THINKING AHEAD

Someone's preparing for International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

(Thanks to Patrick Brown)

UPDATE, thanks to queensbee.

Comments

[angene15]

Aaargh! I can't wait!

[angene15]

Make that, "Rrrrrr!"

[Straw]

Based on their love of Rs, I think I can guess the two thieves.

Ruh Roh!

[CoastRaven]

The thief must've bought an Edgar Allan Poe collection recently, and just finished the Purloined Letter.

[24-aholic]

I'm no detective, but I would go to the local high school, find all student's whose last name begins with "r" and search their basements.

This knowledge in no way comes from someone who may or may not have committed a similar prank while he / she was in high school.

[Juggler of Geese]

Think of the Ransom note. Is the Perp going to ask for a fee for the safe return?

[Baltimore Kat]

I've always wanted to come into my office over the weekend and "borrow" everyone's t off their keyboard....wonder if that would get me fired.

[CandyT]

Shouldn't that be 'National Guad" ??

[Kathybear]

National Guar from Geencastle...

[Bumble Wench]

Maybe they needed to learrrrn to trrrrill them forrrr Spanish class? I neverrrr could; that's why I took Gerrrrman.

[Kathybear]

Oops, that's wight - drop the offending consonant up thewe ...

[Olo Baggins of Bywater]

Well, stealing R's is better than rearranging the letters on the Holiday Inn marquee to a phrase that rhymes with buck too.

....not that I would know anything about how that might have happened one rainy night in 1979.

[Juggler of Geese]

All your Rrrrrrrrrrs are belong to us.

[queensbee]

hands up, or the RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRs get it.

[blurkernomore]

All this robbin', lootin' and talkin like pirates just leaves me with one thing to say:

Give me yerrrrrrrrrr women and yerrrrrrrr beerrrrrrrr!!

[obi wan]

I once lost my ARs hunkering over a crap table in Vegas...

[24-aholic]

I don't know about you all, but I could use some R&R....

[blurkernomore]

*snork @ 24-aholic*

Too bad, they're all gone.

[24-aholic]

oh, well, guess I'll settle for some zzz's..are those still available?

[KDF]

*is shocked that nobody has noticed that multiple O's are still available*

Uh huh.

[blurkernomore]

KDF, I'm with 24-aholic. A few Os and it's time for some Zs.

[Higgy]

I'd rather have one big "O"...

and then a cigarette and a beer....

[marfie]

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little "r"
How I wonder where you are.
Headly Hardware's missing two,
Could they be hiding in Punkin Poo?
Twinkle, Twinkle Little "r"
How I wonder where you are.

[shellann]

those poor business owners can't find their r's - with both hands

[Philintexas]

Dick Skidless, owner of Dick's Shi t Facto y, had no comment about the thefts.

[catharine]

ARRRRGGG!!! SNORKLE me mateys! It was I, Cap'n Catharine, the cap'n of this good ship BarryLow, who made off with the bounty of ARRRRRRRs.

[CJrun]

Catharine, you spell your name wierdly.

Shellann, I actually *snorked* beer.

Took some time off for a boat trip and wound up working for some old friends making a movie in Charleston. They told me the working title for the next effort was going to be Earl Watt. Just for a little funny, when I saw letters arranged on the bookshelves in their office spelling out the name, I re-arranged them. I swear, I didn't know that was the day a different crew was coming in to film the 'Making Of' interviews with the writer and director.

[Cat R.]

*snork* at philintexas

And, Olo Baggins ~ My college dorm-mate and I had a similar delinquent experience in the fall of 1979 (!) while pulling an all-nighter* in the cafeteria. I can't remember what the next day's menu originally said, but by the time we were done with the menu board, one of the items offered was "beef t*ts". There were a lot more "rewrites", but freshman year is a bit blurry to me now... wonder why?

* not THAT kind of all-nighter -- we were studying...STUDYING!!!

[shellann]

CJ - thank you - my first *snork*

[Chris]

Heh. Too bad it's not Bahstan. They wouldn't notice if someone stole an Ah or two. They weren't going to use them anyway ;)

cl

[Sallyacious]

Yay Marfie!
*Waves lighter*

[CJrun]

My pleasure Shell, really. Getting in from a long work day, catching up on Bloglit hijinks, I know not to swallow when I get to an AWBH post, but you snuck up on me.

Annie: I don't have a Fowler's handy and with my parents, I usually know when treading on thin or no-ice. Should that be 'a AWBH post.'

I don't think it's ever come up before, but someone I generally trust [and that pays the bills], says 'an' is incorrect. I'm not stupid, I changed it; but, consensus, is 'a' required before an acronym? Survey says!....

[Cat R.]

With "a" or "an", somebody once told me you generally go by the sound of the next word. You would say, for example, "an ABC discount store", not "a ABC discount store".

So, following that line of thought, "an AWBH post" rolls off the tongue more melodiously than "a AWBH post". So that's what I would do, even in writing.

I speak with no knowledge of the correct grammatical rules governing this issue whatsoever.

:-)

[Eleanor]

I'm with Wesson here. (And we hardly know each other, how can that be?!?!)
But I digress.

To me it's how it sounds. For instance, you'd say to Vanna White, I'd like an H, and I'd like an M, but you'd say I'd like a K.

Right?

[marfie]

I thought the rule of thumb was "an" before anything begining with a vowel and "a" before anything begining with a consonant, regardless. At least, that's what my mother, the English Major (not Majorette), drilled into me.

[Eleanor]

That is the rule, but I think it doesn't always work with "initials".
Signed
Another English major (not majorette!)
:)

[Not Even an English Minor (flunked Advanced Grammar for cutting class too much)]

The "a" v. "an" guideline before words beginning with consonants or vowels is applied (usually) to acronyms or initials by the starting sound.

In the example above, For instance, you'd say to Vanna White, I'd like an H, and I'd like an M, but you'd say I'd like a K. ... the "H" or the "M" sound is based on the spelling of the name of the letter, i.e. "aitch" or "em" ... both of which start with a vowel, and are pronounced as such. The "K" sound is a definite consonant, spelled "kay", and therefore, we use the "an" or "a" for the sound of the word/acronym/letter ... which, more or less, follows the "rule" of "a for consonants, an for vowels" ...

These "rules" are not always followed, but usually, even when our common everyday (not every day) usage is less formal, the "proper" sound most often follows the general rule.

What sounds best, is usually correct.

[Edgar Greenberg]

You um spelled my name wrong. It's E-D-G-A-R not P-A-T-R-I-C-K B-R-O-W-N, unless I sent it under that name by mistake.

[blurkernomore]

I gotta go with everyone else and say whichever one sounds correct is the one to use. I don't care what the textbooks say!
And I still say that when someone has a rope around their neck they are being hung not hanged. Once again, I don't care what the textbooks say!

I'm a rebel that way.

Booger.

[24-aholic]

"KDF, I'm with 24-aholic. A few Os and it's time for some Zs."

AMEN!!! I could use a little of both to get this weekend rolling

[Rusty1]

Just saw that the R's have been returned to the police station drop box. The cops say the will dust them for fingerprints before returning htem to their RRRRRightful owners.

[O. the U(manity)]

New headline:

Indiana National Guard gets Rs back

[24-aholic]

Mission accomplished

***sneaks off with the patented evil grin***

[Stephen M. St. Onge]

        Bush stole them!  Just go here and you'll see!