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Friday, June 26, 2009

Friday Fail - Proper word usage

I know that all of us belonging to the horsey set do the same thing. We cruise the Internet and papers and look at all the pretty ponies for sale. I love perusing DreamHorse and looking at sales ads, usually for the elusive "Tack Fail". What annoys the crap out of me and amuses me to no end is all of the massive spelling and grammar errors in ad text. And I am not talking just simple misspellings, but complete WRONG words and WRONG sentence structure. If you type like a 6 year old, I am not going to be very likely to contact you about your horse/item.

So, today I have complied a list of some of the most common misspellings/misuse of words I have run across. They are very comical when you think about it, and very sad as well. I have put the correct word/spelling first, then the incorrect ones along with comments.


Gelding

guilding - So, he is a member of a guild? Which one?

gilding - Oh, he's gold plated? Bet that bumps the price up some.

Mare

mayer - Is she related to Oscar?

mayor - Of what town?

Filly

philly - Oh, she's from Philadelphia.

fillie - What?

Colt

cult - Umm, ok.

Appaloosa

Opelousas - Actually, that's a city in south Louisiana, not a breed of horse.

Quarter Horse

1/4th horse - Which fourth do I get? What if I want a half? I want the front half.

Mane

main - Main what? Main event? Main street?

Maine - That's a state in New England, not a part of a horse.

man - Male human, not the long hair that grows from the crest of your horse's neck.

Gait

gate(s) - This is what you go through to get into the pasture, not a walk, trot, canter, etc.

Poll

pole - What you run a pattern around at a rodeo, not a part of a horse.

Farrier

ferrier - This would be the guy that ferries people across a river, not the guy that trims your horse's hooves.

Peruvian Paso

"Peruvian Peso Fino" - Not only are we combining 2 breeds here, but a peso is a form of currency, not a horse.

Child Safe

"rides kids" - Really!? That must be impressive.

"broke to death" - Goodness, if he is dead I don't think I want him. Also read "one foot in the grave" on this one.

Winch (not a horse term, but funny anyway)

wench - No shit, I really saw an ad in the Thrifty Nickel for a truck with a wench for sale. I had to resist the temptation to call and ask if it was a bar wench or a scullery wench. I probably would have been wasting my sarcasm though.

So any of you have anything to add?

29 comments:

  1. Bombproof listed as "bullet proof". Maybe that horse could be used by the mounted police with no need for a bullet proof jacket. Too bad it was a gelding as there could be a new breed of bullet proof horses specifically bred for the police force's use.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How ab out the band that has been in the news:

    Free Reign
    http://www.myspace.com/freereign

    Um, Reign???
    intransitive verb
    1 a: to possess or exercise sovereign power : rule b: to hold office as chief of state although possessing little governing power in England the sovereign reigns but does not rule2: to exercise authority in the manner of a monarch3: to be predominant or prevalent chaos reigned in the classroom

    noun
    1 a: royal authority : sovereignty under the reign of the Stuart kings b: the dominion, sway, or influence of one resembling a monarch the reign of the Puritan ministers 2: the time during which one (as a sovereign) reigns

    Kind of like the word Bridle, or Bridal. You can find some great buys on eBay by searching Bridal instead of Bridal. lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oops, edit, Bridal instead of BRIDLE

    ReplyDelete
  4. Peso fina - heh heh. I saw an ad for a jim canna horse. Might they have meant gymkhana?

    ReplyDelete
  5. My pet peeve....absolutely no useful information whatsoever! Here is a perfect example:

    http://boise.craigslist.org/grd/1190644408.html

    Yep-those are horses, but that's about all I can tell from this ad?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Drillrider, I wonder what the "special conditions" are in the boise ad?

    another spelling word mistake, qater house, I think they meant Quarter Horse?

    ReplyDelete
  7. sandycreek: Who knows? Probably take better care of them and provide a "forever" home, even though they are NOT.......(sigh)........I get so sick of people sometimes!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Drillrider: Love the CL ads stating the horse is looking for a "forever" home, like that is an excuse why they are ditching it, especially the old horses they have had for years for there childern to ride and now they don't want to take care of anymore!
    Yes, they make me sick too

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, and you can't forget all the instances of "furrier" instead of "farrier." So... they have an appointment to make clothing out of their horse?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Farrier- ferrier, furrier
    Bridle- bridal, bridol
    Saddle- sattle, sattal, sattol
    Riding arena- riding rink
    Cart shafts- sticks that go along the horses sides...


