@Ubermunch:
No sir, no you did not.

When I saw the preview of this on the front page I said to myself:

"Not again Georgia! Why must you make me look so bad!"

But YANKEES! Oh my!

And I remember a few occasions where we ran out/almost ran out of meat but never closed the store, because as long as there's another Burger King within close distance one could simply borrow a few boxes to tide you over. Once we even went to the grocery store and bought hamburger meat...shocking!!

What I meant - no big deal for most of the people out there. Because most of them wouldn't do much better anyway...

Which doesn't make it right. If this is accepted behavior, Idiocracy isn't too far away.

@asherchang2:

No one would ever accuse me of being over-educated or a grammar nazi, but shit, you are just wrong.

you need to conjugate your verbs correctly!

THE FARSIDE:

After a first date and an awesome night Sam kissed her goodbye at the door and said... "It was a Pleasure to Meat You." It was a tender moment.

Anyways, "ebonics" is a lot lessy wordy than "African American Vernacular English". Works perfectly as long as people take it as a descriptive term instead of a pejorative one.

careful with those prescriptions, as not everyone will agree with you.

@relax_guy: You're right ,I missed that as well : the word MEET caught my eye first and I didn't look at anything else .

Scary part is that most seem understand what they were trying to say .

I like BK food but BK is the only fast food place where I had to complain to the alleged manager who was being trained by the departing manager or district official who did NOTHING to help her , she let a customer service issue linger infront of customers waiting to order . What a joke !

People complain about Micky Ds but BK has just as many issues as well . Wasn't it a BK employee who took a bath in a cooking area . Again this speaks for how the employees view their job or how they are being treated .

without the apostrophe you're saying that they didn't have meat before, but they do now.

you done fail'd. lawlz.

we ARE closed, or we're closed.

we closed = wrong.

Sorry, we closed is not correct. you done failed.

@MichClay: I agree it could be an honest mistake .It could even be symptom of how frantic they were having to close .

But the fact that an employee didn't point out the error is just as bad .If your the manager on duty you have got realize that this for all the public to see .As a manager you have to be responsible for the public image of BK .It also reflects the attitude the employees have twards their job and company .

Must admit though when posting on the internet I frequently wind up spelling like that when typing too fast .

@Wormfather is Wormfather: Is that related to Treet, the competitor to Spam?

Looks like it's been around since at least September:

[www.reddit.com]

i doint gets it what be wrong with sign? it say clear they out of meet.

@egoods: They dotn use meat at BK, they use the ubiquitous 'meet'. Enjoy it with one of their malkshakes.

/Simpsons'd

As the game Fez stated: "I am pride".

@2719:

It is a big deal. If you don't understand why, I feel sorry for you.

@the dude:

You're an idiot. But I think we all knew that already.

@ceriphim:

I thought you had to be an asshole to post on Consumerist. It seems to be the requirement around here. Cyrus fits in very well.

@CyrusOpeth:

You need a comma after the word "about." Also, you shouldn't start a setence with the word "and." Also, you failed to correct her about her usage of the word "speaking" when she's clearly typing, not speaking. Also, you're a dickhead who should stop throwing stones from a glass house.

@alphafemale:

That's how I read it. I don't think people realize how racially offensive the term "ebonics" is. Those of us who are black and have managed to learn proper English get really tired of hearing that word used whenever someone doesn't speak English well. They also use words like "ghetto" and "hip hop." It's thinly-veiled racism.

@Ben_Q2:

If you need both hands to count all your degrees then you yourself are a testament to what's wrong with our educational system. If you're unable to spell and don't know the difference between "meat" and "meet", you'd never have passed my class or received even one degree.

Maybe you're just living proof that a bunch of degrees does not make one intelligent.

@Raiders757:

You may want to educate yourself on the difference between it's and its. Clearly you came from the "mainstream ghetto influenced hip hop culture" and didn't learn it. Incidentally, I'm as hip hop as they come and can speak and write circles around you. Maybe it's white suburbia that is the problem.

@cunninglinguine:

If people are raised to believe there is little to no value in education, the result is what we have in this country... a bunch of stupid people who don't know the difference between "meat" and "meet."

@coren:

Word

@Spero:

As a Philly gal, I take umbrage with that. This sign could have appeared on a BK anywhere in the U.S. Yes, it is indicative of our failing educational system. I teach English to professionals and am consistently amazed at how little grammar they've been taught in GRAMMAR SCHOOL!

See above for the blog this actually came from.

People who speak like this, and write like this may not know otherwise.

I think they meant to write:
"Sorry, We am closed. We am out of meat."

U'r welcome.

I'm not sure if it's as much a confirmation as an initial making-sure-it's-entered-correctly-since it-requires-a-manager-to-recify-incorrect-entries kind of situation, you know? I haven't happened to work for BK, though, so I can't say for sure, but that's definitely the impression I get. So, really, the employees are attempting to do their jobs as efficiently as possible.

