 Just as one does not, most likely, appoint a builder on his ability, or inability, to spell the word ‘extension’, it is probable that in appointing someone to look after one’s garden, one does not care how he spells his trade.
‘Gardner’ has yet to make it into the Chambers Dictionary but has recently made an appearance on the streets of Cork.
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 Canopies – with a Kinsale accent I remember reading that it was the writer’s responsibility as to spelling. The sub-editor’s responsibility did not extend that far. Last week, I showed a printer of commercial signs some of the errors that gave rise to blog pages hereabout. As well as smiles and even a laugh, I did receive a response that the proof is always sent to the customer to check. Just like builders, dry cleaners and barbers, it is the skill of the seamstress or garment maker rather than their proofreading ability that concerns most…….
 This morning I spotted a tweet about the closing time at the Regional Park in Ballincollig being brought back an hour with the start of September. My Irish vocabulary is not huge but the use of ‘geatí’ did look odd. The web confirmed that it was incorrect – ‘geataí’ being the plural of ‘geata’. In my real life, as opposed to this virtual life, I have spoken with the official translator at Cork County Council, so am aware that she exists, or at least existed. I was very very surprised to read that only a month ago the Irish Examiner revealed that Cork County Council used Google Translate as a translation service – definitely not fit for that purpose I would have thought. The dogs needed a walk this afternoon so we headed to the Powdermills so that I could take my own photograph of ‘Geatí’. Within yards of the closing time sign, there is another notice regarding the locking of the gates. This uses ‘Geataí’ – curiouser and curiouser…..
 I spotted this message a few weeks back. With the door open, it was obvious that some building work was being carried out. Having been in the shop a few times, I knew that English was not the first language of all. I fully understood the message that was intended to be conveyed, but that did not stop me smiling at the actual message. Maybe I have been looking at signs for too long or in too much detail…..   Maybe ‘a’ scarpered at the last emergency and was unable to be reinstated with’a’, ‘r’ and ‘e’. Or maybe not…….  This was on the noticeboard of the city library a few weeks back.  I did wonder as to the survey…..
Whether one of the questions was how to spell ‘P-A-R-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-E’…… Whether one of the objectives was to measure tolerance for spelling and grammatical issues as one aged – may be there is hope for me yet 
 Sunday afforded me the chill out opportunity to visit St. Colman’s Cemetery in Cobh. My search for the headstone carved and engraved by Seamus Murphy was successful.
I stopped my search as I passed this grave. I even paused as to how the word was actually spelled. I pondered the second ‘h’ but remained convinced that there was definitely no ‘a’. Did the engraver, seller, or buyer pause at the spelling? Was it sold cheaply as seller was aware of how to spell ‘Shepherd’? Maybe I need to take more chill-out time and let these spelling issues pass me by – although I suspect that is just the way I was made and will not change.  'To', 'Two' & 'Too' are not probably as deadly as Live, Earth & Neutral Many thanks to NK who spotted this on his recent trip to the U.K.. He, correctly thought it would spark an interest hereabouts.
Once again, the construction sector confirms that spelling and building are not natural bedfellows.  Abbeystrowry, Skibbereen  Castlehaven, Skibbereen Con, Connie, Cornelia and Neilus – I have met at least one person with each these names on my journeys about this planet.
I do not think that I have ever met a ‘Cornelious’ but some of those who I addressed as ‘Cornelius’ may have been silently offended at my assumption as to the spelling of their name. When I spotted this headstone at Abbeystrowry Cemetery earlier, my first thought was that it was an unusual spelling – one that I had not seen previously. My crossword brain then kicked in thinking that words ending in ‘ious’ are generally adjectives – devious, previous, conscious… Reading down the headstone, it appears that ‘Cornelious’ was a popular name in a branch of the McCarthy clan. There are many names that demand clarification as to spelling when first introduced to the nameholder – Ahern/Aherne; Mahony/ O’Mahony/ O’Mahoney (generally leads to a soup discussion); and, Isobel/Isabel/Isabelle. Cornelius/ Cornelious has now been added to that list.  set on it's own grounds A few friends have counselled that I need to curb my tendency to point out errors of spelling and grammar – not that such counsel may come back to bite me, that has happened and I survived intact, more a fear of resulting in a punch to the nose.
I have been in The Firgrove Hotel in Mitchelstown very many times – convenient half-way for Cork/Limerick meetings (I spotted Munster Rugby there a few times) and decent food on the road home. I have passed through the entrance lobby often. I cannot recall this sign previously. Last week was my first time reading it – also first time noticing its existence so maybe new. I just had to return to reception to point out the sign. There ensued a discussion as to ‘it’ and the use of apostrophe – only when shortening of ‘it is’ or 'it has' and not denoting possession. Thankfully I left without adjustment to my facial configuration.  I wonder if I have spent too much time looking at signs. I did not spot anything wrong with this when photographing, admittedly from the other side of the road – that happened only when reviewing the photographs from my trip to Tullamore recently.
I like the script for the streetnames as gaeilge but there appeared to be a fada missing - Uíbh Fhailí. I did check with logainm.ie who confirmed that they have no record of an Offally St but do have for Offaly St. – which does translate as Sráid Uíbh Fhailí. I cannot be the first person to have spotted this particular spelling. I wonder if there is a story to its name or maybe the signmaker may have wished to be a BIFFO…  I suspect that there is only one ‘word’ who has provided a source for four separate blogs – that ‘word’ being ‘extention’.
This van was spotted in Tralee – so that makes two Kerry builders and two from Cork leading the campaign for an alternative spelling of ‘extension’ to be included in the dictionaries. I promise that any future blogs on extension will include more than one ‘extention’ – so may take a while.  BALLUSTRADE - BALUSTRADE  Yet again, the construction sector comes up trumps – signwriting on a van demanding another blog entry.
For once, my three online dictionaries are in agreement and I am standing behind the same balustrade. Some words are pronounced differently in Cork to elsewhere - committee (or ‘comet’ ‘tee’) being one. It may be that Carrigtwohill is striking out and starting its own spelling regime. Or maybe it is just a balls-up.   ‘Stocktake’ had been filed away in my vocabulary as one word, not two ‘Stock Take’. A few months back, Golden Discs questioned my understanding. Once again, the online dictionaries are not totally at one. Collins is definite as to one word, ‘stocktake’. If there are two words, it is ‘take stock’. Chambers does not like either – no listing for ‘stock take’ or ‘stocktake’. Macmillan is similar but does have an entry for ‘stocktaking’. Once again, proof that words and their usage are forever changing… |
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