If you’d like to join a vigilante punctuation posse or a grassroots typography militia, Washington State might be the place for you.
In one Seattle suburb, for example, an underground group has targeted a certain “JS,” who sources say “has some serious control/micromanagement issues, and enjoys flaunting his power to tell people what to do a liiiittle too much. He also tends to find nasty ways to get revenge on people who contradict him.”
Elsewhere in Seattle, “office professionalism” seems to have no bearing on freedom of speech…as long as you use the right typeface, of course.
related: Completely valid rebuttals
113 responses so far ↓
#1
Dawn
But he uses the apostrophe incorrectly in the WORD “apostrophe.” JS is just begging to be taken down a peg or twelve.
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:10 pm rating: 90
#2
bean
I want to give him the benefit of the doubt; he used the ‘s as a witty remark on people’s misuse of the apostrophe, but he really could have stepped it up with (Commas, ok)
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:13 pm rating: 90
#3
Lin
Funny that he disses comic sans but says nothing about the excessive exclamation points.
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:15 pm rating: 90
#4
H for Toy
My apostrophes own a couple :symbols and some (symbols, but no /symbols.
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:24 pm rating: 90
#5
shwonline
They have customers with symbols in their name? Is (The Artist Formerly Known As) Prince a customer?
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:25 pm rating: 90
#6
shwonline
Please don’t engage in Random Capitalization of words like “Company”, “Lemonade” and “Stand.”
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:26 pm rating: 90
#7
Vin¢
I am.
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:27 pm rating: 90
#8
H for Toy
Maybe Commas-Ok is a hyphenated last name, and he’s using it as an example of what not to do. As in “Eustacia Commas-Ok should be listed as Eustacia Commas Ok. Thank you.”
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:27 pm rating: 90
#9
Risha
But what if the customer’s name has an apostrophe in it? I think that D’artagnan might have something to say about this rule.
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:34 pm rating: 90
#10
aaa
If they’re a Fortune 500 company, I’m sure they could also afford some higher quality paper for their passive aggressive signs.
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:54 pm rating: 90
#11
Jonathan
Don’t they teach kids to use bound parameters in SQL anymore?
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:59 pm rating: 90
#12
FeRD
Uh-oh. I smell trouble. There’s every indication this situation is headed for a rapid descent into classic no-win scenario territory.
After all, if the employees follow J.S.’s advice, and “leave out” all those apostrophes and symbols, where do you think they’re going to leave them? Scattered all over their desks… and once those fill up, in the breakroom and other common areas!
Then we’ll just be right back where we started, with more seething notes about employees not cleaning up tables and clutter being left on counters!
I’m telling you, that company should just accept the inevitable, and change its name to Kobayashi Maru, Inc.
They will be needing a new logo, tho — maybe something in a nice Comic Sans?
Jul 19, 2010 at 11:07 pm rating: 90
#13
park rose
I want to thumb the pink note/rebuttal a thousand times.
Jul 19, 2010 at 11:19 pm rating: 90
#14
TippingCows
I’d leave a copy of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves on the desk of JS just to punctuate that pink note.
Jul 20, 2010 at 1:10 am rating: 90
#15
lizzy
I prefer Comic Sans to Helvetica.
Jul 20, 2010 at 1:53 am rating: 90
#16
J
Even the creator of Comic Sans seems to have a love/hate relationship with his typographic spawn.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123992364819927171.html?mod=yhoofront
Jul 20, 2010 at 3:06 am rating: 90
#17
Meesh
Aw man, no fair! Washington State gets to have all the fun militias.
Jul 20, 2010 at 7:49 am rating: 90
#18
Splint Chesthair
I like to use “Freestyle Script” because it makes people think you sent them a handwritten note and that you have perfect and uniform penmanship and are therefore better than they.
Jul 20, 2010 at 9:17 am rating: 90
#19
Spencer Delarosa
Does it STILL make one instantly trendy to criticize comic sans? I thought that fad was over 5 years ago.
Jul 20, 2010 at 9:34 am rating: 90
#20
kiff
If this is how we can get back at Ke$ha, I’m all for it.
Jul 20, 2010 at 10:11 am rating: 90
#21
bigyaz
The first few comments? Kind of funny. After that, the humor just becomes strained and totally unfunny.
What’s wrong with just enjoying the post? Do you all feel the need to comment, even when you have nothing witty or interesting to say?
Jul 20, 2010 at 11:44 am rating: 90
#22
Stephanie
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/monologues/15comicsans.html
The funniest thing about the comic sans debate that I have ever read.
