Attack of the Super Nerd

So I was riding my bike to campus today (both because I need the exercise and because I am afraid of terrorism and avoiding the buses until the G20 business clears up) and I saw an awning that made me pause. Literally stop pedaling and contemplate digging out my phone to take a picture.

I sat there, chomping my gum with my mouth wide open...like a cow. God! I love chewing gum like that. Just chewing the crap out of a piece of gum. I digress. I thought immediately of my experience tutoring students for whom English is not their first language. Often, these students struggle with articles. As in, where do I put a? An? The?

This sign was a building label. This building label read as follows: The D'Arlington. Now, I am not an expert in French. I haven't studied it for many a year. But I am pretty sure that De or D' in French MEANS the...or at least "of the." So that building, those people who etched the stone oh so painstakingly, reads The The Arlington. Imagine the stoneworkers chiseling in a whole extra, unnecessary word?

I didn't take the picture. I just chomped my gum and rode away. But I sure do hope the French delegates see the building and laugh at us a little bit.

Unless, of course, my knowledge of French is super poor. In which case, the joke is on my sleep deprived self. Either way, I worked on through a great piece of gum and got a nice rest before a big hill.