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'Grammar Vigilante' Secretly Corrects Bristol Street Signs (irishtimes.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: A self-confessed "grammar vigilante" has been secretly correcting bad punctuation on street signs and shop fronts in Bristol for more than a decade. The anonymous crusader carries out his work in the dead of night using the "Apostrophiser" -- a long-handled tool he created to reach the highest signs. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the BBC that correcting rogue apostrophes is his speciality.
Golly, here on the internet, they're called "Grammar Nazis". Maybe people who correct bad grammar aren't so bad after all...
Fun fact: in Germany, they don't call them Grammar Nazis (obviously). Their word basically translates as "comma fuckers," which is way cooler.
That's exactly how "Pilkunnussija" in finnish translates too. And even though vulgar expression it's recognized by national language office dictionary. On that page it shows how word is bent and alias "Pilkunviilaaja" which translates "a comma fiddler" in english.
"The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the BBC that correcting rogue apostrophes is his speciality."
There's an old British expression, the Greengrocer's Apostrophe, for apostrophes wrongly used to indicate plurals. The term comes from seeing signs like BEET'S 5 PENCE at farmers' markets.