Our gym isn’t so much clean as it is “clean”

Couldn’t finish the year out without one more photo of unnecessary quotation marks.

It really is a nice thought. It just doesn’t need to be between quotation marks.

Great name: nook

There’s an issue in advertising and identity design—maybe in all creative endeavors—commonly referred to as “not created here” syndrome. Well, there’s probably a better name for it than that, but that’s what I’m going with. Basically, it means creative people are less likely to approve of work done by somebody else. In fact, they’re more likely to say it stinks. I’m probably just as guilty as the next guy, and just to prove how snarky I can be, here’s something I’ve been itching to poke fun at:

Are there two Barnes & Nobles at the Irvine Spectrum Center? And, no less, they’re both to the right?

But anyways, speaking of Barnes & Nobles, I do like to try and give credit where credit is due.

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DeSpyro Coffee is now Duke’s Burgers

A few months back I wrote a post about a local coffee (?) joint near my house. The problem with DeSpyro Coffee, from my point of view, was that they were claiming expertise in too many categories at once (coffee, burgers, breakfast, mexican food, gelato, subs, and “grill”), which gives the impression that they’re a jack of all trades, master of none. Maybe that’s fine if you’re a diner or a Jewish deli, but for a place with “coffee” in the name, it would be nice if they’d at least mastered a good cup a’ joe.

The other day I noticed that DeSpyro is now Dukes Burgers. I called, and apparently it is just a name change, with little change to the menu or anything else. The lady I spoke with wouldn’t give me a real reason for the name change.

But here’s the kicker:

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A new breed of unnecessary apostrophe

Look! It’s unnecessary quotation mark’s ugly cousin, the unnecessary apostrophe. Usually only spotted preceding an “s,” this is a rare and exciting find.

Fire! Let’s egress the hell out of here!!

Scene: Rob and a friend wait for the molasses-powered elevator at the Sheraton San Diego. The emergency exit floor-plan is posted nearby.

Rob: “Egress?”

Jim: “Yeah. It’s the opposite of ‘ingress.’”

Jim was right. “Egress” is the opposite of “ingress.” I was impressed by the demonstration of verbal aptitude. But he’d also failed to see my point.

Jim, realizing why I’d pointed it out: “Oh, yeah…I don’t know why they didn’t just say ‘Exit.’”

This sign reminds me of at least three thoughts to keep in mind for those of us tasked with choosing the right words.

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