Punctuation Hero or Vandalizing Grammar Nazi?

For ages I’ve wanted to dress up like The Beadle and apply for an Arts Council (no apostrophe) to be the Apostropher Royal.
I’d walk round with a long stick with a marker pen on the end, and a bell. My duties would include correcting errant apostrophes, then ringing the bell loudly to expostulate on what had been wrong and why it was now better.

Actually, the interview with the bloke that I saw, he certainly wasn’t a grammar fascist. He happily admitted that he isn’t the final word on the subject and that people might come along and correct him, but that at least he was trying to put right the more obvious ones.

what this guy needs to understand is that language evolves; the correct usage is the one which people understand; ‘until stocks last’ and ‘while stocks last’ are no different in the meaning they convey to the ordinary person. Preserving language use for no other reason than to keep things the same is living in the past.

I’m talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude.

While language does morph over time- (when was the last time you wrote ‘shoppe’?) I agree on some of his points when it comes word use; ‘Until stocks last’ doesn’t even make any sense.

Yay. It’s when people stop paying attention to doing a job right, that spelling gets confusing.

Larfin. You wrote “Nazi’s” instead of “Nazis”. Why?

Dale. The point is that if there is no distinction when to use an apostrophe and when not to, then there ends up with no point using an apostrophe at all, right?

Language evolves
Cancer evolves
All things that evolve are cancer

Got it.

I hope Mr. Gatward does not spend much time online, his head might explode.

attempts OF

He’s free to do all this (although not getting in the line for a limited number of items at the grocery store because of what the sign says is a bit radical) but he shouldn’t be surprised if most of the population couldn’t care less, since most of that population would say “I could care less”.

Sometimes, you just have to know when to let it go.

I’m totally on board with this guy. I loathe the dumbing down of language.

*right before anyone corrects me

No, SenorMysterioso.

Language evolves
Cancer evolves
Evolving doesn’t neccessarily mean that something is good and shouldn’t be stopped.

oh so

language evolves
cancer evolves(cancer is bad)
all things that evolve are bad

got it

This is absolutely tragic. Really , big picture Gatward. Means to an end, means to and end. It’s a small line, not your wife’s love.

SenorMysterioso, is there any chance that you’re American, perhaps?

Duh..

Let’s be honest here, English really doesn’t HAVE any grammar. There’s some conventions, but none of the rules are what you’d call hard-and-fast compared to other languages, and when you think about it most of the things people get really bent out of shape over – the who/whom thing, or split infinitives, or not starting a sentence with a conjunction, are completely illogical and silly.
Most of the so-called grammar rules – the Split Infinitive thing for instance – were unknown in our language prior to 150 years ago or so. They were imported by pretentious victorian fops who were obsessed with Latin, and hit upon the stupid idea of superimposing Latin rules on a germanic language that has no real relationship to it.
So my vote is that the guy is a “Vandalizing Grammar Nazi.” He’ll be the first one up against the wall when the linguistic revolution comes, beat to death by a bunch of esperanto enthusiasts who will themselves be beat to death by a bunch of flabby mammas boys speaking klingon.
Then the rest of us will enjoy a nice fried chicken picnic and go home content in the knowledge that there’ll be no more gramatically-based pain or suffering in the anglophonic world.
Excepting the whole “I-before-E” thing, of course…

My hero!

I often joke in grocery stores that the paper, pens & tape will “never move,” while pointing to the “Stationary” sign.

Also, I got my business partner to correctly order two Burritos Supreme at Taco Bell instead of two Burrito Supremes.

I totally understand. I have a hard time with Carl’s Jr. Carl’s is posessive, Jr is describtive. There is no object………drives me nuts!!

I HATE people like him.

“Until stocks last” and “while stocks last” do not mean the same fucking thing, at all. “Until stocks last” is fucking nonsense phrasing used by children.

As for “10 items or less,” I suggest Mr. Gatward read this:

http://www.theslot.com/than.html

I applaud Mr. Gatward. I would be out there doing the same thing, except it’s a futile effort here in the States.

Yes, language evolves. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t any rules, or that those rules shouldn’t be followed.

I’ve noticed that the people with the biggest hard-ons for correcting (supposedly) incorrect English, have a very limited understanding of English grammar. This thread is rife with errors, mostly from the “who are you calling me a Nazi just because I want to moan about things I can’t & shouldn’t change” camp.

My English professor would have pissed himself laughing at this guy and you lot.

Full disclosure:
English is not my first language.
Ha! Burn sukkaz!

Now (twirls his Victorian mustache), if we could only get those darkie immigrants to speak the Queen’s English instead of that infernal pidgin abomination…

Grammar represents convention just as does every other aspect of the language. Convention changes slowly, the the language we speak today will look like Old English to the Americans of, say, 2509. So what? So the Grammar Nazi is not complaining that the rules of grammar change, so much as he is objecting that they are changing too fast to suit him. Poor fellow.

Queens Road: a road of Queens (whether royal or disoriented, we don.t know).
Burritos Supreme vs Burrito Supremes: Buttito Supreme is a name (because both words are capitalized) so “Burrito Supremes” is correct.
“Catering” carries the connotation (to the local readers) of food catering. “We cater” could leave the reader wondering to whom they cater.
“10 items or less” is seen in Wal-Mart and Winn Dixie (a low-priced, poor service food store); “10 items or fewer” is seen in Publix (a higher-priced food store.

