Insisting on smoke

No, Smoking

X No, Smoking

Tim says:

A simple change in punctuation can make a big difference. “No Smoking” clearly means that smoking isn’t allowed, but if you add a comma, it sounds like the angry response of someone who is committed to lighting up a cigarette! It’s not perfect English grammar (that would be, perhaps, “no, I’m going to smoke”), but the feeling that the comma adds is obvious to the native speaker.

O No Smoking

周囲にある英語を見て、果たしてそれが正しい英語なのだろうかと感じる英語はありますか?「あの英語は絶対に間違っている」という英語の表記はありますか?看板の写真を撮って、Machigai.comに送りましょう!とんでもない英語だったら、このコーナーで出します!

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