In a shop I have found a T-shirt with the sentence: "Brake the rules" (not "Break the rules"). Is it correct?
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6Considering that the media on which it is written is often used to portray some short one-liner joke, I feel safe in assuming that it is meant to be a phonemic idiom of sorts. By chance, did the T-shirt have a picture of a car or automobile on it? "Brake" would refer both to break/sever (the correct word) and also the brakes/stopping mechanisms of an automobile.– GoodiesCommented Dec 15, 2014 at 8:12
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2It is probably a pun!– user66974Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 8:13
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1Don't buy this shirt because most of the people will not understand it. And you will look like a...– ewooycomCommented Dec 15, 2014 at 12:06
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2actually, since the T-shirt is sold in Italy, I am tempted to believe in a mistake.– wisoCommented Dec 15, 2014 at 22:49
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1 Answer
It's a pun on break.
The slogan exhorts the reader to "Break the rules," and to make the point it does just that itself, by breaking the rule about how to spell break.
answered Dec 15, 2014 at 8:36
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28The technical English term for jokes of this sort is "unfunny."– mxyzplkCommented Dec 15, 2014 at 14:51
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3@mxyzplk It's funny enough, IMO. People's opinions will differ.– smciCommented Dec 15, 2014 at 15:55
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4A better variant of the same of joke: Describe yourself in three words... Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 18:02
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@user568458 Related from the #FiveWordTechHorrors a year ago: Off by one error and fixed the off by one error– user40348Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 1:57
