* Background is here. A sign at an entrance to the Illinois State Fair on Sunday. Emphasis added by me…

Also, notice how they spell it as “Veteran’s Day” and “Veterans’ Day.” The State Fair website has it as “Veterans Day.”

Sheesh.

       

44 Comments - Perrid - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:04 pm: I have always written it as “Veterans” day, no possessive, though now that I think about it that would make sense. I think I would go with “Veterans’” day, since there is more than 1 veteran. Either way, pick one and keep it consistent. - Soccermom - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:15 pm: Grrr. Many years ago — a few days after my father had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and a few days before he died – I drafted a gubernatorial proclamation. I was pretty distracted, as you might imagine. So when I was cutting and pasting some text, I overlooked a subject-verb agreement error. AND THE TRIBUNE DID A STORY ABOUT IT! ABOUT HOW THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE WAS UNPARDONABLY SLOPPY! So where is the Tribune story on this? - Nick Name - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:16 pm: @Perrid, it’s the “thanks,” not the apostrophe on “veterans’.” - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:23 pm: Typos happen, but the sheer number of typos, mistakes and bonehead plays (Friday, 2108) from this fair crew in such a short period of time is simply a sign of shoddy work. You’ve had months to produce this stuff. Lots of eyes were on these materials (or should have been) before they were produced. I think Rauner found his waste, fraud and abuse. Whatever this crew is getting paid, it’s too much. Do your jobs next time. - Perrid - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:25 pm: @Nick Name, haha, yes, of course I noticed that after Rich highlighted it for us (nervous glancing around). I evidently shouldn’t be the first one to cast a stone. - Nick Name - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:26 pm: Copy editing and proofreading are for poindexters, I guess. - Precinct Captain - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:27 pm: Beyond sad at this point. - Concerned Dem - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:29 pm: Mike Madigan and the grammar he controls? - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:30 pm: The distain this administration must have for the Fair… Not only are these errors so redundant, they still put up the sign. No pride in work product? You may not think too much about this state or the fair, but how about your own work product reflecting on yourself? - Tier1gal - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:30 pm: They should be using the State’s graphic department for these signs and media. Not GO staff interns or non-union, cheap labor they found on the street. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:32 pm: Thanks you, Miller…for the laugh…I really needed it today. #Proof readers available…contact@ D.C.& Howe - Thoughts Matter - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:36 pm: It should not have a possessive, For example - Martin Luther King Day, Barack Obama Day- Labor Day. Adding - I’m looking at our own list of state holidays- and they are all mixed up on possessives. Veterans Day does have a possessive on that list. - Moe Berg - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:39 pm: A self-fulling prophecy when a core tenet of your party is that government can’t do anything right. From that standpoint, the worse you do, the better. - A Jack - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:41 pm: It should be Veterans Day since it is a day to honor all veterans. If it’s Veterans’ day that means it a day that belongs to all veterans and we should get to pick who we want to give speeches on our day. So far no one has asked me my choice. If it’s Veteran’s Day then the day only belongs to one lucky veteran and I would like to meet that guy. - My New Handle - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:43 pm: We have gotten lazy with grammar and spelling, sometimes in purpose. Journalists have created “lede” instead of “lead” for some reason, and “thru” instead of “through.” The authors of these signs are a product of our general disrespect for the language, Alice’s Humpty Dumpty viewpoint notwithstanding. - Lynn S. - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:47 pm: Four words in the last sentence should not be capitalized. - Leigh John-Ella - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:47 pm: There are still several former SJ-R copyeditors milling about town ever since Gatehouse canned them all. They’re familiar with working for terrible employers so the Rauner administration would be a natural fit. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:50 pm: –Journalists have created “lede” instead of “lead” for some reason…– The reason is to distinguish it from the other definitions of “lead.” That has nothing to do with print ads where every day is Friday and the year is wrong in the headline. - City Zen - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:57 pm: Putting aside the grammatical error, the sign should’ve been made with the “If you see…” statement on top. That comma after “today” bothers me too. - blue dog dem - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:00 pm: Thanks for the memories. Bruce. