Bad English

[rjk]

A few people have touched on this, but I’ll make it explicit: “Inappropriate” does not mean “bad”. It means “unsuited to the situation”. (That probably applies to the OP’s public computer lab, but I’ve seen it used as “bad” far too many times.)

For example, Flyer said

…It would be inappropriate for me to stand in a public park and say, “I hate black people”…

Yes, inappropriate and bad.

runningdude replied

…To play devil’s advocated, where would be an appropriate place to express such a sentiment?

At a Klan meeting. Still bad, but perfectly appropriate.

[Alley_Dweller]

@picunurse

Using the word bad when one means poor. You did mean poor english, right? Bad english must be punished.

And poor English should be signed up for the dole, should they not?

[Siam_Sam]

@Siam_Sam

Actual English-language wording of a sign I saw at a picnic ground near a waterfall in Laos: “Please keep cleaning.”

Actual English-language wording of a sign I saw at a rest stop during a Kathmandu-Pokhara bus trip in Nepal: “Sleeping and fooding good here.”

@Chessic_Sense

Sometimes I wonder if these signs are intentionally written this way so that people who just barely speak English can understand it.

No they’re not.

@Peter_Morris

Grammatical errors in a foreign language are not particularly amusing unless they substantially alter the meaning of the sentence.

Yes they are.

[Peter_Morris]

Well, that’s told me, then.

[Siam_Sam]

And don’t you forget it!

Really, you should hear the Thais guffaw over my mistakes when I try to write Thai.

[CookingWithGas]

“This door must remain closed at all times.”

I wonder why there is a door there.

[Mr_Downtown]

In Chicago’s Chinatown:

NO PARKING HERE
You will be fine.

[Miller]

@CookingWithGas

“This door must remain closed at all times.”

I wonder why there is a door there.

I was in a parking garage once, where the only exit had that sign on it.

I was down there for weeks.

[VinylTurnip]

@Peter_Morris

I take it that you speak grammatically perfect Nepali, then?

I don’t, but if I had to make a sign in Nepali I’d run it by someone who did.

[california_jobcase]

“Texting and driving- It can wait” is on several billboards I’ve seen. I guess I should wait until traffic’s not so heavy, right?

[pulykamell]

@Sicks_Ate

The most poorly worded road sign ever, on highways in Missouri:

“Headlights on when wipers are required”

Fuckawhat? How about “Headlights required when wipers are on”, geniuses?

Wow, the original really is piss-poor phrasing. I mean, I get it now that I’ve re-read a number of times, but yours is clear as a bell. I wonder if they just didn’t want to end the sentence on what they thought was a preposition.

[Yllaria]

@Peter_Morris

. . . . Grammatical errors in a foreign language are not particularly amusing unless they substantially alter the meaning of the sentence.

@Siam_Sam

. . .Yes they are.

So are road signs with email auto-replies on them. For everyone who missed it in 2008.