Grammar police punished for 'fixing' rare sign

MSNBC ^ | August 22, 2008

[gitmo]

PHOENIX - When it comes to marking up historic signs, good grammar is a bad defense.

Two self-styled vigilantes against typos who defaced a more than 60-year-old, hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park were sentenced to probation and banned from national parks for a year. They had removed an extraneous apostrophe and added a comma to the sign.

Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson pleaded guilty Aug. 11 for the damage done March 28 at the park's Desert View Watchtower. The sign was made by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the architect who designed the rustic 1930s watchtower and other Grand Canyon-area landmarks.

[ops33]

I remember my high school English grammar teacher, Sister Alice, telling me the basic rule of a comma; “If you think one should go there in all liklihood it doesn’t!”

[Condor51]

*** I detest those extraneous apostrophes'.***

Me too!!

And those, who will remain unnamed, who insert commas willynilly, just to break up a run on sentence, or some likewise screed, that should end in a period, and then begin a new sentence with a capital letter. Because everyone knows you do that with hyphens!

And I also hate those who end every sentence with an exclamation point! ... or two!!

In addition, 'alot' is not, I repeat NOT a word. So your spell checker isn't broke, trust it. 'a lot' is TWO separate words. Unless of course you mean 'allot', but that has a completely different meaning and would rarely be used in a post.

[Redbob]

"I remember my high school English grammar teacher, Sister Alice, telling me the basic rule of a comma; “If you think one should go there in all liklihood it doesn’t!”

But Sister Alice probably didn't misspell "likelihood."
<grin>

[Redbob]

This wasn’t an extraneous apostrophe on that sign, just a poorly place one. It said
“womens’”
As if something was possessed by a group of “womens.”

[Fido969]

You still missed one.

[swift15]

What do you get when you mix obsessive compulsive disorder with an intellectual superiority complex?

Obama/Biden team?

[Fido969]

The women’s room and the men’s room.

[Lancey Howard]

"I don't see the problem here."

[JimC214]

Sign outside a Koren owned Deli. in Brooklyn. “Philip Chese Steak” $3.00

[Ueriah]

I had to allot some time out of my busy schedule to reply to your post.

;)

[Farmer Dean]

German urologists!I’d rather face the Wermacht than those guys.

[Condor51]

*** I had to allot some time out of my busy schedule to reply to your post. ***

I also allot a good portion of the day to FR. Mainly because my typing stinks and it takes me a lot of time to post and/or respond.

;-)

[ApplegateRanch]

Unless of course you mean 'allot', but that has a completely different meaning and would rarely be used in a post.

Now you've done it!!!

You have used up your alloted monthly allotment of “allots”!

There is only one allotment per year of “allots”, to whit: 12, to be used at an alloted rate of one “allot” per month!!

Using one or more “allots” per month is not only a lot of “allots”, but is one “allot” too many.

We are Conservatives, so do not believe in “allots” nor “allotments”!!

[purpleraine]

But it seems a lot of conservatives do.

[stillonaroll]

We are Conservatives...

-------------------------------------------------------

You mean the Conservatives of Brittan--the U.K. opposition party? :)

[theymakemesick]

It's an old sign, that makes it "rare" and "historic"? Kind of like the areas of town that are declared "historic districts" just because they have a bunch of crappy old row houses there. Who gives a rat's behind.

[ops33]

Touche!!

[ViLaLuz]

“Still, I think I shall be haunted by that perversity, emense, in my train-whistle-blighted dreams tonight.”

Ha haaa haaaaaaa!

[Mind-numbed Robot]

An error I see so often I wonder whether it is being taught in schools - could’nt, , etc.

[littlehouse36]

I resign from the GP, head hanging in shame.