Does misspelled graffiti make a protest less potent, or are there just sick birds in Maryland? Anderson Cooper investigates Word Crimes on The Ridiculist. Of course ‘Word Crimes’ is also the name of Weird Al Yankovic’s first single from his ‘Mandatory Fun’ album, which fits nicely with the story tonight.
Plans to use a U.S. Army Reserve building to house immigrants brought out protesting graffiti artists. We assume they were protestors, but fair minded Anderson Cooper doesn’t jump on the bandwagon with haters who criticize the spelling of the word “Illeagel” presuming they meant ‘Illegals.’ They did get ‘ Undocumented Democrats’ right, so I tend to side with the critics. However AC points out several other possible reasons why this particular spelling may be the correct one.
I wasn’t aware of an Eagle tribute band which fits the description, and there’s always the chance that some of the national birds are sick. We shouldn’t always jump to the conclusion that people have hastily misspelled a word.
If there are any further questions about weird spelling or odd grammar, Weird Al answers them in a clip from his hilarious “Word Crimes” video.
I believe we can safely assume the following, taken from Google photos you may have seen in news stories, were truly misspelled words. Do some of these look familiar?
Here’s the one Weird Al undoubtedly used as inspiration for his cover shot: “GO USA Get A BRAIN MORANS”
Another alert citizen carried this sign: “It’s not spelled “Socilism” It’s spelled Democracy”
Like “Illeagles” here is another which may well be spelled correctly: “More FUN Less TAXIS”
A parade banner carried by several ladies, who clearly didn’t have a mirror nearby: “SECDEE!”
This one has a faintly familiar word in it: “US CITIENS don’t get FREE PASS Y Should ILEAGELS:
A clever misspelling or a cry for help? “FUND SCOOLS NOT WAR”
Here’s a familiar sentiment: “America help us boycot Mexico respect Are-Country Speak English”
To be fair, they do not include a spell checker with a magic marker.