It is not the abcens’e of apostrophe’s that is irksome, it i’s the use of apo’strophe’s that should not be there that is ‘so annoying.

””””””””!!!!! Take that! Apostrophe abuser!

Well, at least he appears to have found a hobby to keep his mind sharp in old age, more power to him. That said, the line between mild OCD and becoming a supervillian is a fine one.

Dale, you are an absolute idiot. Language may evolve, that does not mean people need to neglect common sense. “Until stocks last” makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER! Furthermore, you should applaud someone who respects the proper use of a language, rather than butchering it with net-speach and texting abbreviations and all that disgusting garbage used today.

Jack, Grammarians usually ARE educated writers. Did you think they came from some strange planet just to upset lazy ignoramuses?

It is not the apostrophe’s fault people misuse it or leave it out where it should be used.

The real problem is that he did not pay the required apostro fee.

Regarding missing apostrophes:

Nazi, or to Nazi, the apostrophe, that is the question.

Not see, or to not see, the apostrophe, that is the question.

Which is better? The pun on Nazi or the second sentence?

Come on now, why do so many people keep using the Nazi word when the behavior they are describing is nothing like what the Nazi party and its members/government did during its buildup and reign in the decades covering 1920-1950?

Old joke: How did Hitler tie his shoe?
Answer: With little Nazis.

Some clever comments here.

Now, let’s discuss the incorrect use of pronouns. This is really something that makes me want to scream.

Don’t get me started on pronouns. On tv the other day, a girl started her sentence with “Me and him are…”

At least she used the plural form, so it wasn’t totally wrong.

Les, perhaps they meant This Country and were pulling out the ‘h’. Apostrophes and the use there of are important to create a clear and concise sentence. They are not optional, they indicate a possesive or the loss of a letter (the its, it’s debate notwithstanding). Changing the use of a word is not the same thing and indeed may evolve with the language. I am only 35 but look back fondly on my grammer classes and wonder what in the world we are teaching kids these days. How many people can use there/their/they’re properly these days? Makes me nuts.

re: Carl’s Jr.

The object of Carl’s and Jr. was contracted out of existence; the original name of the establishment was “Carl’s Junior Restaurant”. The Restaurant part got dropped and the Junior went to Jr., to make the sign easier to read – or so I was told, years ago.

Much the way shoppers at the A&P store may never have heard of “The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company”, or residents of “La Puebla de Nuestra Senora, Reiña de los Angeles” refer to it by the initials of the last two words.

Dale, the two phrases don’t mean the same thing. “Until stock lasts” has no literal meaning at all. “While stocks last” does.

Wrongful spelt words are pro.

I find it bothersome when schools concentrate on one area of language at the exclusion of others. They strive for technical precision in some classes, while they preach aesthetics in others. It’s rare that appreciation, beauty, history (or evolution, to tie in with other comments), and grammar are taught together, or at least related to one another in any meaningful way.

For instance, American schools might yammer on about the apostrophe for use in contractions and possessives. They attempt to explain the latter as a manner in which to shorten the phrase, “the _______ belonging to the ______.” Uncommon, however, is the teacher who explains the possessive is itself a contraction, a remnant from Old English in which the suffix ‘-es’ was appended to words.

Even more rare is the teacher who’ll go beyond that as a mere, dry fact and engage the pupil’s natural curiosity and sense of wonder. The realms of beauty, history, and identity which may be found in language may be hinted at, but they’re usually not revealed.

It may well be a lack of time, an overcrowded classroom, or whatever obstacle-of-the-month an educator wishes to cite, but it results in a lack of engagement with, and connection to, language. It becomes just another tool among many, one that a person really doesn’t have to care too much about. Disinterest ensues, wonderment is lost, and students (we) go on to grasp at all the other bright and shiny tools offered up by the educational establishment.

After all, it’s much easier to drown out the intuition of a piece of oneself that’s missing if the senses are dulled from overload; much easier to advance into the dazzles of technology if one doesn’t have to admit it an intimate part of who and what he or she is.

TL;DR -

Language is an important part of being human. Evolution is unavoidable, but how much of our humanity do we want to slaughter? Perhaps this choice is ultimately the deciding factor between “progress” and “cancer.”

I support this poor fellow. It’s true that some phrases or words change in time, but in my point of view english speakers not only have to prevail the correct use of the language, they have to also realize that 90% of the non-english population is trying to learn the language and when apostrophes, words or phrases are misused, it just confuses the other people trying to learn it.
I’m not refering to day-to-day conversation but at least in governmental signs or shopping windows, i guess i mean public displays.
Just because we have gotten used to hear or read phrases like “10 items or less” it doesn’t mean it’s the correct way.

I’m just surprised at all the spelling errors people who correct others make.

Something that should be fixed in the english language is it needs to be more phonetic. What is up with the silent letters? Or the “ch” making a “k” sound? And all the vowels make all kinds of sounds. It can be very difficult for a foreigner to learn. Maybe text-speak will fix some of those problems…

An apostrophe? I thought it was called a comma-to-the-top.