Supposed to be?

It recently dawned on me: Is that where the non-word "supposably" comes from? [Is that from where the non-word "supposably" comes?]

(See my previous post on the subject.)

Just a thought.

Ladies room signs in Bally's, A.C.

I visited Bally's Atlantic City recently and got a giggle out of the following sign -- a copy of the sign hung over the back of every toilet in every ladies room I entered (and that was a lot):

Please Do Not Throw Soiled Feminine Hygiene Products in the Toilet*

I have several issues with this sign:

1) Since it doesn't want me to "throw" soiled product into the toilet, does that mean it's ok if I place it in the toilet gently?

2) Since the sign specifies "soiled" products, does that mean it's ok if I throw (or place) "unsoiled" product into the toilet?

3) I could get picky over use of the word "in" instead of "into," but I'm repeating this verbiage by memory from a couple weeks ago and am not sure which of the two were used. (Also see asterisk below.)

4. Sign makers are notoriously bad spellers and grammarians. In this particular case, you know damned well that a whole group of suits lamented the wording of that sign in an effort to say what they had to say in a non-offensive way. I don't understand how some signs, including this one, get all the way through the process of requisition, order, proof, approval, printing, shipping, receiving, and hanging. Think of all the people involved in that process. Granted, this one isn't the worst or most obviously incorrect, but still...

It's important to note that my strong opinions on this subject matter refer to those things I know to be correct (or at least pretty sure!) BUT I don't claim to be a perfect grammarian myself!

*As I said above, the verbiage I reported was by memory, so the part that says "feminine hygiene product" could've said something different, like "sanitary napkins" instead. But the main points of "throw" and "soiled" were definitely on the sign. If somebody goes to Bally's and can confirm, please do!

On presumed words

Since this blog is about my ramblings, I'll begin with a theory to explain one of my most annoying peeves: use of the non-word "supposably." How prevalent is the use of this non-word? I don't know, except that I hear it frequently. Maybe it's a testament to the crowd with whom I mingle (scary), or it's a Southern Maryland thing, but it drives me SO nuts. I've corrected one person numerous times and told her the word is "supposedly," but still she gets it wrong. "WHY?" I puzzled, driving down the road one day after the same person -- again -- used the despised non-word with me while on the phone. I couldn't be so bitchy as to correct her for the thousandth time. So I bit my tongue and spent my frustration pondering why anyone would so backwardly confuse their suffixes.

And then it hit me: Perhaps people confuse "presumably" with "supposedly" and blend the two, getting "supposably." Yes! That must be the explanation!

But wait...It that's right, then how come I never hear the reverse of the equation, which would be "presumedly"?

The latter issue notwithstanding, I was so impressed with myself for having discovered a fairly reasonable explanation for the issue that I quickly called Lori to report my findings via voice mail. I then proceeded to tell several people over the next few days. (Mysteriously, most people are not nearly as fascinated with this topic as I.)

Then, remembering that I had also emailed somebody about it (Kevin), I searched the term "supposably" in my email and found the following note to Lori:

I've lamented my hatred over the non-word 'supposably' too many times while using the contrasting example of 'presumedly' as a possible explanation for the flub. I've now TWICE -- yes, TWICE in the past 3 days -- used the word 'presumedly' in conversation. I quickly recovered, but clearly my brain is misfiring. Dammit!!!

[FYI Lori's response was to "get out and play with adults."]

I've now learned that
1. Lots of people probably don't care about this issue;
2. My own use of the word "presumedly" results from my repeated telling of this story and presumedly...ahem...presumably NOT a result of mixing the two words; and
3. The explanation for use of the non-word is not necessarily solved.

This first blog post may set the tone for what is to come and may possibly ensure that nobody will ever read it! Ha! [That's ok!]

Welcome to My Ramblings

Hello all! Finally, I have a created a repository for my random ramblings other than Lori's voice mail or her email inbox. We'll see how it goes!