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I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar: A Collection of Egregious Errors, Disconcerting Bloopers, and Other Linguistic Slip-Ups
Correct grammar and proper spelling can be a challenge, and their absence can be a source of gleeful humor to everyone but the victim of a bad grammar attack. How do you react to sandwich boards, road signs, laminated instructions, and other written missives that are just not exactly what their creator meant? If you've ever (gently) judged anyone else for their linguistic failures, if you find yourself guffawing about the frequent confusion between "incontinence" and "inconvenience," if you've ever been tempted to whip out your marker to add in or cross out apostrophes, and if you've refused to answer e-mails in which "your" and "you're" are used interchangeably, this book is for you. With pictures culled from the Facebook group by the same name, I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar is a hilarious and eye-opening tour through restaurants and shops, through parking lots and along winding roads, and around the world.
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 29, 2009
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946 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
September 23, 2021
longer review later. for now: booooooo! (that is an assessment, not a ghost)
okay—review proper. it might surprise some of you to know that poor grammar bothers me, too, despite the way i comport myself here. i might be a lazy typist here on goodreads.com, but this is me at parade rest. i just type so poorly already, like some kind of animal at the keyboard, that it is easier for me to just go zooooom and not bother with punctuation and capitals. this is casual, to me. were i writing a paper or making a nice sign or something more formal—i would tidy it up, grammatically speaking. this book seems to spring from a genuine revulsion towards the misuse of the apostrophe, but she is such a shit writer (and i am writing this at school, far from my book, so i have to double check if she is just the editor, or the writer, but it seemed to have a consistent tone throughout, so i think she was the author) that it loses all humor. yes, people misuse the apostrophe. all the time. and it is upsetting. but a number of things piss me off about this book. one: her targets. several times, it is clear that the sign that have the apostrophe in the wrong place are not signs where english is the first language. many times, the information will be in spanish or some other language, and underneath, there will be a close approximation in english, with a misplaced apostrophe. this doesn't bother me. if i am in another country, where i do not speak the language, i would be pleased as punch to see that an effort was being made to help me figure out what signs meant, and i wouldn't be so churlish as to criticize the grammar. jeez. particularly if i was anywhere in asia. i mean, really...the translations into english from any language of the whole continent is so charming that apostrophes are the least interesting thing to observe. i have a mug from japan that says "peekaboo! all smiles and no frowns that's what i want!" and it is the best. you can't hate something that is cute. i have tried. two: her comments are not funny. connor has this pet peeve about people who, instead of saying something clever as a retort, just say "oh, it's too easy...i could say something, but it would be too easy." he maintains that it is actually not easy, but that it is easy to say "it's too easy" rather than coming up with something funny. comprennez-vous? so but this book doesn't even take that escape route. this is supposed to be a humor book. captions should be humorous, not just abusive. so many of her comments are just: "it's not possessive—you are using the apostrophe wrong!" "'towels' means the towel owns it—jeez"...etc. this isn't funny. this is just an instructional manual on how to use the apostrophe. and it gets old. it's just page after page of the same old shit. i thought it would be funny, a la cake wrecks, but these are just picky little stupid bullshits. who takes time out of their life to complain about a yard sale sign?? i mean, really. what's funny on a cake is not funny everywhere. i hate this book.
come to my blog!