No, what it speaks volumes about is Philadelphia. Seriously, the entire city is like that. When I saw the photo, I facepalmed and thought, "Please don't let that have been taken in Philly, please, just a tiny amount of dignity..."

But no.

Kind of hard to be the Burger King when you don't have any beef on the premises. I just drove on through and went to Wendy's.

BK = Fail

PS - Stop being a cock. You could've made your point without being such a vituperative asshole.

It's called the lowest common denominator. No one knows - or wants to propose - what to do with the vast number of children who grow up with English as their second language. Most are taught in spanish with some english to help them integrate into society but it's hard when they go home every day and live in essentially a spanish speaking society. Few want to do anything about that because they'll be seen as racist or xenophobic, when in reality it's just trying to make our society be less fractured and falling apart. Granted saying "we closed out of meet" isnt the harbinger of societal apocalypse, but it is a symptom of a society that's aiming for the bare minimum.

@floraposte: Did I pass judgement on pretention?

@Skankingmike: You're assuming they intended to say "Sorry, we are closed.", - which would be present tense, but they could have intended it be the past tense, "Sorry we closed." The second example could be written as "Sorry we HAVE closed", but only if the writer is trying to be pretentious.

@Skankingmike:

I hear people talk such, but I correct them constantly.

Either:
You are lying,
or,
Everyone in New Jersey hates you.

@Lori Ingham:

Correct:
1. Feed Baby
2. Post Comment

Maybe whoever wrote the note at the BK had to go feed a 5 month old as well.

Maybe they were being humorously ironic. As in they closed because they were just sick to death of meeting customers.

@forgottenpassword: spoke? past tense? they died? well, they spoke ebonics (meaning they are black) so who cares. is that what you're getting at?

Bravo.

[newstandardnews.net]

I doubt that we will ever have a neutral or beneficial effect on the environment as a whole but I do believe that we can all make small changes that really add up.

If this person did indeed learn English as a primary language, I'm terrified. My boyfriend is an ESLer, and would never make such mistakes. His English outshines many native speakers.

Just because one has a hard time spelling does not make them dumb. I cannot sound out words, yet I can program not only fine (very well thank you) I have a language that only a handful of people can even talk let lone spell.

I'm very sorry you feel this way about people that have a hard time with this. Yes there are times I spell "meat" as "meet" Yes I need both hands to count my degrees.

@forgottenpassword: Doubleplusgood.

@GoVegan: If they're sold out, it means the meat was unexpectedly popular, and they'll just order more next time.

@CyrusOpeth: I'd give her the benefit of the doubt here-fast typing+distraction=silly mistakes. Then again, I just pulled a similar mistake a few comments up, so I'm biased.

And don't you ever, EVER call me "stupid" ever again. I try to be positive when I come on here. You are just being an annoying ass in your criticism over something that was really, really small. I'm not perfect. Neither are you. Get off my ass.

@ethereal_pete:

Doesn't everybody in Georgia speak at such a slow rate that "aintgotnobuns" would never be confused?

@Trai_Dep: I assure you, the irony is not lost on me. "Preview comment" would have saved me a lot of grief. :)

@bohemian:

Children which were Church-schooled or home-schooled seldom make such obvious spelling errors. Unfortunately their social skills are generally lacking and I will not hire them.

@Coles_Law:

Sigh...of all the threads to make a typo...

IF B-K was indeed out of meat (beef) then the store was required to close as beef is the primary product sold.

And my point is: at the time I was typing that, I had a five month old little boy (pictured in my avatar) who was hungry and crying for his bottle, so I wasn't going to go over it with a fine tooth comb at that moment in time.

Right now in my class we are about to discuss alternate ways to teach students about grammar, punctuation and spelling that will encourage them to apply it. As it is, the traditional way does not work because it's separated from their work and students do not know how to apply it to their everyday usage. I freely admit I'm guilty of the occasional misspelled word. But this is the Internet, and formalities often go by the wayside when posting. :-)

The "why can't us?" on the other hand... well, that's just inexcusable.

However, who here does not understand what the sign means? The message is clear to any native speaker and many non-native speakers as well. The construction "We closed. We out of (meat)" is a perfectly acceptable construction in some colloquial English dialects. I know some people may come back and say it's incorrect, because you are unlikely to find this construction in an English grammar book. I would argue that if it is in common usage colloquially, then it is an acceptable construction in some circles.

Clearly a more 'acceptable' construction for a place of business would be something more formal and appropriate for written English would be something like "Unfortunately, due to a lack of necessary food supplies, this store is closed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you."

