memorial sign

[Mark A Mandel]

On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, Alice Faber wrote:

#A. Maberry said:
#>On the outskirts of Seattle there is a very large billboard that reads in
#>part:
#>
#>In memorial September 11, 2001
#>
#>How common is "In memorial" and is becoming a common substitute for "In
#>memoriam" (which sounds far more natural to me)?
#
#Not at all, as afar as I know. This sounds like a typo (or, worse, blind
#adherence to a spell-checker's suggestions), writ *very* large.

Don't rule out sheer ignorance combined with persistent reanalysis (slip
of the ear/eye):  Somebody who's seen and heard "in memoriam", doubtless
many times, but has always perceived it as what makes sense to them.

-- Mark A. Mandel