1,000s of Ways to Be Wrong

The English gaff discussed in today's post appears primarily in small-town newspaper ads, billboards, and such. Instead of writing "Thousands of styles available" the ad or flyer says "1,000s of styles available" or even "1,000's of styles" (refer to the previous posting about bad apostrophe usage).

This goof is IMHO one of the most inexcusable. After all, when you write "1,000", it plainly says "one thousand". So if you write "1,000s of styles", you're saying "one-thousands of styles"; and not even the least educated person would ever say that!

A curiosity related to this particular breach of language etiquette is that while people will write about "100s of styles" and "1000s of items", they never mention their "1,000,000s of color combinations". Nor do they tout their "12s of flavors." Do they simply not have millions or dozens to offer—only hundreds or thousands?

Don't get me wrong—I don't expect small business owners to be grammar experts (although it would benefit everyone if they were). Again I lay the blame at the feet of those who could affect a change: the project managers and quality checkers at newspapers, printers, and outdoor advertisers. Did you all fail English class in high school? Did you even take English class in high school? Would it kill your company's budget to buy a book about proper English usage? Do you even know such books exist? You could start with "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynn Truss.

Once again, dear reader, it's your turn. This blog is your chance to sound off about the strange ... the bizarre ... the annoying goofs you've seen (and yes, I know I just misused the ellipsis—but that's the subject of another entry!).