That's Not What I Meant!

Ever read a sign twice because the first meaning was way funnier than the one they intended?

That's Not What I Meant! is a collection of real-world signs, headlines, advertisements, labels, social-media posts, storefronts, vehicle wraps, and other messages that accidentally say something completely different from what their creators had in mind.

A bookstore combines two perfectly normal categories and appears to invent large-print audiobooks. A missing letter changes a business sign into something nobody approved. An innocent advertisement becomes very different because of what happens to be standing next to it. A vehicle door opens-and suddenly the company name says something else entirely.

Every example in this book is real and verifiable. No fabricated signs. No made-up "grammar examples." No internet memes passed off as true stories.

The humor comes from that wonderful moment when ordinary language escapes supervision and develops a second meaning all by itself.

Inside you'll find accidental comedy created by:

• unfortunate wording and spacing
• newspaper headlines that betrayed their editors
• missing letters and broken signs
• punctuation with unintended consequences
• advertising and signage placed in exactly the wrong spot
• vehicle wraps transformed by opening doors
• social-media posts that should have received one more read
• retail signs, labels, and price tags that argue with themselves

You'll understand what they meant.

You'll also understand why everyone took a picture.

Because sometimes the funniest version of a message is the one nobody intended to write.