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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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19th Aug 2017, 9:13 am | #1 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,833
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Don't kill your wife with electricity..
I came across this ad. Makes you wonder if they meant or even understood the implications of the second sentence? ie let electricity 'do the work' or, 'kill your wife' !
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19th Aug 2017, 9:32 am | #2 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Dukinfield, Cheshire, UK.
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Ha! That reminds me of the American radio ad that went 'We won't ruin your laundry with machines, we do it all by hand!' I think it was Kenny Everett who unearthed that one.
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Andy G1HBE. |
19th Aug 2017, 9:33 am | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Wigan, Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 9,433
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
It is so easy to write something with more than one meaning, the person writing it probably doesn't notice until it's pointed out.
I try and read things through before posting but know I make many mistakes, my English language teacher 60 yeas ago said " this is not your best subject ", I am not sure which subject is. Anyway Steve, your post brightened my Saturday morning, thank you. Frank |
19th Aug 2017, 9:47 am | #4 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Derby, UK.
Posts: 7,735
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Or a piece of advice in my old university student handbook: "If you think you have a problem, you should see your personal tutor" !
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19th Aug 2017, 10:01 am | #5 |
Rest in Peace
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Harlaxton, Lincolnshire, UK.
Posts: 3,944
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Here is another interpretation of the ambiguity in the title.
Don't kill your wife with electricity, use our new fool proof method. |
19th Aug 2017, 10:35 am | #6 | |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,899
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Quote:
"Every time I open my mouth, some damn fool speaks!" He laughed as much as we did. He was a good guy and it was a good illustration of how easy it is. Unforgettable! David
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19th Aug 2017, 11:47 am | #7 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Cumbria (CA13), UK
Posts: 6,130
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Many years ago that poster appeared briefly in a television programme about electricity, though it only did so diagonally across the screen with the corners chopped off.
I captured it off-screen at the time and it has sat on my office wall ever since.
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19th Aug 2017, 12:22 pm | #8 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
One which I saw, on a long-gone building near Upton Park :
'Don't let laundry kill your wife. Let us do it' |
19th Aug 2017, 12:40 pm | #9 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 1,571
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
The apostrophe in 'Dont' is missing.
Disgraceful. |
19th Aug 2017, 1:10 pm | #10 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 13,454
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
You couldn't get the staff in those days
Lawrence. |
19th Aug 2017, 1:44 pm | #11 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,833
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Indeed. I always find it incongruous that grammatical mistakes were quite common in adverts in those days, yet I'd bet a pound to a penny that the average person wrote better English than we do today. Curious.
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A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever.. |
20th Aug 2017, 7:38 pm | #12 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Haarlem, Netherlands
Posts: 4,203
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Fluke: "If it works, it's a Fluke"
Competitor: "Ours work by design!" |
21st Aug 2017, 1:11 pm | #13 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 16,536
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Have to admit I double checked Salusbury Road. It does exist. It's in an area of placename roads- I wonder if it's a council or developer misprint?
Edit: Apparently it's the name of a prominent Anglo Welsh family favoured at court at some point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salusbury_family
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21st Aug 2017, 6:03 pm | #14 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Shropshire, UK.
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
I've always suspected that it's a deliberate stylistic thing, but I might well be wrong.
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21st Aug 2017, 6:23 pm | #15 |
Guest
Posts: n/a
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
I feel the apostrophe is a thing you can or not use, but not used in the wrong place. Context sorts it out in the end. When at infants school (still remember dancing on the grass to a radio shoved out of the window, 1966 I think) I found the apostrophe was used to indicate missing letters, great I thought, just right for the words I can't (there goes one) spell. Teach. put me right but admired my logic.
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21st Aug 2017, 9:21 pm | #16 |
Heptode
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 720
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
As a general rule, if in doubt, leave it out!
An apostrophe is typically used to show possession or contraction, not plurals. |
21st Aug 2017, 9:23 pm | #17 |
Moderator
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Location: Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4, UK.
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
No more discussion about apostrophes please. Such discussions have become very unpleasant in the past.
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Graham. Forum Moderator Reach for your meter before you reach for your soldering iron. |
21st Aug 2017, 11:23 pm | #18 |
Pentode
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK.
Posts: 149
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Re: Don't kill your wife with electricity..
Indeed Salusbury Road exists, I have been to the Electricity Board offices there many times as a child with my mum, to pay the electric bill. We used to live in Kensal Rise, a short bus ride away. I remember being fascinated by the long case master clock in the main corridor, and enjoyed looking round the showroom at all the exotic modern kitchen appliances.
Rick. |