A friend of mine noticed a sign in Reading over a pub. We trekked across Reading to see it and it was well worth it. It's pictured here. It's a classic error on the lines of "except" and "accept". Usually, the error is made with "effect" and "affect", but I think it's in the same family. Just to clarify the definitions:
Except - means "everything but".
Accept - means to receive something willingly.
Effect - is a noun, meaning the result of an action. It can, occasionally be a verb, meaning to make something (this is so rare you may as well not use it).
Affect - to do something which has an impact on something else.
So, the sign above the pub is actually saying that, when it comes to means of payment, the credit card is the one thing they simply do not accept, when what they actually mean is that they do. What prats.
Still, sometimes saying something that's the opposite is a good way of making a point. Perhaps the sign is sarcastic.
Last night's gig was a partial success from a performing point of view. I was confident and delivered a reasonable performance, until a combination of forgetting a new song (I can't get the bugger out of my head now) and being phased by an annoying, non-funny, persistent, unfrightened heckler, put me off my stride for a minute or so. However, from an audience reaction point of view, it was bloody awful. I managed to hold the room, but making them laugh was tricky. The performance was self-contained enough that they could just leave me to it. It was a little frustrating, but I made the most of it.
I have some of it recorded and in the recording, which I reviewed in the car on the way home to see how some new stuff went (variably), there's a moment where the compere, during a dry spell in terms of audience reaction, moved to a pillar opposite the stage. I asked him whether he was signalling me "time's up" or whether it was just a better view he wanted. He chose the latter.
"Ah, so you want to see how it's done, eh?" I asked, which is actually quite funny, given that it was really going poorly. I followed it with - "This audience is laughing so hard, they're silent." which I also find funny. I think I was being funny at that point in time. I was stating the opposite... but, maybe that makes me someone who's "acceptional"?
(No, acceptional isn't a word, but it sort of wraps together these two, otherwise unrelated, strands.)
Except - means "everything but".
Accept - means to receive something willingly.
Effect - is a noun, meaning the result of an action. It can, occasionally be a verb, meaning to make something (this is so rare you may as well not use it).
Affect - to do something which has an impact on something else.
So, the sign above the pub is actually saying that, when it comes to means of payment, the credit card is the one thing they simply do not accept, when what they actually mean is that they do. What prats.
Still, sometimes saying something that's the opposite is a good way of making a point. Perhaps the sign is sarcastic.
Last night's gig was a partial success from a performing point of view. I was confident and delivered a reasonable performance, until a combination of forgetting a new song (I can't get the bugger out of my head now) and being phased by an annoying, non-funny, persistent, unfrightened heckler, put me off my stride for a minute or so. However, from an audience reaction point of view, it was bloody awful. I managed to hold the room, but making them laugh was tricky. The performance was self-contained enough that they could just leave me to it. It was a little frustrating, but I made the most of it.
I have some of it recorded and in the recording, which I reviewed in the car on the way home to see how some new stuff went (variably), there's a moment where the compere, during a dry spell in terms of audience reaction, moved to a pillar opposite the stage. I asked him whether he was signalling me "time's up" or whether it was just a better view he wanted. He chose the latter.
"Ah, so you want to see how it's done, eh?" I asked, which is actually quite funny, given that it was really going poorly. I followed it with - "This audience is laughing so hard, they're silent." which I also find funny. I think I was being funny at that point in time. I was stating the opposite... but, maybe that makes me someone who's "acceptional"?
(No, acceptional isn't a word, but it sort of wraps together these two, otherwise unrelated, strands.)
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