Jul 20, 2010 at 1:14 pm rating: 90
#23
TheAngryMongoose
Someone uses triple exclamation marks twice in a row, and someone complains about the FONT!?
Even if they were using bloody IMPACT the exclamations would still be the stupidest thing there!!!
Jul 20, 2010 at 1:19 pm rating: 90
#24
Woman on the Verge
What the fuck is this? It’s getting annoying.
Jul 20, 2010 at 3:56 pm rating: 90
#25
Woman on the Verge
Cut that shit out.
Jul 20, 2010 at 3:58 pm rating: 90
#26
dave
The first NW should take has his own advise first. he has unnecessary apostrophe in the word apostrophes.
Jul 20, 2010 at 5:04 pm rating: 90
#27
bob loblaw
your so right. i see these grammatical errors alot.
Jul 20, 2010 at 9:46 pm rating: 90
#28 Please Don’t Use Comic Sans
[...] A lesson in corporate typography, as seen on Passive Agressive Notes. [...]
Jul 21, 2010 at 10:35 am rating: 90
#29
AJ
Comic Slab?
http://ajmaher.posterous.com/comic-slabfor-the-casual-professional
Jul 21, 2010 at 1:03 pm rating: 90
#30
Rob
I am sure they don’t want symbols in the name because the program they are using will crash/something else bad.
Jul 22, 2010 at 7:57 am rating: 90
#31
Alex K
… removing comic sans from next company windows build…
Jul 26, 2010 at 9:22 am rating: 90
#32 Quick - Xchange Links
Why Location-Based Social Media Needs to Get “Passive” Aggressive – Mashable!…
I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Aug 17, 2010 at 6:23 am rating: 90
#33 “A simple pledge.” « Daily Design Idea
[...] in the workplace (though apparently “excessive exclamation points” are ok, one PassiveAgressiveNotes.com reader facetiously pointed [...]
Aug 27, 2010 at 12:54 pm rating: 90
#34
Limeliberator
What kind of revenge are we talking here?
Oct 12, 2010 at 6:16 pm rating: 90
#35
Ken
no apostrophes and symbols? Methinks the idiot they hired to write their customer management database (JS, perhaps) is not too good at sanitizing user input before feeding it to the database.
yes, my name is ‘;drop table –’ and I am a very important customer of this firm!!!!!!!!
Oct 21, 2010 at 10:48 pm rating: 90
#36
AHustle
Oh, I don’t know – there may be more to Comic Sans than meets the eye –
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/monologues/15comicsans.html
Oct 29, 2010 at 3:42 pm rating: 90
#37 Memo to all employees (but primarily intended for one person in particular) | PassiveAggressiveNotes.com
[...] Meanwhile, at a small office in Canada, our submitter says one of the company’s directors has a similar habit of sending out a pedantic “just FYI”-type memo to the entire staff each time she has run-in with another co-worker. (And yes, our submitter says, they’re always in Comic Sans.) [...]
Nov 18, 2010 at 3:27 pm rating: 90
#38 Bold and Italicize Your Way to a Better Memory : The Last Word On Nothing
[...] Comic Sans photo is used with permission from passive-aggressive notes. Category: Mind and BrainTags: cognition > education > fonts > memory > [...]
Dec 9, 2010 at 5:33 am rating: 90
#39 Ugly fonts, better memory? « Virginia Hughes
[...] (Photo used with permission from passive-aggressive notes.) [...]
Dec 9, 2010 at 7:42 am rating: 90
#40
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil
There is nothing wrong with Comic Sans. It’s only people with no real knowledge of typography and design that use it as an excuse to appear superior and knowledgeable.
What they are really doing is demonstrating their own ignorance and incompetence.
Dec 17, 2010 at 2:21 pm rating: 90
#41 Funniest (not necessarily passive-aggressive) notes of 2010 | PassiveAggressiveNotes.com
[...] Please don’t use Comic Sans [...]
Dec 31, 2010 at 12:41 pm rating: 90
#42
baboushka
Comic sans,
Dishpan hands,
Life happens while you’re making
Other plans
Exclamatory
Redundancy
Must give us pause…
Was it is, or is it was?
Feb 11, 2011 at 11:48 am rating: 90
#43
Lola
As a teacher I have been told to use comic sans in all my lessons, for pupils with language based learning difficulties it is the easiest to read (especially on a blue background).
I would not use it for anything else but we should all be nicer about a font that can actually improve someones learning.
Mar 25, 2011 at 3:42 pm rating: 90
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