okay—review proper. it might surprise some of you to know that poor grammar bothers me, too, despite the way i comport myself here. i might be a lazy typist here on goodreads.com, but this is me at parade rest. i just type so poorly already, like some kind of animal at the keyboard, that it is easier for me to just go zooooom and not bother with punctuation and capitals. this is casual, to me. were i writing a paper or making a nice sign or something more formal—i would tidy it up, grammatically speaking. this book seems to spring from a genuine revulsion towards the misuse of the apostrophe, but she is such a shit writer (and i am writing this at school, far from my book, so i have to double check if she is just the editor, or the writer, but it seemed to have a consistent tone throughout, so i think she was the author) that it loses all humor. yes, people misuse the apostrophe. all the time. and it is upsetting. but a number of things piss me off about this book. one: her targets. several times, it is clear that the sign that have the apostrophe in the wrong place are not signs where english is the first language. many times, the information will be in spanish or some other language, and underneath, there will be a close approximation in english, with a misplaced apostrophe. this doesn't bother me. if i am in another country, where i do not speak the language, i would be pleased as punch to see that an effort was being made to help me figure out what signs meant, and i wouldn't be so churlish as to criticize the grammar. jeez. particularly if i was anywhere in asia. i mean, really...the translations into english from any language of the whole continent is so charming that apostrophes are the least interesting thing to observe. i have a mug from japan that says "peekaboo! all smiles and no frowns that's what i want!" and it is the best. you can't hate something that is cute. i have tried. two: her comments are not funny. connor has this pet peeve about people who, instead of saying something clever as a retort, just say "oh, it's too easy...i could say something, but it would be too easy." he maintains that it is actually not easy, but that it is easy to say "it's too easy" rather than coming up with something funny. comprennez-vous? so but this book doesn't even take that escape route. this is supposed to be a humor book. captions should be humorous, not just abusive. so many of her comments are just: "it's not possessive—you are using the apostrophe wrong!" "'towels' means the towel owns it—jeez"...etc. this isn't funny. this is just an instructional manual on how to use the apostrophe. and it gets old. it's just page after page of the same old shit. i thought it would be funny, a la cake wrecks, but these are just picky little stupid bullshits. who takes time out of their life to complain about a yard sale sign?? i mean, really. what's funny on a cake is not funny everywhere. i hate this book.
come to my blog! 
February 15, 2017
This quirky collection covers frustrating and funny mistakes and served as an entertaining way to spend a few minutes.
August 20, 2014
What a letdown. I wasn't expecting rolling on the ground laughter or anything, but I was hoping for a few chuckles in the 'ha ha auto-correct says the darndest things' kind of way. There were no chuckles to be had.
Not. A. One.
You know what's more annoying than a grammar slip up... the person who is continuously pointing out grammar slip ups.
Some people just don't get apostrophes, they add them where they shouldn't be and then sometimes don't use them when they need to, isn't that just hilarious?
I would say that at least 90% of the pictures have to do with the misuse of an apostrophe. It got old very quickly, like immediately.
The only thing that could save the content would be if Nichols' comments/captions were actually witty or clever. Surely this grammatical mastermind must also be a comedy genius.
This humorless book was incredibly boring and the 'author' came off as incredibly pretentious. There are no redeeming qualities, I'm just thankful that I got this at the library so that I didn't have to spend any money on it.
Would I recommend...
January 4, 2012
Seriously? What is wrong with America...how could they're teachers let them graduate from high school with out nowing how too use the proper spelling?
My paragraph above is annoying, isn't it? Then please, for once, use proper English spelling for God's sake!
The book displays a plethora of spelling and pronunciation which are commonly found in USA and elsewhere. Not surprisingly, the spelling mistakes are more commonplace in USA than in other English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, or Britain.
Some would assume that this is due to the fact that the author hails from Alabama. I would argue otherwise.
Most Americans students simply graduate from high school without knowing how to spell 'em right.
It's true.
My paragraph above is annoying, isn't it? Then please, for once, use proper English spelling for God's sake!
The book displays a plethora of spelling and pronunciation which are commonly found in USA and elsewhere. Not surprisingly, the spelling mistakes are more commonplace in USA than in other English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, or Britain.
Some would assume that this is due to the fact that the author hails from Alabama. I would argue otherwise.
Most Americans students simply graduate from high school without knowing how to spell 'em right.
It's true.
January 16, 2016
I actually did laugh out loud a couple times while reading some of these! Got some funny looks since I was sitting at the reference desk at work ... sorry,
I was given
some funny looks. Come on, people! Grammar saves lives!
December 22, 2017
Reading the gifts!
May 25, 2016
I was looking for something entertaining and light to read over lunch and grabbed this from the local library, thinking it would be clever and fun.
Nope.
About a third of the book is nothing but misplaced apostrophes. Most of the rest are common spelling errors and other misplaced punctuation. A small chunk is devoted to laughing at those for whom the English language is not their primary language. None of the mistakes are particularly funny.
Except one - on the Acknowledgement page, the word "acknowledge" is misspelled. It's always funny when people who are strict about the language skills of others feel that the same rules do not apply to them.
The captions were pointless. Imagine this: a photo shows a door to a restroom. The sign upon the door says, "boy's restroom" and the caption that follows says, "so, the restroom is for one boy?" Hardy har har. It's as if the author doesn't trust the reader to spot the mistake themselves, she has to point it out. Instead of clever and funny captions, her captions read more like, "hey, did you see that mistake? How stupid. I see the mistake. Do you?"