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:01 pm: My father-in-law is a veteran and we have taken him every year for at least the last 10 years. We walked up to an information booth to ask where to go for the pins this year and were told that the pins were given out at a ceremony at 9:30 that morning. We didn’t think that was correct so we kept wondering around looking. Eventually we found them, in a box on a picnic table. - Precinct Captain - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:03 pm: - My New Handle - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 12:43 pm: Language isn’t static. https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/bury-the-lede-versus-lead - IllinoisBoi - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:11 pm: “Thru” was popular with spelling reformers and journalists in the late 1800s and early 1900s but then “through” reasserted itself. Hardly evidence of recent decline in spelling standards. - Cubs in '16 - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:33 pm: Anonymous @ 1:01 So you were wondering while wandering? - Captain Obvious - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:34 pm: I think the word Willie may have been searching for is disdain. He is ready to take his spot on Rauner’s staff… - DarkHorse - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:37 pm: Many of these face palms don’t bother me at all. Take the misspelling on the Butter Cow. That’s an awesome sculpture! It’s oddly endearing that someone talented enough to make that isn’t a great speller. - Eire17 - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:45 pm: Over by horse barns there is a sign “no golf cars after 10 a.m.”. Not cart. Car. Wow - LINK - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:46 pm: First it was fluoridation. Then they eliminated cursive. And now we start to see the results of their never ending plot against freedom. s/n - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:49 pm: - Captain Obvious - I make mistakes a lot. I’m not getting paid to present a professional image or write for publication promoting something that people hold near and dear to their hearts. Also… editors and having others read your work product is a way to make sure what you want representing you or others you work for aren’t made to look ridiculous. My comments here are perfectly flawed. :) - Soccermom - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 1:59 pm: A little Trib-related spelling history for y’all. https://newrepublic.com/article/114136/sane-spelling-robert-mccormicks-1930s-experiment-change-english - zatoichi - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 2:02 pm: This has to be one person covering for 4-5 others with an intense push from above to get it done and out the door. - Dance Band on the Titanic - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 2:20 pm: Perhaps they should just use emojis from here on out. - Uncle Merkin - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 2:38 pm: Keep him their, he makes me feel better about my own grammer mistake’s. - Stuff Happens - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 2:44 pm: No apostrophe. https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetday_faq.asp “Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an “s” at the end of “veterans” because it is not a day that “belongs” to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans.” - My New Handle - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 2:53 pm: To critics of my post on lazy language use, thank you for your thoughtful critiques. If the Fair posters communicate the events to the public, regardless of spelling errors or “typos,” then the posters serve their intended purpose. - don the legend - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 3:40 pm: Maybe Rauner found some of those pins during his heroic stay at the Veteran’s, Veterans’, Veterans home in Quincy. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 3:51 pm: –If the Fair posters communicate the events to the public, regardless of spelling errors or “typos,” then the posters serve their intended purpose.– I can’t wait for that 2108 fair. Full of Fridays. You know, people are on the taxpayer dime producing this stuff. Have some standards. - My New Handle - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 4:19 pm: Wordslinger, do you truly believe the intent of the poster is for the 2108 Fair? Do you judge yourself on you intentions and others by their actions? - My New Handle - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 4:21 pm: And as referenced above, language is not static, therefore neither are the standards. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 4:33 pm: –And as referenced above, language is not static, therefore neither are the standards.– Yeah, but I’m pretty sure these fair cats weren’t trying to re-invent the lingo. They were just sloppy, time and again. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 5:00 pm: –Wordslinger, do you truly believe the intent of the poster is for the 2108 Fair? Do you judge yourself on you intentions and others by their actions?– I judge a printed piece on many things. A typo now and again is one thing. But when so many pieces in a row have multiple typos and mistakes I would judge the work as poor, and the intent of those producing it as doing as little work as possible. - Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 6:13 pm: Whatever happened to taking pride in your work? Checking it twice? Supervisory review? In my old shop, anything that left the building had half a dozen pair of watchful eyes on it first and our work reflected that care. Is this a foreign language, or am I just hopelessly old fashioned? - Anon - Tuesday, Aug 14, 18 @ 6:14 pm: If anyone is wondering why there’s no possessive, it’s because in Veterans Day, veterans takes the dative case because it’s modifying day. It also describes the act of ‘giving’ the day to a veterans. Hence why we have Veterans Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, not Labor’s day, President’s Day, Memorial’s Day. - Some Dude - Wednesday, Aug 15, 18 @ 11:19 am: AP Style tip: Veterans Day is the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I in 1918. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.