Go get ’em! The LP responds to the notorious infamous “if you buy dope you’re supporting terrorism” spot with this newspaper advertisement. (Thanks to Ananda, who credits Declan McCullagh.)
Pet peeve nº 17000: false precision. When you write “boosts . . . by 17,000 percent” do you really expect anyone to divide the original number (if it were available) by 100, multiply it by 17000 and add it back? Do you really expect me to believe that the increase is known to be neither more than 17005% nor less than 16995%? Would it be harder to write “171-fold”?
The funniest example I’ve seen of pseudo-precision was a package of sandwich-bags marked “25% free! 32 for the price of 25.”
I usually avoid the word infamous, because it’s overused where the more neutral notorious would be more appropriate; but here’s a case where it fits.