For a book written by such a smug perfectionist, the photos were terrible. Some blurry, some tiny, most amateurish.
If you are looking for true comedy along this vein, I recommend something like "Cake Wrecks" or "Awkward Family Photos". This book could only be useful to the ultra-smug grammar Nazi looking for another excuse to feel superior to human beings who make minor mistakes once in a while.
Nope.
About a third of the book is nothing but misplaced apostrophes. Most of the rest are common spelling errors and other misplaced punctuation. A small chunk is devoted to laughing at those for whom the English language is not their primary language. None of the mistakes are particularly funny.
Except one - on the Acknowledgement page, the word "acknowledge" is misspelled. It's always funny when people who are strict about the language skills of others feel that the same rules do not apply to them.
The captions were pointless. Imagine this: a photo shows a door to a restroom. The sign upon the door says, "boy's restroom" and the caption that follows says, "so, the restroom is for one boy?" Hardy har har. It's as if the author doesn't trust the reader to spot the mistake themselves, she has to point it out. Instead of clever and funny captions, her captions read more like, "hey, did you see that mistake? How stupid. I see the mistake. Do you?"
For a book written by such a smug perfectionist, the photos were terrible. Some blurry, some tiny, most amateurish.
If you are looking for true comedy along this vein, I recommend something like "Cake Wrecks" or "Awkward Family Photos". This book could only be useful to the ultra-smug grammar Nazi looking for another excuse to feel superior to human beings who make minor mistakes once in a while.
January 1, 2013
Bad signs are ubiquitous because people can't spell. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes embarrassing, most often they're just sad. There are at least four different groups on Flickr dedicated to misspellings, typos and bad signs. (I know because I belong to them.)
For a book like this it's not enough to simply collect various misspellings, you need to have a goodly dose of humor in the captions. If not a goodly dose, at least a dash. A sprinkle. ANYthing. There's no snark here, no wit. It's just mean-spirited judgement. I've never heard of this woman before, but based on what she's written here she seems to be a humorless, stupid witch. (Oops, typo. Correct that last word yourself.)
The other problem is that some of the signs aren't incorrect. "Car Park Valeting" isn't an error, you dumb cow: it's British. In Britland they call parking lots "car parks" and "valeting" is an actual word. Similarly, "colouring" is how the UKians spell it. So do Canadians and Australians and Indians-from-India and residents of Hong Kong. Yes, it's stupid to add random Us after random Os because the English were once upon a time trying to be French, but that's actually how they do it.
Also, at least two of the signs were clearly Photoshopped. You can't make fun of fake signs as if they're real. You just look like an idiot.
Skip this book. Go to Flickr and see some genuinely funny bad signs with actual snarky comments about them.
For a book like this it's not enough to simply collect various misspellings, you need to have a goodly dose of humor in the captions. If not a goodly dose, at least a dash. A sprinkle. ANYthing. There's no snark here, no wit. It's just mean-spirited judgement. I've never heard of this woman before, but based on what she's written here she seems to be a humorless, stupid witch. (Oops, typo. Correct that last word yourself.)
The other problem is that some of the signs aren't incorrect. "Car Park Valeting" isn't an error, you dumb cow: it's British. In Britland they call parking lots "car parks" and "valeting" is an actual word. Similarly, "colouring" is how the UKians spell it. So do Canadians and Australians and Indians-from-India and residents of Hong Kong. Yes, it's stupid to add random Us after random Os because the English were once upon a time trying to be French, but that's actually how they do it.
Also, at least two of the signs were clearly Photoshopped. You can't make fun of fake signs as if they're real. You just look like an idiot.
Skip this book. Go to Flickr and see some genuinely funny bad signs with actual snarky comments about them.
January 21, 2014
Hilarious collection of the misuse of grammar typical of today. I was rolling with laughter reading this book in our bookstore and had to put it on my staff-pick shelf. Though not included, I still cringe when I see "parking in rear" seriously?? It's AT the rear of the store...not IN. Anyway, I highly recommend this as a light read, bathroom read, or coffee table book. Any English major such as myself would both laugh and cringe with each turn of the page.
March 15, 2011
Kind of boring after awhile. You can only stretch the joke of the inadvertent apostrophe so far.
