QR Code Cross-Stitch

Joyeux anniversaire!

Joyeux anniversaire Hatim !

Is what my android scanner says.

Good job!

Took a bit of time for the ScanLife app on my Android phone to pick it up, but it works.

I got the same as Elnots. Clever!

If spelling is the issue, then she's got an extra space before the exclamation mark. :-)

@gutza

French typographical rules say that you should put a space in front of ! and ?, but not many people do it.

My iPhone decided to take awhile to read it as well. I got the same as Elnots too.

@pfcuttle

I am gobsmacked to confirm your assertion (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Conventions_typographiques#Signes_de_ponctuation). In the name of all that is good and normal, why would they decide for such an absurd rule?

Hi !
Thanks for posting my QR code !
@Gutza : Yes ! French people do put a space before ! and ?. I am French that is why it is written that way.

@Gutza again !
I teach French pupils to speak English. They often say : "Why is it like this in English ? It's stupid."
I just tell them it is DIFFERENT. I don't think I ever said ABSURD...
;o)

@Pichu71, I'm a Romanian who speaks English, understands French and some Italian, and can get away with ordering from a German menu. I'm aware of the particularities of various languages, and am not quick to judge them.

This one however is seriously messed up -- not only that it looks awful from a typographical point of view (which it does, no matter how you look at it), but it's also an exception to their own rules (no spaces before commas and periods, but spaces before question marks, exclamation marks, colons and semicolons; also, no spaces inside brackets, but spaces inside quotation marks).

Anyway, I suspect there's a story worth telling behind these rules -- they're just too arbitrary to make sense (which, incidentally, qualifies as absurd).

Joyeux anniversaire Hatim!

@Gutza
I am glad to know that you are not quick to judge.
French is a beautiful language however the absurd punctuation rules and endless lists of grammatical exceptions.
"it looks awful from a typographical point of view (which it does, no matter how you look at it)" : I do not agree with your point of view, that's all.

@Pichu71: well, regardless of what we might think, we all make (and pass) judgments on aesthetic grounds. Even you, who prefer the word "different" to the word "ugly", are happy to point out French is a beautiful language (which I agree). For the record, there are several examples of ugly and absurd decisions in my own native Romanian as well (and I'm not thinking about irregular verbs and other natural particularities of the language) -- and some do have some interesting stories behind them.

Anyway, cool idea with the stitch -- and happy birthday to your brother!

@Gutza
Thank you. I'm very happy you like the idea !
I'll tell Hatim when I give him the finished card that it was at the heart of a very interesting exchange.
I know what he'll say : "Toi vraiment, t'es une sacrée emmerdeuse"
I'm afraid he is right.