or did they actually include a ‘k’?
(here follows a little rant. I must make appologies in advance for my own poor spelling and grammar abilities, not wishing to appear too much a hypocrite)
...It seems to me I remember it not being spelled with a k, but then, I didn’t shop there very often. Whether or not the orriginal name had a spelling error, the new name is gramatically far worse. Personally, I find the new name for Pic ‘n’ Save absolutely appalling. I refuse to use the name unless I must because I feel so stupid saying it. Big!Lots -!!! What’s with that? I ask you! What precicely is that supposed to mean? It makes no gramatical sense whateoever. First off, there is the blaring exclamaition mark right in the middle. ‘Big Lots’ is not a even sentence, and even if it were the exclaimation mark would appear at the end. Obviously this out of place punctuation mark has been included because the sign maker wishes to inspire excitement in the reader, and it has no doubt been inserted in the middle on account of someone’s idea of ‘aesthetic’ ballance. Why not insert a large smiley face symbol? Or how about a gigantic capital Z? Either of those would have just as much business being there as that exclaimation mark. This prominantly ill-placed symbol of excitement puts me in mind of those excutiatingly cheesy Barbie commercials in which several little girls squeal obnoxiously and exhibit far more enthusiasm than normal hyperactive children over the dolls in question. Is that really the impression intended by the use of the exclaimation mark here?
Even ignoring this case of abused punctuation, the words themselves do not make sense together. Has the company chosen at random two words which mean roughly ‘a large ammount’? Why? It does me no good for you to tell me you have large ammounts.... without telling me of what. For all I know you could be talking about mounds of manure; in which case I certainly don’t wish to enter your shop. ‘Big’ what? ‘Lots’ of what?
'Big' and 'Lots' are not adjectives generally seen together. Even with a noun they would sound odd. Big lots of stuff. Big lots of savings. Part of the problem, I think, is that ‘lots’ requires ‘of’ between it and a noun, and 'big' does not. You would never say ‘big of dogs’ any more than you would say ‘lots dogs’. The other problem is that these ‘modifyers’ appear in the wrong order. You can say ‘lots of big dogs’ without sounding awkward at all. I am not, however, saying that ‘Lots!Big’ would be any better for a shop sign, nor even ‘Lots of Big!’ - to that one must ask 'What is Big? Can I buy some big?' as ‘Lots of Big’ makes it sound as though Big is a ‘mass noun’ (like water).
I would like to diverge a moment here to ask a nagging question: when did the form ‘lots’, with an S, come to be used as anything but a plural of the singular noun ‘lot’ meaning a plot of land? I can say either ‘I have a lot of cats,’ or ‘I have lots of cats’ and be understood to mean exactly the same thing.
‘Big’ and ‘Lots’ are both words which refer to the ammount or size of some noun, however no noun is apparant in the sign for them to be refering to. I suppose, as it is a shop, we may assume that they are refering to large and/or numerous items for sale - lots of merchandice perhaps? Big merchandice? or perhaps they mean big ammounts (still a bit awkward) of merchandice. ‘Large ammounts’ would probably be the preferable word choice (whether or not it particularly makes more sense), but somehow ‘Large!Lots’, though equally bad grammatically in and of itself, is less appealing to the advertising specialist -maybe because it doesn’t roll off the tongue as quickly. Or perhaps ‘large’ does not appear in the infantile vocabuilary list he has to choose from. Can you not hear a toddler’s high-pitched voice squaking out excitedly ‘Big!’ ‘Lots!’ while straining its short pudgy arms out of the stroller toward rows of large teddy bears or candy bars.
When I first saw this sign I was utterly confused. I kept trying to work it out in my mind and kept feeling as though I was being spun like a top upside down. It just didn't make any sense. It was like naming a store ‘Tall High’, or ‘Soft Squishy’ - which sounds like complete nonsense that is begging to be given meaning in the form of a noun. Then in desperation I seized upon the meaning for ‘Lot’ mentioned above. Perhaps the sign meant ‘large pieces of land’. Still this doesn’t make a great deal of sense as a name for a store. Were they selling large plots of land? Were they boasting that their stores were always built on lage plots of land thereby indicating that they were big buildings holding large quantities of merchandice?
Or perhaps the meaning intended for ‘lot’ here is: ‘an object used in deciding something by chance’. -? So...perhaps it means there are big opportunites? Lots of long straws - so to speak- rather than short straws or ‘lemons’?
I am sure that in re-naming the store they hoped to sort of give it a step up in the world; banish the mental images of huge piles of random cheap objects through which one must sort (pick) like some sort of nightmare which were, perhaps, conjured up by the title ‘Pic ‘n’ Save’. However, resorting to a kind of jarring, confusing baby talk is not my idea of taking a step upwards on the social latter.
As I was thinking about this my random adjective generator started spewing out more pairings - how would you like to visit any of these stores? What would they be selling? ...Tall Hairy, Yellow Raunchy, Quiet Nosy, Rugged Tawney, Fast Rapid, Glistening Shimmering, Cool Hot, Clicking Tapping, Cute Cuddly, Short Small, Grim Gory, Fat Pudgy, Leaky Sloshy, Funny Sunny, Far Close, Peckish Persnickety.....
