But you have no ally with the reporting of the Prince's umbrage. The reporter allows his apostrophe to wander when he first refers to "the war on the grocer's apostrophe" (just one?) and later refers to "grocers' shops."
I have to defend the reporter, Bill. The punctuation mistake IS known as a "grocer's apostrophe." And since "shops" is plural, "grocers'" is correct, as well. I'm pleased that Prince Charles is fighting to preserve The King's English.
I'm embarrassed that the terminology has escaped me all these years, Jane. Thanks for the proper defense and the info.
Approaching another aspect of this story, I cheer the prince's fight, as well, but I wish he'd used some sharper weapons in the battle. I find the quoted sentence--"It seems to me that you need to remind people every now and then that you can’t communicate to people in a language unless you know the grammar and the syntax and, indeed, the punctuation" verbose and indirect. For instance, "to people" is unnecessary; the concept of communicating with grammar, syntax and punctuation pretty much precludes communicating to, say, the family dog. To fight the good fight, write tight.
The caption under the picture is funny. What is the wording "Princes Charles" implying? Either they forgot the other "s" on the end or he has some multiple personality issues. Either way, there seems to be more to Prince Charles that hasn't previously been reported on. ;)
But you have no ally with the reporting of the Prince's umbrage. The reporter allows his apostrophe to wander when he first refers to "the war on the grocer's apostrophe" (just one?) and later refers to "grocers' shops."
ReplyDeleteI have to defend the reporter, Bill. The punctuation mistake IS known as a "grocer's apostrophe." And since "shops" is plural, "grocers'" is correct, as well. I'm pleased that Prince Charles is fighting to preserve The King's English.
ReplyDeleteI'm embarrassed that the terminology has escaped me all these years, Jane. Thanks for the proper defense and the info.
ReplyDeleteApproaching another aspect of this story, I cheer the prince's fight, as well, but I wish he'd used some sharper weapons in the battle. I find the quoted sentence--"It seems to me that you need to remind people every now and then that you can’t communicate to people in a language unless you know the grammar and the syntax and, indeed, the punctuation" verbose and indirect. For instance, "to people" is unnecessary; the concept of communicating with grammar, syntax and punctuation pretty much precludes communicating to, say, the family dog. To fight the good fight, write tight.
Someone in the British government being indirect?!? Shocking! I love the Brits, but they aren't exactly known for their candor.
ReplyDeleteThe caption under the picture is funny. What is the wording "Princes Charles" implying? Either they forgot the other "s" on the end or he has some multiple personality issues. Either way, there seems to be more to Prince Charles that hasn't previously been reported on. ;)
ReplyDelete@ Ren, I didn't notice that! Ha, I love the irony there.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to have been fixed! Perhaps it is due to the power of this blog.
ReplyDeleteOoh, exciting! I am the warrior!
ReplyDelete