I’m just as guilty of spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes as the rest of the world but all of my errors are on a “bro” website and not plastered on a giant billboard. I’m also not a major university.
The University of South Dakota needs to be a little more diligent with their spelling and spellchecking, especially after this minor but major screw-up on a billboard on Interstate 90 outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The sign has an unnecessary apostrophe.
The added apostrophe implies that “Dakota’s” is possessive, as in “Dakota’s best college for people who want to live in Vermillion” or “Raposa’s last piece of pie,” instead of plural, as in the combined entity of North Dakota and South Dakota.
The grammatical error resulted from a mix-up in which an early version of a design was sent to the billboard company instead of an updated apostrophe-free version, according to Tena Haraldson, director of marketing communications and media relations for the university.
Now this isn’t like a major black eye on the school but they’re in the business of not only teaching young people but also teaching young people to be accountable. Haraldson reacted to the mistake the same way I do when my errors are pointed out in the comment section. I blow it off like a real penis.
“We all recognized here when we looked at it that the apostrophe was misplaced. … It was just an oversight that that’s the one that was grabbed and put up,” Haraldson said. “It happens.”
Eh, it happens. It happens.
I encourage all University of South Dakota to stop making tuition payments and when the school comes knocking for money go “I forgot to pay. It happens.”
[via USA Today]