Paul Berger is a staff writer at The Forward. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The (London) Times, The Daily and Guardian.co.uk.

Aug
16

Witches Brew What?

By

Spotted on 5th Av, Brooklyn.

Categories : Englishman in New York

5 Comments

1
William
August 16th, 2005 at 1:54 pm

Indeed, this sign lacks proper punctuation to indicate the possessive form of “witches”. Presumably these witches possess a brew, so it should read “Witches’ Brew”.

2
pdberger
August 16th, 2005 at 1:57 pm

I think they meant Witch’s Brew.

But if we were to give them the benefit of the doubt, you could argue that, according to the sign, “Witches brew cappuccino, espresso, bagels and croissants!”

3
Dezik
August 16th, 2005 at 2:04 pm

This reminds me of one of my favourite cases of the dreaded missing apostrophe. On seeing a sign reading ‘Visitors entrance’, a slightly posh old English lady asked, ‘Do they?’

4
Clive Davis
August 18th, 2005 at 3:46 pm

I feel very ancient pointing this out! I think it may be a pun on the album Miles Davis released 30-odd years ago: “Bitches Brew”.

5
pdberger
August 18th, 2005 at 3:54 pm

In that case, I stand corrected! Thanks Clive.

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