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I was wandering around the State Capitol the other day and I saw one of those "State Capitol District" signs (big map sign, stuck on the side of buildings). Except at the top of the sign it said (emphasis added) State CapitAl District! It's a pretty common mistake for people to make, but think about it. The order for the sign had to come from the governor's office, which then probably went to DAGS, and at no point in the chain of command was there someone intelligent enough to notice that capitol was spelled wrong. So now we have these signs all over the place in the capitol area saying it's the capitAl! It's a fine distinction I know, but capital is a city, money, or resources of a sort, and capitOl is a building or set of buildings where the business of governance takes place (derived from ancient Rome's Capitoline Hill, from which the empire was run). Let's all have a good laugh at Aunty Linda's expense since she can't even get something as simple as this right. I guess it's just THAT hard to get good help in Hawaii if you're a Republican Gov.
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell....
Seems like this is a political rant more than anything...
According to this page, a capital district is "a small area ... in which the capital city and government offices are located."
In Hawaii's case, the area with those signs is indeed part of Honolulu (the capital city) and where government offices are located.
I consider myself more of a Demorcat than Republican, but geez... can't you find something else to pick on the Lingle administration about besides misspelled signs? -
Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell....
The governor is certainly guilty of some grammatical atrocities (as in one of the recent commercials on TV), but I don't think one is so bad. Yes, "capitol" is a building or set of buildings where governing takes place, but "capital" is the city in which those buildings typically exist. For this reason, even though "capital" was probably an error and not deliberately chosen, I think it's one of those happy mistakes that ends up being more correct.
When we say something like "Hollywood keeps misrepresenting Asians," we don't mean the CITY of Hollywood; we mean the people and culture in a specific field Hollywood is known for. When we say "The suits won't let this project go through," we don't mean articles of clothing; we mean certain men and women in positions where this kind of attire is considered standard. This use of language is either synecdoche or metonym. Either way, I think the use of "capital" in this case, especially referring to a district, could be referring to the general IDEA of the capital city contained in these buildings.
That could be reaching, but you can bet that the other islands don't have areas called "capital districts," not because the buildings that do some of that work don't exist there, but because they are nowhere near the capital of Hawaii.
Just my opinion.But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
GrouchyTeacher.comComment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell....
The way I was taught in school, there is only one "Capitol", and that's in Washington, DC (the seat of the US government). Each seat of government in the 50 states was called "Capital".
Miulang"Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark TwainComment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell....
It "had to"? Why? Is there no other department or division that handles such manini routine matters as signage? Of all the thousands of government employees, the Governor herself has to order signs? Yeah. Right.Originally posted by Deep Thought View Post
Actually, I'm having a good laugh at your expense for saying something so utterly ludicrous. (See my comments above.) The entire premise of your post is laughable, and the reason you wrote it is transparent.Let's all have a good laugh at Aunty Linda's expense since she can't even get something as simple as this right.
You're using "Deep Thought" as your screen name, so here's a bit of advice: next time you have a thought... just let it go.
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That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.Comment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell....
Other than that, at least the government is perfect.Comment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell....
Heh.Originally posted by i-hungry View Post
Like Scriv, I'm sure it's a mistake, even if technically defensible. I love seeing custom signage with typos... extra points if it's welded metal or neon. But giggling at a stupid mistake at the State Capitol is one thing. Trying to draw a line between that and the governor and her Republican-ness is a hell of a stretch.
Chances are the buck got passed through everyone in Facilities, the order went to Fast Signs, and the thing got hung before anyone actually read it.
Heck... a friend of mine had to get a large, engraved brass plaque redone because the signmaker introduced a typo (an apostrophe to indicate a plural, everyone's favorite mistake) that wasn't on the original order. So, you never know.Comment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell...
my fave is the street sign;
Go SlowComment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell...
Close but no cigar. My fave is "Slow Children At Play." Are the children mentally challenged? Or are the fast children at work? I dunno.Originally posted by kimo55 View Post
And those new signs out in Hawaii Kai... wasn't there originally a typo on those too?
It's all Lingle's fault.
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That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.Comment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell...
yea. good one.
I usta do much equestrian stuffs and go to alotta rodeos on the mainland a while back (preferred baraback and western)
and my fave was;
yer behind a truck and horse trailer and there's a big sign on the back:
Slow Horses.
too bad. no barrel race ribbons for them!Comment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell...
DAGS does the signage, and the whole capitol district thing came from the executive branch. They should fix it. It's funny but stupid too.Comment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell...
shucks... i thought you meant BROKEBACK...Originally posted by kimo55 View PostComment
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Re: The Gov and DAGS can't spell....
I wasn't going to say anything but this is the real reason for the spelling as I was told by a DAGS Automotive Division employee. I had spelt it Capitol so he corrected me. He said Capital refers to the whole area not the one building (Capitol).Originally posted by Palolo Joe View Post
Looking up at m-w.com it could be either. Hmm. I guess their choice is "capital".
Send an e-mail to the Governor.
www.hawaii.gov/hellogovernor
She will also be on 830 AM on 1/24 at 7 AM. Put her on the spot and call her about it.
Last edited by jkpescador; January 14, 2007, 06:18 AM.just started: mililaniblog.comComment
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