Thursday, October 04, 2007

kicks


From Gavin in Portland. I don't know how I feel about quotation marks to highlight a pun; I'm willing to say they're ok, but I'm sure a half-dozen of you will disagree regardless.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unnecessary quotation marks AND unnecessary apostrophes?! My cup runneth over...

john said...

i think pun-highlighting quotes are actually completely fine. but the apostrophe has got to go.

Susan said...

I just find the pun quotes a bit "on the nose" :)

Johnny Techno said...

"Their ok"... what?

john said...

quit stealing my name, grammar-picky-person. we give bethany leeway because she works so hard for all of us, plus she said in the FAQ she's allowed to make mistakes.

Anonymous said...

I'm more confused about how their martials arts are both traditional and non-contact. All the old-school martial arts I know about were used for hurting and killing people.

Anonymous said...

kufI'm more concerned with the incorrect use of the apostrophe! I find apostrophe use is the biggest grammar offender out there!

bethany said...

Thanks for the slack, John2. I'm embarrassed I mixed up they're/their/there homonyms because I usually get them right - it's the its/it's thing and occasionally your/you're that I have to think through every time I type.
My excuse: I posted at the end of a long day that included reading both Baudrillard and Zizek.

Melanie said...

Yeah, I'm good with the quotes, it's the apostrophe that's causing me pain.

Alanna Foell said...

I'm in agreement... the quotes can stay, the apostrophe must go.

jspencer said...

I hate the quotes. It's like they're saying "hey everyone, look at our awful, awful pun!"

See, there's a colloquialism "get your kicks" which means have a good time, or do something enjoyable and you kick in martial arts!

...anyone?

Do you really want to draw attention to a joke that bad?

bethany said...

I agree, Jeff. While the pun thing is ok, it remains inelegant.

samkay64 said...

I have four more pictures with ridiculous quotation marks from Portland. Perhaps they don't teach how to use quotation marks in area schools.

Double points for that apostrophe. Yucky!

Liz said...

I thought maybe something belonged to the punnish kicks.

john said...

i guess the quotes would be warranted only if it were a misspelling intended as a pun and they wanted to make sure the viewer understood that it was on purpose. maybe.

incidentally bethany, i'm john1 by seniority.

Dave Miller said...

This "sign" not only has "unnecessary" quotation "marks" but an "unnecessary" apostrophe as well. It make's thi's a "double" whammy.

Shane said...

"Come get your Kick's" ...Who is this guy Kick and what does Kick have to offer me?

Anonymous said...

To me, the quotes send the message that while you might be expecting to have a fun, positive experience, if you show up they are just going to kick the crap out of you.

Jeff Faria said...

The quotes around the pun is OK. Yje pun itself is NOT OK. But it's the needless apostrophe that's the problem.

Jeff Faria said...

"Yje" means "The" in parts of the world that have not yet had their coffee.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Nikolas Payne here. I can't even look at the apostrophe/pun situation because I'm too captivated by the concept of Martial Arts that are both Traditional and Non-Contact.

It seems to me that any method of beating the crap out of someone without touching them would have to employ some pretty unorthodox techniques.

Kidsis said...

Nikolas Payne & Anonymous:
They could be referring to some sort of "chi" control technique whereby you actually use your mind & "the force" to take down your opponent. Either that or you just don't spar with anyone in class....

As for the sign itself: The apostrophe has to go. I also think the quotes are in the wrong place. I think it would be more aesthetically pleasing if it read "Come 'get your kicks' with us!"