Join two wayward radio hosts on A Way With Words, the call-in radio show about writing, speaking, slang, old sayings, and more.

Login   •   Register  

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Chi-Tonw. You read that right. Want a tattoo?

Two years ago, a mistake was made: The tattoo read "Chi-Tonw" instead of "Chi-Town." Now, in an act of solidarity, more people are getting tattoos spelled Chi-Tonw on purpose. This fellow had it spelled that way on his neck. Chicago Tribune news and blog coverage, and audio on NPR.

Filed under Language and Languages • (2) Comments • Permalink

A cousin of mine in North-West Ireland ordered two banners that would go along the rails on the sides of her moderate sized yacht. Each banner had a blue background with white lettering, and was about 20 feet long by 3 feet high. One banner came back correctly spelt with the name of the boat spelt out in capital letters on it - it contained the words “WHITE LOTUS”. But the banner for the other side of the boat had a terrible spelling mistake on it. It read “WHITE LOUTS”.
Posted by Colin Boyd on  04/12  at  02:47 AM

Regarding “White Louts”: Are you sure it was a mistake and not a comment about Yuppies? ;-)

In the next town from me, there is a convenience store where I noticed the sign read, “KIWK STOP.” It could be a mistake, but it also might be a deliberate misspelling to prevent a lawsuit by someone owning the rights to the name “Kwik Stop.”

Posted by Mark on  04/19  at  02:33 AM

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

This is the personal weblog of Grant Barrett, editor of the Double-Tongued Dictionary, a collection of words from the fringes of English. More about this site...

Recent Entries

Recent Catchwords

Archives

November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
September 2005
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
June 1999

Categories