I Don't Give a Hoot About Eyewear

I operate on the assumption, most of the time, that the average passerby in our fair city is not necessarily as internet savvy as you or I. This seems a reasonable assumption to make -- and when somebody, for example, chooses 'OMG' as the name of their company, I usually take it as a given that they probably didn't consider the online connotations of their choice. (On the other end of the spectrum are folks like All Your Base Computers, who clearly know their audience very well.)

But then there are times when I'm genuinely unsure about this assumption. Because sometimes a man just runs into something, stares at it for a few seconds, and announces aloud to himself that these people can't not know what they're doing.

This is one of those times.



Osborne Village has a reputation as being a particularly hip and with-it area of town, as one of the places to be to stay on top of trends and cultural movements. In the heart of Osborne Village lies this spectacles store, a store that many denizens of our fair city pass by countless times without a second thought -- but as late they've had a message on their sign that makes me stop and ponder it every time I go past.

What, you may ask yourself, am I going on about this time? Let's have a closer look:



"O RLY".

"O RLY"?

I get that it combines with the above line to form "naturally" -- er, sort of -- but to what end? Did "NATURALLY" not fit on the board when they tried it? Are they trying to suggest a link between poor eyesight and poor spelling? Is this genuinely a reference to the internet meme, and I'm supposed to mentally link the store's products to the superior eyesight normally reserved for owls? Who decided to put this up onto the sign, and why?



YA RLY



YA RLY

I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS WOULD MAKE ME BUY GLASSES FROM YOU

I'M CONFUSED

SRSLY



There are a lot of mysteries around here.

Be sure to tune in next time, when somebody writes "STFU NOOB" on the Convention Centre sign and my brain makes a quiet sizzling noise!