Flowers and pearls: The most-read column...

...is of course not this one. And yes, the title is not only wrong in terms of content, but also orthographically. This error is one of those that could soon make it into the Duden dictionary - not as an error, but as what we call an "alternative spelling". Unlike alternative facts, the same applies here: If you say it often enough, it will become true after all.

The overly well-intentioned superlative is of course not the only (höhö) phenomenon. There's also the je-je-Jojo (for example: the more wrong, the better) or the Verhunz gendering, as in the ever-popular "Kund:innen". Nothing against gendering, but that's just wrong. And of course the infamous "idiot apostrophe" among dozens of other corpora delicti. Are mistakes actually cultural brutalization or somehow linguistic progress - or even art?

The crucial question

Dealing with language rules really is a crucial question, a veritable battlefield of beliefs: Do you want to flaunt your own educated bourgeoisie? Do we put ourselves above others by rubbing their noses in it? Do you see language as a mirror of society and therefore see breaking the rules as betraying it? Is it a question of respect and care - and are spelling mistakes therefore disrespect? Or is everything allowed that does not harm others? Or only what is fun? Or is everything just constructed anyway and you make up your own rules, and rules are overrated and linguistic rules are overrated anyway?

The line between demonstrated idealism and ignorance or lack of care is difficult to recognize: Some people virtually celebrate their inability to spell or even turn it into something like social criticism or even art - the best example is misspelled tags and graffiti: the better the spelling, the more likely it is to be intentional.

Is that art or can anyone do it?

In advertising language, you can do anything if you do it well (and on purpose). That's why unintentional mistakes are amusing at best, but embarrassing - intentional mistakes are rhetorically valuable and sometimes high art. And, as with high art, not everyone can do that.

With graffiti, the appeal of the mistake also lies in the fact that it's not always so clear whether it's good humor or carelessness. In advertising, everything is a bit more clumsy. The fear that a mistake that is too subtle will not be recognized as intentional is simply too great. If mistakes are to be made, then they should be obvious. That's why clumsy spelling mistakes in advertising are usually just that: simple spelling mistakes. In dubio pro reo, of course.

Analyzed since 2025 Sarah Pally In her column "Blossoms and Pearls", she comments on industry-related terms with a personal touch, from a linguistic perspective - as well as with a precise view of developments in the industry. Pally is a partner in the Partner & Partner agency in Winterthur. She has been working in the fields of content marketing, text/concept and storytelling in the communications and marketing sector for 15 years.