atrocity.

Set in Stone

Over the years, we've seen a variety of lowercase L mishaps — mostly handwritten, some minor typographical lowercase L errors, and even a few doozies with more permanent ramifications. But this one, discovered by fellow Blogger Christian, is about as permanent and humiliating as you can get when it comes to poor lowercase L judgement.

Photographed above is a memorial to physicist Harry K. Daghlian, Jr., a physicist whose bad luck apparently didn't end when, in 1945, he became the first person killed in a critical mass experiment while developing atomic bombs at the government's secret lab in Los Alamos, N.M. In what might be the worst case of lowercase L abuse to date, Daghlian's native New London, Connecticut memorialized him with this monument, HARRY K. DAGHlIAN JR, boldly chiseled in stone.

Thankfully this is a memorial and not his actual gravestone. Otherwise I have a feeling Harry would be turning over.

Update 3/5/08: I've tried coming up with a logical explanation for this incredible example of lowercase L misuse. The most likely scenario I can think of is that the engraver was given a handwritten note on paper, with Daghlian's name already bastardized as DAGHlIAN. The engraver probably just chiseled away at the marble accordingly, figuring the author of the epitaph knew better than he. I can just imagine the conversation after the stone memorial was delivered.

"Who is Daghiian? You need to change it to DAGHLIAN!"

"Sorry, that's what you wrote on the form. There's no way to squeeze in the uppercase L now. We'd need to carve an entirely new piece. It'll cost ya'".

"We don't have the budget to buy another! I guess this one will have to do. People will know it's an L, right?"

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, mister."