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A noun that is formed from a verb and which describes an action. In English it ends in -ing, eg 'the baking of bread' and 'Smoking damages your health'.

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Bare with us

Abuse in Signage, wrong word

Posted by Gez on 7th January, 2009

Imagine the shock that this sign caused in the leafy, well-to-do Manchester suburb of Wilmslow, Cheshire.

Bare with us

Right, so you want me to take my clothes off and watch you work? You filthy painter and decorator man, you!

The sign should read, “Bear with us”. This amusing error is explained, elegantly as ever, by Paul Brians.

The confusion between this latter verb and “bear” creates many unintentionally amusing sentences; so if you want to entertain your readers while convincing them that you are a dolt, by all means mix them up. “Bear with me,” the standard expression, is a request for forbearance or patience. “Bare with me” would be an invitation to undress. “Bare” has an adjectival form: “The pioneers stripped the forest bare.”

Mind you, with the number of WAGs and other former glamour models residing in that area of Cheshire, perhaps the sign isn’t so much an error as a testament to the optimism of the refurbishers.

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6 Comments »

1. The so-called professional writers at Yahoo! have made this sort of mistake more than once:
   http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/category/confused-words/barebear/

   Comment by Laura — 9th January, 2009 @ 6:08 am

2. Well that’s a first - I don’t think I’ve ever been asked to nude up and go to a construction site with naked builders before. What have I been missing out on?

   Comment by Steph — 9th January, 2009 @ 2:05 pm

3. I like the expression “nude up”. It implies a certain workmanlike detachment from the act of getting nude.

   Comment by Gez — 26th January, 2009 @ 6:37 pm

4. These types of mistakes have always interested me. As a graphic designer I see design errors and bad design all the time. I’m not as sensitive to grammar and writing, but I’m sure you see it everywhere. I know I am often guilty of many of these errors.

   Comment by Grant — 29th January, 2009 @ 7:36 pm

5. So rather than get naked with them, their correct invitation should be for us to get hairy, growl and steal their honey?

   Comment by Winnie Bear — 5th December, 2009 @ 4:39 pm

6. For some, those two actions are the same.

   Comment by Gez — 8th December, 2009 @ 1:20 pm

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