Tuesday
Jan182011
Spelling Be
January 18, 2011 Look, spelling can be tricky. All those "words" with their pesky "letters" that have to go in a specific "order" to make some sort of "sense?" It's hard. So, we try not to judge too harshly when a decorator makes a minor mistake.
Like this:
In the baker's defense, how often do you use the word "happy" on a cake, anyway?And abbreviations can sure be problematic:
Then again, how else would we know a cookie can be ready in five mountains?And when there are multiple words on a cake, it really makes spelling those simple words that much harder!
Baker: "Whoa! Slow down there, buddy! What do I look like, a word processor?"And don't get us started on "Huked on Phonics":
I'm guessing they saw "in Mississippi" on the order form and gave up.Besides, when frustration levels are high it's just human nature to invent new words and letters:
You know, like "Aur" or a dotted "u." You barely have a prayer of getting those right.And sometimes you need to take a lot of little breaks:
[shrug] Ah, well. "Better luck" next time, Lindsay!Thanks Terry P., Stefani C., Cindy G., Tyler H., Christine M., & Lindsay W., although after these wrecks I think I need to sit a spell.
Reader Comments (83)
Wait, was that "Mathew" one written on a latte?! O_o
Either that, or that's some EXTREMELY frothy icing! :D
Carmiehead, the Un-Stalker
WV: "phering" I'ma phering the wurst 'bout these hear mispellin's.
I think that last one is "Bed or Luck Lindsay".
I thought it was a pirate cake... "our prayers AAR with you."
I'm seeing AAR rather than Aur, which makes it a pirate cake. Not sure it fits with the message, though.
It's sew hard two get these wright!
"Aur"??? Really? REALLY??
And I thought it was bad when people couldn't tell the difference between "are" and "our". It never occurred to me that they would make a mash-up.
The upside is that maybe kids today will find it easier to understand and enjoy Chaucer and other pre-standardized-spelling authors....(I can always hope, right?)
Pretty sure that first cake came out of the kitchen of a French restaurant - "Appy Birthday, Roberta" (say it in your best french accent and it makes sense).
It luks tu me lyk the 3rd kayk had an eria that was skraypt off and the existing riting was added abuv it.
I luv thees kayks!!
Maybe the first one is a carrot cake for their Appaloosa named Roberta...?
I'm not sure "Mathew" with one T is a wreck; I've actually met a Mathew, and I've also met a Scot, both with one T. But it boggles the mind if a wreckerator took so much time to make sure the unusual spelling of a name was correct while neglecting to check if any of other standard English words were.
Well when I put Happy Birthday on a cake I make it in all caps other then the h in Birthday. It's sort of my way of signing my cakes.
No, no, no! "Ready in 5 Mutant Ninja Turtles!" How could you have misconstrued something so simple??
Lindsay, you either have bed or luck, you can't have both. I don't know if I could make that decision, I really really like my bed!
As a former special education teacher, these were quite easy to read.
I'm glad my former students have found employment. I miss each and every one of them and I wish you would stop kritisizing them.
I didn't know a cookie could be ready in 5 mountains... what is that in metric?
Bed or luck? Which will she choose?! The suspense is killing me!
And a shout-out to Mathew: Yoo-hoo! (But I think that one actually calls for running alongside a train at the station, waving a hankie.)
wv: dinsups- A word for wreckies who are conflicted about what to call the evening meal.
here's what's really sad...the cake with Appy ... that's written on the PLATE. it would be really SIMPLE to wipe off teh chocolate sauce and try again. it's not like you'd have to scrape it off the cake.
Maybe the wreckorator for the first one had a Cockney accent? And, I'll admit, the last one had me stumped until I read your caption. Well done. Well done indeed.
It's a straight choice between "bad" or "luck". I know which I'd choose :)
Flashing back to FalkerSatherhood right now LOL
I didn't know a cookie could be ready in 5 mountains... what is that in metric?
22 hills.
- Cheryl
Did anyone else want to say "Guv'nuh" after the first one? You know, like, "Cheerio" and all that? Someone? Anyone? No? *oknevermindthen*
Poor Lindsay has to choose between a bed and luck. Why can't a girl have both? I needed a giggle right now.
Hey! Someone spelled her name the same way as me!
See, I ain't the only one.
My first thought was that the first cake was a (very tall) bee hive and they were doing a play on words with apiary.
wv: propre - appropiate for this post.