March 15, 2011
There is an awesome web site called http://www.engrish.com that for a long time has been capitalizing on hilarious errors like the ones presented in this book. The thing is, on Engrish, the guy who writes the site adds pithy comments to many of the pictures that, for me, take the pictures from amusing to hilarious.
This book is a collection of similar pictures, only in this case, the commentary is flat and sometimes downright stupid, which basically ruins the whole effect.
This is the sort of book that is mildly entertaining in someone's bathroom, but I wouldn't suggest anyone spend money on it.
This book is a collection of similar pictures, only in this case, the commentary is flat and sometimes downright stupid, which basically ruins the whole effect.
This is the sort of book that is mildly entertaining in someone's bathroom, but I wouldn't suggest anyone spend money on it.
December 26, 2012
Overall, the book was.. cute. It was merely a collection of pictures which display poor grammar. If you "read" this book, I suggest taking it in small doses. I went through the book in one sitting; once I got about fifty pages in, my only goal was to quickly finish the book. The pictures are cute, but the captions that go with them are cheesy and repetitive. One picture was pointing out the poor spelling of a child's drawing. Does the author truly think readers will be shocked that a child cannot properly spell "Texas"? It happens! Anyways, if you're looking for a cute coffee table kind of book, this is perfect. If you're wanting to actually read something.. pass.
July 7, 2013
A funny, little, happy thing. :-)
August 31, 2021
I seriously would have given this one star but in the grand scheme of things it was a gift from a friend so I feel bad for it. I was excited to be gifted this book since I am a big fan of funny and misspelled signs. I picked it up and read it in maybe twenty minutes only to feel like I wasted that much time for maybe one or two laughs. I think the title should've been something like "The Big Book Of Missing Apostrophes!" or even "These Signs Are All The Same and My Captions Aren't All That Great!". I was somewhat amused that some of these had such glaringly obvious mistakes and yet no one caught them. However the funnier ones were spaced far enough apart that it wasn't as if it was continuously funny and I was left flipping the pages and crossing my fingers that her captions may get better. Spoiler Alert: THEY DIDN'T. After sitting here and reading everything I just typed (I'm sure there are some errors since it's not yet 7am and I need coffee) I'll stick with my 2 stars but I think it's obvious that I'm being generous.
February 9, 2021
I am in complete sympathy with this writer. I too bemoan misplaced apostrophes, misspellings, and homophone confusion (there/their/they're, who's/whose, its/it's, your/you're, etc.). I have personally chastised one of our local TV stations for advertising "Family FUED" and "Who WANT To Be a Millionaire?"
What I was able to read of this was both funny and sad. (I cringe when I think what the NEXT generation is going to do to the English language!) Unfortunately, the pages were on the small side, so the pictures were even smaller, and I did not have a magnifying glass available to help my seventy-something eyes figure out the wording in many of the illustrations.
If you have a reputation as being a bit of a "Grammar Nazi," you will most likely enjoy this book. If you're on the upper side of 40, get your magnifying glass out.
What I was able to read of this was both funny and sad. (I cringe when I think what the NEXT generation is going to do to the English language!) Unfortunately, the pages were on the small side, so the pictures were even smaller, and I did not have a magnifying glass available to help my seventy-something eyes figure out the wording in many of the illustrations.
If you have a reputation as being a bit of a "Grammar Nazi," you will most likely enjoy this book. If you're on the upper side of 40, get your magnifying glass out.
October 26, 2020
This is a hilarious (and very frustrating) look at the poor choices some people make with grammar. (That was kind of a poorly-constructed sentence in itself!) This is a collection compiled by a Facebook group who keeps watch for signs and comments they find in public that show just how many people don't know how to use grammar and punctuation correctly. It's amazing to me, but not really surprising I guess, that there are so many difficulties with apostrophes in particular, using either too many or not putting them in when needed. Misspellings are also all-too-common. But if you don't take it too seriously, it's funny to see how many mangled words and phrases are put out into the world. Quick and fun read.
January 15, 2024
This was a very short non-fiction book about bad grammar, told entirely in pictures and captions. And it did not take me long to read.
The author runs a Facebook page, of the same title as the book, and this book is a collection of stuff that people submitted to the Facebook page. On every page are one, or two, or three, or whatever pictures, showing examples of poor grammar (misplaced apostrophes, wrong homophonic word used (i.e,. “to” instead of “too”), horrible misspellings, and other things that a spellchecker could have salvaged.
