<p>I hope I can post this without insulting anyone. I realize that the American English language rules make no sense. They are not intuitive, therefore I have a hard time with who(m)ever was in charge of teaching the simplest of rules. Some of the blame goes on the educators and some on the individuals. I am no exception. But I have to rant about today’s fingernails-on-a-blackboard grammar irritation. At work every day, someone uses apostrophes for plurals on a public white board. “Please bring your lunch’s and your drink’s with you to these meeting’s.” At first, someone usually smudged the apostrophes off not any longer. hey have given up.</p>
<p>I will not bring this to the person’s attention; suffice it to say that it is not my place to do so, and that I am not a wave-maker. Instead I’m griping about it here and will just get over it. Thanks for listening.</p>
<p>It may not be your place to do so, but why not? You’re part of an organization and this kind of illiteracy will–should customers/clients find out about it–will diminish their trust in your company. I would phrase it as “I’m afraid I’m a bit obsessive about grammar, but plurals don’t require apostrophes. So your sign on the white board should read…”</p>
<p>It is funny you should mention that (re: comma splice). When I was on my last interview, they asked me “what are your weaknesses” – everyone’s favorite question (to which I’d love to answer “I’m lazy and dishonest,”) – was instead,“commas.” </p>
<p>That and a couple of minor mistakes that would normally be somewhat acceptable. However, due to the title of this thread, I must say, “Check yo’ self”</p>
<p>I call it “inappropriate use of an apostrophe”. </p>
<p>My peeve is the constant use of “myself” instead of me. For example: If you have any questions or comments, please see myself or Tom. When this is used in memos from directors/VPs, it is all I can do to keep from redlining and sending it back. It is a tribute to my still-in-development diplomacy gene that the corrections stay in my inbox.</p>
<p>Aren’t errors with commas a punctuation mistake and not a grammar mistake? </p>
<p>The errors with possessives instead of plurals are grammatical. I can’t believe how often I see this done and it is a lesson taught on the elementary school level in about third grade.</p>
<p>Well, comma errors are certainly punctuation mistakes, but some people put them under the umbrella of grammar in the sense that grammar is the body of rules that govern our language.</p>
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<p>I was never taught anything about apostrophes in elementary school. In fact, my formal grammar education stopped (and continues to stop) at Schoolhouse Rock.</p>
<p>^ Sometimes compromises in grammaticality with respect to the nominative case in compound subjects are necessary to maintain an appropriate level of informality in colloquial discussions with teenage peers. I certainly feel compelled to do so at times (I am in high school).</p>
<p>You might want to check this out-- [Apostrophe</a> Protection Society](<a href=“http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/]Apostrophe”>http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/)
The myself thing also drives me nuts; it’s almost as if people think they sound smarter because they are using a bigger word.</p>
<p>I have to respectfully disagree about that, silverturtle.</p>
<p>“Sometimes compromises in grammaticality with respect to the nominative case in compound subjects are necessary to maintain an appropriate level of informality in colloquial discussions with teenage peers.”</p>
<p>If this is necessary in your peer group you might want to look for a new one.</p>
<p>I generally hang around the best students in my class, so I would expect that the pressure to conform to the ungrammaticality that characterizes most teenagers’ discussions would be even more pronounced if I were to change with whom I hang around.</p>