Magazines and flyers are constant sources of grammatical errors and other interesting blog material for The Essay Expert.  This week I’m writing just a few examples of what I found in the ads populating a recent Madison’s DollarsandSense coupon flyer.  These examples are good reminders to pay attention to your writing!

1.  Ad for ChoreCare (www.ChoreCareMadison.com)

Original text:  “All jobs & work is customized to meet your needs.”

Commentary:  Jobs & work are two things and the verb should therefore be plural.

Correction:  All jobs & work are customized to meet your needs.

This error is very common and I find myself making it more often than I’d like to admit.  A few days ago, I wrote, regarding the improvement to one of my client’s resumes:  The other bullets show his success on both the artistic and strategic side of marketing.

I quickly caught my error and changed “side” to “sides,” since I was talking about two sides – plural!

What makes this one slippery is that in speech, we often do not distinguish between the singular and plural in situations such as the ones above.  I see this as another example of purist vs. progressive language (see Top 10 Obsolete Grammar Rules – by Steven Sawyer).

Whether you are a purist or a progressive on this one, I encourage you to pay attention and make a choice, rather than make a blind potential error.  Please share if you find yourself challenged by this issue!

2.  Ad for Mother Nature’s Diaper Service, Inc.

Original text:  “Reserve a Pre-birth Delivery Date Today!”

(click for full size ad)

Commentary:  Is this line an intentional joke?  It seems the writers might be unaware that they have made a pun on “Delivery Date.” How can there be a pre-birth delivery [of a baby]?  OH…  a *diaper* delivery.  I get it.

Is it just me, or does pre-birth remind you of afterbirth (the placenta and fetal membranes that are normally expelled from the uterus after the birth of the baby) — now that’s something I don’t want delivered to my door!  I just don’t like the phrase “Pre-birth Delivery” at all, even if it was intended to be clever, which I’m not convinced it was.

My suggested correction:  Reserve a Diaper Delivery Date Today!

Now that’s cute, and it plays well on the word “Delivery” without being downright perplexing.

3.  Ad for Sierra Concepts, LLC Basement Waterproofing Specialists

Original text:  “$50 OFF Crack Injections”

Commentary:  I realize “crack injection” is a trade term, but really!  Am I the only one who immediately calls up an image of desolate streets and needles and crazed looking drug addicts?

My suggested correction:  $50 OFF Basement Crack Repair.

Boring, maybe.  But it gets the point across safely.

What are your favorite examples of incorrect or funny ads?  Please share them here!