Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Adrian Chiles

Is the wayward apostrophe in WALE’S LARGEST VAPE SHOP a sign of the times?

Snap shot of a billboard poster reading
Blink and you’ll miss it … Adrian’s snapshot of the billboard ad. Photograph: Courtesy of Adrian Chiles

Something’s been bothering me on my commute to Cardiff. I usually take the train, but when I have to drive, just after I’ve passed Cardiff City stadium, I always get a red light just before a railway bridge. It’s not the red light I object to, it’s the giant electronic billboard right there, its brightness of such ferocity that I feel it burning my retina. And, as is the way with these things, the moment you see anything up there you’re interested in, it changes again.

So it was that I kept half-seeing something so astonishing – and not in a good way – that I thought I must be mistaken. And then either the billboard or the traffic lights would change, and I’d be on my way. As time went on, I even started slowing down as I approached this junction to try to catch the offending ad. But even when I got a good look at it, I thought I must be mistaken. Eventually, at 6am one Saturday morning over Christmas, I parked, readied the camera on my phone, and waited. The roads were deathly quiet, neither car nor soul anywhere. Just me, my phone, and this wretched sign. All in the cause of seeking confirmation that I had indeed found the most egregious use of an apostrophe in history.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.