We know this perhaps because we've been trained in writing professional documents. Or maybe we're just good in writing. Or language. It doesn't necessarily folow though that the person who wrote this sign is a)unintelligent or b)uneducated. They could indeed not have been trained in writing. Or they could have a learning disability. Or they could have just not given a flying f**k and wanted to shut up shop and go home. And who can blame them? I think if I were working at BK for minimum wage and had an unexpected afternoon off, I'd get the heck out, sharpish.

Finally, a word about good and bad spellers in English. Good spellers in English tend to be visual learners (ie they learn more by looking at things, writing things down etc.) because English is not phonetic (ie spelled like it sounds). In phonetic languages like Spanish, a word is written exactly how you say it and so basically everyone's a good speller. In English, visual learners have an advantage because they can visualize a word. And there is NO CORRELATION between spelling ability and intelligence.

I hope you'll keep all this in mind before passing judgment on the creator of this sign.

@SabreDC: I agree. It is very rude for an employee to verify my order. Those are at least 2, maybe 3 seconds of my life I will never get back. Next time I'll demand a full refund and apologies.

And my point is that there are people who literally are so uneducated that they don't know any other way to write. It's not just a way of speech. And it doesn't necessarily mean they are stupid, just uneducated.

There are some people who chose to speak/write that way, and some who don't know another way.

And it wouldn't be an error in grammar even if it were wrong, as it's a perfectly grammatical sentence.

Ah Philly, the same city that brought us "Why Can't Us?" and "Eagles Wins."

/Bitter Mets Fan

That left a pretty bad impression, along with it taking half an hour in a relatively empty restaurant that ONLY SERVES WINGS to get my order done. It takes about 8 minutes to make an order of wings with a fry daddy. I know this because there was this great wing place in Portland, ME that was just down the street from my apt. You walk in and place your order. The guy took fresh wings from the fridge, tossed them in the oil, then said "It'll be about 7 minutes." 8 minutes later, you'd have hot, sauced wings in your hands.

U CAN NO HAS CHEEZBURGR

@Triborough:

No, it's a prime example of how mainstream ghetto influenced hip hop culture has dumbed down America, and why the corporate world needs to stop leaning on it's vanity to sell food, fasion, and pimple cream.

Now we know how Bizzarro earns a paycheck...

Unfortunately aquacarbonica might be right in that people are stupid.

I don't' live in a bubble; I live in New Jersey. I hear people talk such, but I correct them constantly.

@Davan:

You're not kidding. That is just pathetic.

Otherwise I have to wonder if the accusation itself isn't racist.

"Sorry, we closed. We were out of meat" would be acceptable.

Serves me right for jumping on that train...

A lot of people "might" speak like that, as in slang/street talk. I know I don't always speak perfect English, but I certainly would not write a business sign like that anymore than I would use slang/street talk in my resume.

Personally, I'm impressed the writer didn't use "outta"

And it sounds like Idiocracy, indeed...

I'm independent, and really don't care to work in these places, so when the district/area whatever managers get pissed because I'm calling every 5 minutes, I politely tell them to hire people that speak american, so I don't have to bother them with questions that the store level people should be able to answer.

The worst part, when I walk into teh store the people there look at ME like there is something wrong because I don't speak spanish

If you walk in and say "I want a number one", they almost always say "Do you want the meal or just the sandwich?" Well, if I wanted the sandwich, I would have said the name of the sandwich, not "number one". On the other hand, if you say "I want a Whopper", they will inevitably ask the same. Just LISTEN to what I say and you'll understand.

It reminds me of that old Gallagher routine where he goes into a buffet and says "I'd like the buffet." To which the waiter replies, "Is that one for the buffet?". "Yes, that's why I said I. I would like the buffet."

Why can't we just replace idiots with self serve touch screens where I can actually pick what I want? Don't try to improve the language barrier, get rid of it altogether.

More'n anything it needs punctuation and a correct form of meet.

"Sorry, we closed - we are out of meat" would be an acceptable sentence. I suppose expecting perfect grammar and spelling from an industry that coined "Drive Thru" because spelling "through" out fully was too much effort is a bit silly.

@2719:

newspeak?

@forgottenpassword:

*guess

@PunditGuy:

My guese would be it was made by one who spoke ebonics fluently.

Also, has anyone considered that maybe the person who wrote the sign wasn't a native speaker?

Well I have and I kindly tell them to fix it, it's an honest mistake. Everyone here is so smart. I have to go correct some more papers before I head back to the corrupt and broken educational system on Tuesday.

Consumers push for low prices on fast food and then complain about the grammar of the minimum wage employees in an unusual situation?

As to selling other products, it is up to the owner of the franchise to make that call - the question, as others have noted, is whether in their experience it makes fiscal sense to keep the restaurant open having lost the majority of your menu items considering that the restaurant has a fair amount of fixed expense it needs to cover. Closing for the day is painful but often makes sense.

