If you remember my post called Grammar Nazis, you’ll remember I mentioned my friend’s obsession with correct grammar. She put a comma sticker on an ad in Boston.
I have read Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, a best-selling book about punctuation. It’s quite a lot of fun to read and you finally learn how to correctly use a semicolon! The book has made me a lot more aware of grammatical errors present in our daily lives. My Grammar Nazi friend and I went to Six Flags New England and noted three incorrect signs:
Here, you’ll note that it should be “every time“, as “everytime” is not a word.
“Do-It-Yourself” is correct. Not having a dash after ‘it” is wrong.
Who are in the restroom? Mens are in the restroom!
–No. Men are in there, not mens. It should either be “men” and “women” or “men’s” and “women’s”
The sad part is that no one notices this terrible mistake. My friend has taken her grammar Nazism to the next level and created an exclusive blog devoted to the topic: The Grammar Vandal. She states there that I don’t think hyphens should ever be used (Do It Yourself). That’s incorrect actually. I said that in that case, they could either be used or not. Still, “Do it yourself” is a command. “Do-it-yourself” describes.
4 Comments
25 Jun 2007 at 23:06
OMG. I totally remember seeing that comma sticker on my walk home from work. It’s outside South Station, right? I noticed that it wasn’t part of the original ad and I was trying to figure out why the ad agency would decide to put such emphasis on the comma. Too funny!
23 Jul 2007 at 16:19
I just heard about this on NPR - word UP my man! - regarding the Run Easy, Boston, shouldn’t it be run NICELY, Boston? - grammar like parenting is a lost art
- both my sons when to private schools and private colleges - neither one had to diagram a sentence? - I had THE BEST English teacher in High School, and we just had our 35 year alumni reunion, and her and I have kept in touch all these years - I didn’t know how profound an influence she would be UNTIL I had children - my youngest, for example: “that will work nice” NICELY! - and “supposbably” what? spell that for me - once he complained I yell LEE so many time, why did I not name him Lee? - oh, and footnote: my English teacher gave us all kinds of ways to spell correctly, like “separate” two “E”s two “A”s and the well known ones, of course” “A” after “E” except after “C”, or when sounding like “A” as in “neighbor” or “weigh” - and here we are 35 years later, and I’m still using them!!
23 Jul 2007 at 16:20
OH! should have proof read myself better - sorry, should have said “Run EASILY, Boston” *blush*
2 Sep 2007 at 23:04
HER and I???? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.
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