In eighth grade, I submitted a partnered science project about soap and how it interacts with water, in which I had typed all about how the soap “brakes” up the surface of the water, etc., etc. Our teacher had us come look at the display and read through it. It took me a long time to understand what the issue was, though I understood immediately that something was wrong with the typed pages on the display. It took some obvious hinting and and bit of clarifying from the teacher before I truly got it that I was supposed to have used the word “break” instead of “brake”. Every single one was written as “brake”. At least I was consistent.
It took me years to understand and to accept how I had made such a big mistake. How had I, one who pays such close attention to details, messed up something so simple? Quite simply, because I had used the word I understood to be accurate, and I hadn’t really realized there were two different words. Why?
Because of the constant road signs around Houston throughout my childhood that read, “GIVE US A BRAKE” and had a character of a road worker on it. I knew the phrase well enough, and, because I didn’t know the spelling differences at play, I never understood the signs. I genuinely always thought they were some form of protest it workers union’s form of complaining about how people driving needed to chill out and not honk at and be mad at the road construction workers, because they were working hard. I always understood the sign to mean, “Give is a break.” I never knew – not for a while after that project – that the signs were just asking people to use their brakes to slow down as they pass through the construction areas… never knew.
And I got to feel like an idiot in eighth grade science class because of that simple little fact.
So, yeah… wasn’t a fan of signs using misspellings or fake words in the first place. Definitely wasn’t after I figured out that one.
😛
Post-a-day 2023
hannah ananas 