Those people didn't want to learn in school. It wasn't necessarily the education system's fault. It was the culture that they grew up in.

@Gort23: That was my thought too. There are plenty of fast-food restuarants around me that not only employ people for whom English is their second language but are also OWNED by people for whom English is a second language.

I was just going to say that! Thank you for pointing that out.

Think about it next time you go through the drive through ... try to picture the language you hear as a non-native speaker. My favorite is when you're asked if you want Ketchup with your order ("Wan kecha?").

This is true, but apparently a lot of people make the colloquial distinction between "meat" (red meat) and chicken. Personally they are all meat to me. I don't know if it is a regional thing or not. I hear it a lot in school up north but never down south.

"Soled?" SOLD!!!

Isn't fast food where we elitist pigs encourage the stupid to work?

"Keep skipping school little Billy and you'll end up as the fry cook at a fast food restaurant!"

They are only doing what we told them to do.

(point is... the problem is us, not them. Don't point and laugh at your stupid friend in school kiddies. Help your friend out with his learning versus chopping them at the knees.)

"On accident" should be "by accident."

Idiocracy!

Courtesy of [speaklolcat.com]

@Triborough: Corrupt? You are kidding right? Maybe underfunded or inefficient, but corrupt? Corrupt means something that has changed "from good to bad in morals, manners, or actions ; also : bribe b: to degrade with unsound principles or moral values."

It also assumes there is such a thing as an "educational system." There is no "educational system" instead we have thousands of local educational systems, most are absolutely great and some have problems. These problems will not be solved overnight or solved with political and ineffective mechanisms like "No Child Left Behind" (aka NCLB).

What is really unfortunate is when politicians use "education" as the scapegoat for everything... crime, morals, the economy, etc.

Right, it's called "good" elementary education. If you don't think a large portion of America speaks like that, you are in a very privileged bubble. Because so many people are under the delusion that America's education system works out these kinks everywhere, they never get solved.

There are thousands of US classrooms where elementary aged students are taught to color and watch videos rather than to learn proper English that often conflicts with what they are surrounded with at home.

I know TONS of people who speak like this. They don't come from where I grew up, or even where I go to school. But I don't pretend like they don't exist just because I had a better educational experience.

I volunteer for a group that deals with a cross section of the community. Third grade spelling and grammar mistakes are everywhere. This is what happens when you have a society that shuns education in favor of religion and corporate servitude.

We actually had a good sized faction in our state politics that wanted to find a way to shut down the public schools.

Now if you wanted a beef burger....

.
.
.
.
.

:-) Ha! Had you going there for bit, didn't I?

The person that wrote that sign was probably educated in another country.

@pollyannacowgirl: Agreed. We ran out of hamburger patties a few times back in my days at McD's-we just soled chicken and fish.

Now, if we were to run out of fries, that's when I'd bolt the doors.

We closed? WE CLOSED? As an educator that doesn't bother you? Then that right there shows what is wrong with the education system. Shit like that should bother everybody.

Just go ahead and check some pages on myspace.com and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Reminds me of a time, while driving through a scary part of Georgia, that I went to a BK and was told "aintgotnobuns" which, after a few dramatically slower repetitions with the inflection that I was the backwoods idiot, found to mean they were out of buns.

I believe this photo has been out for awhile, so it's possible it's been shown before. I'm pretty sure I saw it on Failblog at least a few months ago.

No it doesn't. As an educator myself I sometimes even use the wrong form of words on accident. Although it is embarrassing for the person who wrote the sign, it could be an honest mistake that doesn't need to be blamed on the "corrupt and broken educational system"

a) Tired of giving away free whoppers to people who are clearing their Facebook friend list,

or

b) Out and on the prowl to find some 'Whopper Virgins'

@Triborough: Actually, it doesn't. You understand what they meant don't you? At least they can write legibly.

I put that sign up because my pregnant girlfriend was bitching about having to cook there while 27-weeks pregnant. Had to make it look ghetto because it's located in that part of town. *SHH! Don't tell anyone!*

Seriously; I'm not joking. I wouldn't put this possibility past BK's marketing department.

If this sign was written (in much better handwriting than mine, by the way) by someone for whom English is a second language, I'm willing to cut them some slack. If this is someone who just wasn't paying attention in school for 12-13 years, then I share everyone's tears.

I don't understand why the store closed, though. There are plenty of other things they can serve. Some lazy manager's idea, I'm sure.

FAIL

But seriously I try to not look down at people who work at fast food restaurants, a lot of people do. This just does not help their image....sad really..

Did this site have another article awhile back about this or a similar sign?

Well, chicken is meat too isn't it? not only that I'm sure they put the same 'meat' in everything they make.

Wow that sign is dissapointing in soooo many ways.