This Burger King Sign Is Both Disappointing And Anti-Social
[January 13, 2008. Philadelphia, Pa. Image via Time Doctor]
This Burger King sign is right. Nobody ever orders the salad or chicken.
This is a test using rich text formatting and html links. It's the generic "company" ad that should appear on all posts with the Company category if they don't have an ad attached to a specific company.
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Comments:
The lack of a form of the verb "to be" is consistent, suggesting a pidgin version of English rather than just poor grammar. Plus, homophones are incredibly difficult for non-native speakers.
If this sign was written (in much better handwriting than mine, by the way) by someone for whom English is a second language, I'm willing to cut them some slack. If this is someone who just wasn't paying attention in school for 12-13 years, then I share everyone's tears.
@Ronin-Democrat: Hope they don't complain too much about it, they may suffer the same fate as that pizza restaurant!
@Triborough: Actually, it doesn't. You understand what they meant don't you? At least they can write legibly.
No it doesn't. As an educator myself I sometimes even use the wrong form of words on accident. Although it is embarrassing for the person who wrote the sign, it could be an honest mistake that doesn't need to be blamed on the "corrupt and broken educational system"
@coan_net:
I believe this photo has been out for awhile, so it's possible it's been shown before. I'm pretty sure I saw it on Failblog at least a few months ago.
No big deal. Most people (if not all) will understand. It's the sign of the future. Spelling will be simplified and no people will cry about it since they grew up texting their friends with 'what up?', 'how r u?', 'BF4EVER' etc
Just go ahead and check some pages on myspace.com and you'll see what I'm talking about.
@MichClay: Dude nobody mistakes Meet vs Meat it's more like there, their, and they're or something similar.
We closed? WE CLOSED? As an educator that doesn't bother you? Then that right there shows what is wrong with the education system. Shit like that should bother everybody.
@pollyannacowgirl: My guess is that they don't sell enough volume of chicken/salad/onion rings to keep the store running. It probably costs more to run the store than they make from those items.
@MichClay: I don't think so. A stray apostrophe, a "their" instead of "there"...THOSE are common mistakes. I have never in my LIFE seen or heard someone mistake "meat" for "meet."
@pollyannacowgirl: Agreed. We ran out of hamburger patties a few times back in my days at McD's-we just soled chicken and fish.
Now, if we were to run out of fries, that's when I'd bolt the doors.
@aguacarbonica: I don't think a "large" portion of America speaks like that. I don't know, personally, anybody who speaks like that. It's called elementary level education.
The level of adults for whom English is not a second language who write like this is sad.
I volunteer for a group that deals with a cross section of the community. Third grade spelling and grammar mistakes are everywhere. This is what happens when you have a society that shuns education in favor of religion and corporate servitude.
We actually had a good sized faction in our state politics that wanted to find a way to shut down the public schools.
Right, it's called "good" elementary education. If you don't think a large portion of America speaks like that, you are in a very privileged bubble. Because so many people are under the delusion that America's education system works out these kinks everywhere, they never get solved.
There are thousands of US classrooms where elementary aged students are taught to color and watch videos rather than to learn proper English that often conflicts with what they are surrounded with at home.
I know TONS of people who speak like this. They don't come from where I grew up, or even where I go to school. But I don't pretend like they don't exist just because I had a better educational experience.
@Triborough: Corrupt? You are kidding right? Maybe underfunded or inefficient, but corrupt? Corrupt means something that has changed "from good to bad in morals, manners, or actions ; also : bribe b: to degrade with unsound principles or moral values."
It also assumes there is such a thing as an "educational system." There is no "educational system" instead we have thousands of local educational systems, most are absolutely great and some have problems. These problems will not be solved overnight or solved with political and ineffective mechanisms like "No Child Left Behind" (aka NCLB).
What is really unfortunate is when politicians use "education" as the scapegoat for everything... crime, morals, the economy, etc.
@Triborough: I'm actually surprised that it wasn't done completely phonetically... You go way now... No hav meet. CLOZE!!! CLOZE!!!! Go way! Me call cops!!!
Movie "Speed": 'Bom on bus'
Isn't fast food where we elitist pigs encourage the stupid to work?
"Keep skipping school little Billy and you'll end up as the fry cook at a fast food restaurant!"
They are only doing what we told them to do.
(point is... the problem is us, not them. Don't point and laugh at your stupid friend in school kiddies. Help your friend out with his learning versus chopping them at the knees.)
@Coles_Law: The irony of someone "sole-ing" fish on a thread about a fast-food employee being out of "meet" is rich.
@Tekneek:
This is true, but apparently a lot of people make the colloquial distinction between "meat" (red meat) and chicken. Personally they are all meat to me. I don't know if it is a regional thing or not. I hear it a lot in school up north but never down south.
After having spent some time overseas, I really came to appreciate how difficult it must be for a non-native-English speaker visiting our country to order fast food.
Think about it next time you go through the drive through ... try to picture the language you hear as a non-native speaker. My favorite is when you're asked if you want Ketchup with your order ("Wan kecha?").



















Wow that sign is dissapointing in soooo many ways.