    The best one of all I read on a home listing

    Round pen- circle pen.

    ReplyDelete
  11. you know what i really hate its when people type ads and messages and dont capatilize anything they wright in all lower case letters and use no punctuation but expect us to read their minds and understand where the sentence and thought breaks are in their inane stream of useless syllables and spelling mistakes that is supposed to make me want to buy their product or service

    Wow that was hard to type.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I saw an ad on CL recently for a "QH Lipid Morgan Cross"

    I guess it's really fat? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like this one:
    http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php
    She is "strickly english" and "a child can go get her out in the coral"

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wait, nevermind. I like this one better:
    http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php?form_horse_id=1378713&share_this=Y

    ReplyDelete
  15. Heh, i showed a Bashkir Curly for this woman once.

    She insisted that it was a Basherton Curly....

    "bozzle" for bosal

    This summer I heard someone refer to breeches as "hunt seat pants."

    My mother-in-law can be... um.. weird, and she insists on calling duallies "trucks with hips" and then laughing her head off. Also, she kept calling an indoor arena an "enclosed exercise area." When corrected, she said she would still have to call it that.

    Of course, "arena" sounds pretty hoity toity to non horsey people....

    ReplyDelete
  16. You know, I own gaited horses. You know what I'm guilty of? Typing "gait" when I actually do mean "gate"! I do it ALL the time!

    Bozal for bosal
    Shaps for chaps (when they're pronouncing them "shaps", I assume)
    Gentil or gentile for gentle
    15.5 for 15 and a half hands
    rode for ridden
    shoed for shod

    And my person favorite: Saw an ad on Craig's List for a TWH mare who was "genital" enough for kids to ride. I am not making that up.

    ReplyDelete
  17. paul_the_small,

    It should be "buy there product or service" Good job on leaving out the period, tho.

    ReplyDelete
  18. These were all in ONE ad:

    baths = Bathes
    miner = Minor
    arthridis = Arthritis
    trout = Trot (about died laughing on this one)
    loap = Lope

    ReplyDelete
  19. There are people here who not only spell it "furrier" they say it out loud.
    I wonder why they're getting a dude who sells furs to look at their horse's feet...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh, and lounge for longe. Like the horse is a lounge singer rather than being trained to move around you in a circle.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I bought a "guilding" 6 years ago :P There was a piece of paper on a back door in Lebo's. I called and brought home him later. I didn't think anyone made a mistake of mispelling gelding. oh, and I also saw a "1/4th horse" for sale on Craiglist. I was like, "wtf?" The ad was nice and the pictures were nice, but the "1/4th horse" really deterred me. I couldn't even think of what "1/4th horse" was. now I know it's a quick way of saying Quarter horse. Isn't QH easier than typing out 1/4th horse, anyway?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Another one from an ad today:

    kneck rains = SAY WHAT?????

    ReplyDelete
  23. Speaking of word fail, did anyone see this?
    http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/1186113851.html

    ReplyDelete
  24. I found one horse, it was a Hackney, and the people spelled it "Hack Knee". I was like, what the heck are they talking about?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Palamino - a cross between a good friend and an El Camino, with pretty coloring, too!

    I also saw an add once for someone looking for a "responsibly priced horse cart". It is very important that this cart know how to responsibly price things, that way you can do drive by pricing with your horse and make sure you get the best deal.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I saw this a while back...

    Purebread thoroughbread/qater horse 4 sail. walks on leash very good and also kids.


    Also makes me nuts when they list halters as bridles and vice-versa.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I legitimately saw an ad for a "dunskin".
    This horse is not a buckskin.
    He is not a dun.
    He is a dunskin.
    Or are they selling the skin of a dun?
    People...

    ReplyDelete
  28. I legitimately saw an ad for a "dunskin".
    This horse is not a buckskin.
    He is not a dun.
    He is a dunskin.
    Or are they selling the skin of a dun?
    People...

    ReplyDelete