Happy Memorial Day! Not.

Readers: Tomorrow, May 27, is Memorial Day. Last year, Eliot heard a car dealer ad that said, “Celebrate Memorial Day with a new Volkswagen!”
Several times during Eliot’s long career in journalism, he had the sad privilege of writing about fallen members of our military, both current and from long ago. He stood with their families at local cemeteries. He wrote about Arlington, perhaps the most humbling spot in America. He interviewed many a veteran, and many told him: “I’m not a hero. The heroes are my buddies who died. Honor them. Remember them.”
That’s why the Horribly Wrong team gets its back up — as, we hope, you would — when people say, “Happy Memorial Day” or “Celebrate Memorial Day.”
Or when companies take advantage of the work holiday by holding big sales, with splashy ads showing girls in short shorts standing in the surf, and bare-chested guys popping brewskis, and hot dogs sizzling on the grill, and fireworks exploding.
And some outfits suggest it’s a good day to watch strippers.
You don’t say, “Happy Yom Kippur,” or “Happy Good Friday,” or use “happy” for any of the the somber holy days of the world’s faiths. Memorial Day is not a day you celebrate. The word “memorial” should be the giveaway.
We suspect most folks honor our country’s military dead as much as anyone, and they’re just lazy or tone deaf. People: Take a minute before you consider that ad or sales event. It’s the least you can do.

Or maybe this…

And we go to the video archives for Segment 64: Grammatical Optical Illusions. https://youtu.be/Vgt5xY_Y4Jg?si=hzwCbaT2ezFzUHe_

Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com

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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!