Wednesday Words: It is Lite or Light?

You will never catch me pulling into the “Krazy Kat Kar Wash.”  I don’t care if my vehicle looks like it emerged from a mudslide or the only thing visible through my front windshield is the collection of insects amassed from a three-hour drive down a farm-to-market road.  I simply cannot endorse the new craze of misspelling everything in sight to get a potential customer’s attention.

I know, I know.  Grammar snob.

But I have wondered when this craze began.  At what point did we decide to forego spell check and purposefully alter signs to grab a second look.  In fact, when was “All You Can Eat Night?” replaced by “All U Can Eat Nite”?  When did “crazy” become “krazy” and us not think that’s crazy?

And how far will this trend extend?  Will I eventually pull up to the “Dryv Throo” at my local “Chikn & Freyes” restaurant?  Will it reach my doctor’s office, so that I am greeted by a sign saying, “Akcepting Nu Payshunts!”  Where’s the line?

For me, a business can get my attention by delivering a quality product, excellent customer service, word-of-mouth advertising, and people dressed up as your corporate mascot waving me down from the road curb (?).

But I would prefer that you leave the English language intact.  It’s already a hodge-podge of spellings lifted from other languages and years of evolution.  It doesn’t need further confusion.

What misspellings have you noticed?  Do they get your attention?  If so, is that attention positive or negative?  Are you more likely or less likely to frequent these businesses?