Someone made an Orange Julep out of Lego.
Next I want to see a St Joseph’s Oratory.
Updates from March, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The OQLF says three quarters of
written signsbusinesses in Quebec make language mistakes, with the highest rate being in Montreal. Almost half, the OQLF admits, would be “difficiles à détecter sans une connaissance avancée des règles du français écrit.”Nicholas
I think it notes that three quarters of businesses have (at least) one sign with an error, not that three quarters of signs have errors. And, of course, it says that 99% of errors wouldn’t realistically cause any reduction in clarity of meaning. But I suppose if you really wanted to grow up to become the grammar police, Quebec is the place to be!
jeather
Ok but some of those are badly formatted telephone numbers or times (I don’t know what the only correct ways for those are anyhow), redundant words, mistaken capitalization rules, spelling mistakes — I’d love to see a comparison of hand written signs elsewhere because honestly this doesn’t feel like a shockingly high number.
Kate
Nicholas, you rightly amend what I wrote. Thank you.
Nicholas
I had to read it three times to make sure I understood. But, you know, for a story about nitpicking…. 🙂
Kevin
One of the main errors is using “quotation marks” instead of <>
MarcG
«I think you mean these bad boys»
MarcG
« Oops, I forgot the publishing-headache-inducing spaces »
jeather
They give a bunch of examples of the errors in the actual report. A big category is using an ampersand where you should use the word et, but I didn’t quite figure out where it’s actually allowed.
If you wondered, the correct setup for a phone number is 514 999-1234, no brackets.
Ian
I was recently told that in French the ampersand can only be used if it is names. So for instance you couldn’t have a firm named « Laurier architecture & design » but you could have « Laurier & Tremblay »
carswell
@Ian That may be true in French — and it’s a rule I tend to follow in English — but I see francophones indiscriminately using the ampersand as short for et all the time, including at crown corporations like the SAQ. And whenever I’ve raised the issue of ampersands in English texts with francophones, including communications professionals, I’ve been met with surprise: it’s news to them.
Ian
I only know this because I know an architect who was informed they couldn’t have the ampersand in their official business name and they asked for some precision around its usage. Of course « & cie » is pretty common. As in most things it’s really only a problem for the kind of person that thinks « steamé » or « hamburger » isn’t real French … it’s not really about the language at that point, it’s about a snobbery flex.
jeather
In casual texts, I don’t think there’s any ban on using the ampersand instead of the word and in English, is there?
Clic Santé uses the wrong telephone number format if you try to make an appointment in French, for what it’s worth.
Kevin
@MarcG
Yeah, the word guillemets got obliterated by formatting.@jeather
That’s a silly set-up for a phone number. Only a bureaucrat would come up with formatting like that.@Ian
I have never heard anyone objecting to an ampersand.Ye flipping gods. If I had to write a report like this to justify the existence of my job, I’d be embarrassed.
CE
@MarcG, are you sure you used the right spaces between the letter and your guillemets? Make sure to run it through Antidote to cut off that half pixel!
John B
I did had to make some telephone formatting decisions, (albeit for a majority anglophone audience), recently and settled on 555-555-5555, as the right combination of commonly-accepted and easy to read. I found the page describing the correct formatting but it doesn’t explain why there shouldn’t be a dash after the area code.
John B
I also wonder how many of the address errors, (which along with phone numbers seem to be a large portion of the errors), have the province or territory formatted the way Canada Post wants them as opposed to the way the OQLF wants them.
Having the “right” way to format an address be something different from what the postal service asks for seems like a way to guarantee “errors” in communication, as businesses want their mail to arrive.
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Kate
Following the governments of Canada and Quebec, the STM has decided to block TikTok on devices controlled by them. Item also mentions that universities are following suit.
Tux
I haven’t been able to figure out why they are doing this other than vaguely defined ‘concerns’ about ‘security’.
Some of the articles talk about how TikTok can “gather information from your phone” but this is true of any app you grant permissions to. I’m not saying we should necessarily trust a Chinese company with our personal information but if you have the Google assistant enabled, or you use Alexa or Siri, or you use Google Chrome, have a Gmail account, read books on a Kindle, watch videos on YouTube, listen to music on Spotify, take photos or notes with your phone that are saved to the cloud… Have I got news for you about the “safety” of your personal information being meaningfully enhanced by uninstalling Tiktok.
CE
Why would government work phones have TikTok installed anyway?
Kate
CE, this may be people working from home, maybe using their own phones, or with nobody patrolling them to make sure they don’t install random software on official hardware.
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Kate
A young woman who says she’s been roofied on two occasions in bars in the last year is putting out a warning about spiked drinks, and also about not assuming that any woman apparently intoxicated in a bar has simply overindulged, but may have been targeted with a date rape drug.
Blork
It’s not just women. I know a guy who got roofied at his company’s Christmas party a few years ago. He was able to get help and was OK in the end, but the working theory is that someone working at the hotel intended to rob him.
Kate
Everyone has to keep an eye on their drink, then, and look out for their friends.
MarcG
Sippycups for everyone
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Kate
The number of temporary foreign workers in Quebec keeps rising, a trend that’s expected to continue, and work accidents are rising accordingly. Quebec’s labour minister Jean Boulet wants the program to be administered by Quebec exclusively so it doesn’t get bogged down in rules from Ottawa – but he has promised to make the CNESST hire more inspectors.
In press photos, Jean Boulet always looks like he’s seen a ghost. Maybe he has.
Tim
I have the answer to my question on this blog a couple of weeks ago. I’m not surprised that the CAQ would want their own temporary workers program. If the feds ever did do the right thing and gave these workers a path to citizenship, the CAQ program could go their own way.
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Kate
A wounded deer near Michel‑Chartrand park was supposed to be put out of its misery, as directed by the wildlife and parks ministry, but it took a Longueuil cop thirteen shots to kill the animal. Nearby residents were calling in the gunshots they heard.
jeleventybillionandone
Why are the police carrying out animal euthanasias? If I’m not mistaken, this is an medical act reserved for veterinarians.
Kate
It’s a wild animal in pain, you can’t transport it, what do you do?
Police used to shoot damaged horses dead in the street when horses were used for all kinds of transport. I’ve seen photos.
MarcG
I swear this was a Kids in the Hall ‘Police Department’ sketch
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Kate
Police are offering a reward for information on the fatal hit‑and‑run last weekend.
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Kate
Shots were fired Wednesday morning at a restaurant on Crescent Street. It was closed at 5 am and nobody got hurt.
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Kate
The public health department suggests slowing down traffic around major parks, after noting that several of our big parks are bordered by major thoroughfares acting as obstacles to pedestrians or cyclists.
Kevin
It seems like some of these parks are hard to walk to because they are not near any homes.
But anyone who says Angrignon Park is hard to get to must have trouble taking the metro :/
GC
I had a similar thought about Angrignon, since the metro stops right in it… However, that doesn’t mean we can’t make it a better experience to walk or bike to. If you live close to it you’re not going to take the metro there.
jeather 20:37 on 2023-03-01 Permalink
Also Schwartz’s, Cafe Santropol and a Plateau house.
The big orange is the best so far.
Anton 02:31 on 2023-03-02 Permalink
Link
Kate 10:27 on 2023-03-02 Permalink
Better link, Anton – thanks.