How hard can it be?

I didn’t intend the first part of the next adventure to be on a hobby horse, but forgive me for having a small rant this morning.  I’m a member of a mailing list which is particularly active right now, discussing the topic of stationery.   That’s right, pens, paper and so on.

This week, I placed an order with my favourite BureauDirect and as always, had exemplary customer service with a query I had.  There is was again, that word stationery.

Earlier this week, though, I read a report about a woman posing with a “stationery animal” she’d just shot.  That can’t have been difficult, can it?  Less of a hunt, more of a paper chase don’t you think?  Then, there were those discussing a “stationary club” which they were thinking of joining, except I don’t really think they knew the difference between pens and paper and things which stand still.

I can’t be the only one who is more than slightly irritated by bad spelling, can I?  For some reason, this particular mix up is a special bête noire of mine and during the last few days I seem to have noticed it more than usual.  The icing on the cake was this:

“Stationery, Boxed Stationary & Stationery Sets Online Store ...www.papyrusonline.com/stationery.html”

Two different spellings of the same thing used in a single phrase!  Wow.

Try doing a google image search for “stationary” and see what I mean.