No no no, that's not a dotted "u" on that cake. It clearly says:
Our Prayers Aur Wirth You
Yes, you are worthy of our prayers. Or our prayers are worthy of you. Or something like that.
Maybe the customer had the Cockney accent and it was a phone order. We certainly know how literal-minded / opposed to double-checking wreckerators can be.
@Anne-with-an-e, I'm a Scot -- in that I have Scottish ancestors.
I think written Modern English will soon be as incomprehensible to modern readers as Old or Middle English -- except to someone fluent in text-speak. Perhaps legions of teenagers will find employment as 'scribes' (great news for parents, but...?). Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I'm a little in shock. Surely those are gag cakes, right?
Right?
See now, I thought it said bed or lick.
The first one reminds me of when I went to a restaurant in So Cal where they wrote on the plate: "Jappy Birthday!" Hey! It makes sense if your first language is Spanish!
When I want a laugh...I go to Cake Wrecks...love it
methinks English is a second language to these people. or they're high school dropouts.
and you just know "Gud Luck" and Lindsay's cake were done by someone new on the job (check out the shaky piping skills), someone who doesn't DO that job, you know, like the guy mopping the floor who's flagged down by a customer while the bakery staff was on a break and they insisted he do the cake?
Either that, or a 5 year old. That's how they spell. And probably they can't manage a piping back (look at the wimpy, shaky piping job)
I'm with Carrie and mimi. That's definitely "AAR" and it's clearly a pirate cake. But I could also swear that it says "prayers aar WIRTH you." So who is this "Wirth" fellow?
"Appy Birthday Roberta. U aar h-less!"
@Anne-with-an-e: The Wrecky part is the "yoe", not the name ;)
Bed or Luck (I hope it was an L) Lindsay sounds like a weird proposition
If you look closer, it is "Appy Biday" written on the plate, which leads me to believe that Roberta was celebrating the completion of her bathroom renovations in a fancy French restaurant. Unfortunately the "decorator" must not be able to spell in either French or English...
On another note, why is it that most of those horrible spelling catastrophes look like the perpetrator is terrified that their supervisor will get wise to the fact that they are just flying by the seat of their pants and don't really know how to spell?
Why are you hating on Mississippi?
MNT I think is generally more of an abbreviation for mount than mountain (MTN). Not that it makes any difference to the failure of the cake.
I think it's supposed to be "Best of luck." What a shame; the cake's so pretty aside from the writing.
Now, to be fair, that first one isn't really a cake, it's just a slice on a plate, so it's not like the inscription was piped by a professional cake decorator. More likely a Latino line cook with a squeeze bottle of sauce.
And anyone who can -write- on a -latte- gets my vote, even when they get a little sloppy.
Bed or luck... I choose bed. After all, luck can turn, but my bed will always be here.
Two phunny.
Tante: Mississippi has an unfortunately high illiteracy rate. Compared to the rest of the country, anyways.
There is such thing as a dotted U. Like this:
Üüüü
But serously, I once had a cake I had to have (over the phone) someone write my name on it. My name is tricky. It happens to be Morgana Rose. Yeah. Seriously. But instead I got a cake that said:
"Morgan, Anna, Rose, Happpy. Brthdy!"
I never forgot that.
- AvengersWasp(AKA Morgana Rose, AKAA Morgan Anna Rose)
Oh yes, Marcy W. I can't stop thinking "Appy Birthday, Guvna!" Too funny. Now I feel like watching My Fair Lady.
ack - shouldn't there be some sort of requirement for cake decorators... like a Kindergarten Diploma?
"aur" made me want to throw something - like that cake.
(and after reading all the comments, I don't think it was a Mississippi haters issue - but the fact that it would have been a riot to see the wreckers try to spell the name of the state - really... I'm sure Mississippi is lovely)
Actually, they are trying to tell you that the second cake will be ready in 5 Mutant Ninja Turtles...
I thought the "Mississippi" part was that the state's name is difficult (for some people) to spell.
wv: lingni--what might show up on the menu of an Italian restaurant if a Wreckerator did the typesetting
I think that last cake really says "Bed AK Luk Lirdsay" if we assume that the triangle with a circle is a "d". Or maybe it's "Bed Luk AK Lirdsay". Anybody been to Bed Luk, Alaska?
WV- rater. See you rater, alligator.