My gym had a sign posted this week that amused me: "We will be closed on Monday, November 12, in memory of our Veterans". Um, ok. "In memory of" is usually reserved for the dead. Veterans' Day is meant to honor service personnel, living and dead, but primarily living. Memorial Day is the one where you are supposed to honor the memory of the dead.
I know, in this day and age, I shouldn't let a little thing like inaccurate semantics bother me. In the age of computer-enabled high speed communication, people often misspell or poorly state their ideas. However, if you're going to post a notice I hope you put a little more consideration into it than you do an email to a friend. Especially when the audience is full of people with advanced college degrees (the clientele at my gym are highly over-educated).
Such things are good for a chuckle. Fellow blogger Change Junkie has a link to a great site for such things: Engrish.com.
Enjoy! And, have a peaceful Veterans' Day.
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2 comments:
I don't see it as a semantic nit at all. You are honoring an entirely different group with one wording versus the other. You don't have to die in service to the nation to be appreciated.
that is exactly how i feel, bri.
did you know that san jose is known for having the largest veteran's day parade in the world?
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