Monday, February 22, 2010

Used Book Store Signage (SPOILER ALERT)

I visited a certain used book store near Eastern Market today and was entertained by its ample signage. Here are some examples of the signs posted throughout the store:

The entrance to the store. One sign instructs patrons to leave all bags/packages at the front desk, two signs specify the limited hours in which certain transactions can be made, and two other signs tell patrons not to use their cell phones inside (click the image to make it larger).

Apparently poetry readers aren't very good about keeping books in alphabetical order.

SPOILER ALERT?

An intimidating sign wishes patrons farewell as they descend the stairs.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Upside-Down Fortune (Chinese New Year)


Happy Chinese New Year! A red paper lantern bears the character 福 (fu = "good luck, fortune") upside-down. This is a common practice in Chinese restaurants and storefronts around the start of the lunar new year, as "fu dao le" (meaning "fu is upside-down") sounds like 福到了 (fu dao le = "luck/fortune has arrived").

For a (rather unfortunate) 福-related image in Chinatown, see this posting.

Jaded Hearts


Happy Singles Awareness Day! Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro, Feb 14, 2010.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Unfortunate Name Placement


Very unfortunate name placement in Chinatown.

P.S. For those who might not know, the decorative square motif below is a stylized version of the character 福 (meaning "good luck, fortune") - hence the title for this blog posting.

P.P.S. For another image involving 福, see this posting.

Snowmageddon 2010

This weekend's huge blizzard (aka "Snowmageddon") has turned this town topsy-turvy.

Since this is a blog about linguistic matters: some media outlets have attributed the widely-used name for this meteorological event to a semi-ironic comment by Obama, but the term "Snowmageddon" (or related terms like "Snowpocalypse 2.0" etc.) were in use in local media - and the blogopshere - for quite some time prior to his usage.

P.S. For more on the Greek/Hebrew origin of the word "Armageddon" itself, see here.