According to the back cover, this book costs $9.99 ($12.75 in Canada). I am very glad that I borrowed this book through my library, because I can’t see paying any money to read this book.
The author runs a Facebook page, of the same title as the book, and this book is a collection of stuff that people submitted to the Facebook page. On every page are one, or two, or three, or whatever pictures, showing examples of poor grammar (misplaced apostrophes, wrong homophonic word used (i.e,. “to” instead of “too”), horrible misspellings, and other things that a spellchecker could have salvaged.
According to the back cover, this book costs $9.99 ($12.75 in Canada). I am very glad that I borrowed this book through my library, because I can’t see paying any money to read this book.
April 6, 2021
I would have only given this book a 3-star rating because it is an overly brief and simplistic collection of photos of grammatical errors on public signs. However, I give it a 4-star rating since too many people make these grammatical errors and there is a shortage of people willing to police them.
This book is not as humorous as it is sobering for shining a spotlight on crappy grammar skills. For example, when I see the all too common misplaced or omitted apostrophe I know that it angers me that so many people do not understand the proper use of an apostrophe. I don't laugh at them. These vexatious errors are not funny one iota but maddening!
This book is not as humorous as it is sobering for shining a spotlight on crappy grammar skills. For example, when I see the all too common misplaced or omitted apostrophe I know that it angers me that so many people do not understand the proper use of an apostrophe. I don't laugh at them. These vexatious errors are not funny one iota but maddening!
January 21, 2019
I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar: A Collection of Egregious Errors, Disconcerting Bloopers, and other Linguistic Slip-ups by Sharon Eliza Nichols – a short little pocket sized book great for reading a page or two at a time. Each page includes color photos of signs which include spelling or grammar errors. Most seem to be with apostrophes, all photos are quite small making some signs difficult to read. Grammar Nazi’s will enjoy the book, others will state the same errors get old quickly. Either way, readers will think twice before publishing again.
May 11, 2017
The pictures in this book are great and hilarious... however I think the author could have been a bit more humorous in her commentary of the posts. Her commentary fell really flat, and I felt it was unfair she was taking credit for other people's pictures when she wasn't offering up her own humor (even though she gave credit to the people who took the photo... shes' the one who made the book and is making money off it)
September 23, 2017
I used to find books and blogs like these funny, but now I feel that they are mean-spirited. They mainly target people with less education, dialects that are looked down on or commonly mocked, or those who have learned English as a second (or third or fourth) language. It's elitist to make fun of another's ability to write or speak "properly."
January 30, 2018
This is a funny book of great pictures with grammatical bloopers. The sad part is that I bought this after laughing repeatedly at pictures on their social media pages, but the printed pages are very poor quality, making the pictures hard to read. Squinting and trying to decipher words makes the whole thing decidedly less funny. Probably would be great as an eBook.
January 9, 2022
No.
The author has a successful Facebook page, where she shows photos of signs with grammatical errors. A road crew paints "YEILD" rather "YIELD". A high school cheer squad puts together a banner for "SPIRT WEEK".
This book is a re-packaging of the photos from that page. It's mildly amusing, but I don't think it was worth cutting down trees and printing them out on paper.
The author has a successful Facebook page, where she shows photos of signs with grammatical errors. A road crew paints "YEILD" rather "YIELD". A high school cheer squad puts together a banner for "SPIRT WEEK".
This book is a re-packaging of the photos from that page. It's mildly amusing, but I don't think it was worth cutting down trees and printing them out on paper.
January 7, 2018
Moderately entertaining; some of the entries were laugh-out-loud funny, others (what, another pluralization by apostrophe? Nothing special or noteworthy about it? How any of these does it take to get boring?) not so much.
January 9, 2019
Maybe I'd enjoy this more if I was more of a grammar freak, but I don't get very riled up over most of the images in this book. This book was largely a complaint about the excess or absence of commas; the most entertaining part was section 7: Lost in Translation.
June 13, 2024
A series of photographs of poor grammar and misspellings. Some of them are difficult to see or read. Many are repetitive, e.g. confusion about they're, there, and their. Typical of the stuff that comes up on Facebook all the time.
June 11, 2017
FANTASTIC. :D
January 1, 2018
Good chuckle
January 7, 2018
Grammar...it's not that difficult folks. This was great!
April 20, 2019
I definitely judge, and these samples were funny enough, but the misused apostrophe is such a common trope these days, I don't think it should be used to pad out these types of books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews