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'Grammar Vigilante' Secretly Corrects Bristol Street Signs (irishtimes.com)

Posted by msmash on from the silent-guardian dept.

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.

158 comments

  1. Bansky? by byolinux · · Score: 2

    He's supposed to be from Bristol, after all.

    --
    Join the Free Software Foundation
    1. Re:Bansky? by arth1 · · Score: 5, Funny

      We need a grammar vigilante to come here and correct the misspelling in your subject.

    2. Re:Bansky? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just want to know which slashdot user it is.

    3. Re:Bansky? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Technically you would want a spelling vigilante for that, rather than a grammar vigilante.

    4. Re: Bansky? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Will we need a pedantry vigilante soon?

    5. Re:Bansky? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the pedantic vigilante is born!

    6. Re:Bansky? by Muckluck · · Score: 1

      Knot me..

      --


      --I like turtles...
    7. Re:Bansky? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I know we're not supposed to RTFA, but here you go:

      The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the BBC that correcting rogue apostrophes is his speciality.

      None other than Anonymous Coward!

    8. Re:Bansky? by garryknight · · Score: 3, Funny

      You mean Bank'sy, surely.

      --
      Garry Knight
    9. Re: Bansky? by davester666 · · Score: 2

      so, there will be a queue? first pedantry, then grammar, then spelling, then punctuation...

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    10. Re:Bansky? by denzacar · · Score: 1

      We need a grammar vigilante to come here and correct the misspelling in your subject.

      Sounds more like a job for - Grammar Chameleon!

      He comes. And he goes. He strings along. Strings along.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    11. Re:Bansky? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Informative

      "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.

    12. Re: Bansky? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      so, there will be a queue? first pedantry, then grammar, then spelling, then punctuation...

      That's just being persnickety.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    13. Re:Bansky? by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      Pedant comes from words meaning to lead to knowledge, (that means a Greek slave who leads children to school, aka crossing guard) and I think it is quite common for vigilantes to be driven by a desire to "teach" or coerce a community into changing some practice or behavior. So perhaps most vigilantes are already doing it pedantically.

    14. Re:Bansky? by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      I just want to know which slashdot user it is.

      I'd say Cowboy Neal, but it wasn't the cheesypoofs factory so he probably wouldn't try that hard.

      Maybe it was Kurt 'The Pope.'

    15. Re: Bansky? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We'd never write "beets" in English as it's "beetroot". Singular and plural.

      Beets is a Dutch guy off Gold Rush.

    16. Re: Bansky? by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 2

      Will we need a pedantry vigilante soon?

      This is just a start. Wait until the rise of the P.L.A.!
      Yes, the Punctuation Liberation Army will change everything!!!
      "Nothing eclipses Ellipses..."

      Oh, forgot, (ahem) Bawahaha!!!

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    17. Re:Bansky? by pjt33 · · Score: 1

      They do exist.

    18. Re: Bansky? by jamiesan · · Score: 1

      Not the Liberation Army of Punctuation?

      Splitters!

    19. Re: Bansky? by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

      Not the Liberation Army of Punctuation?

      Splitters!

      Didn't that change to the Peoples Punctuation Army?
      Oh, no, never mind. He's sitting right over there...
      Splitter!!!

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    20. Re:Bansky? by I75BJC · · Score: 1

      That seems to apply to Social Justice Warriors and Do-Gooders in general.

    21. Re: Bansky? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so, there will be a queue? first pedantry, then grammar, then spelling, then punctuation...

      Queue the replies to this.

  2. firs't pos't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    firs't pos't

    1. Re:firs't pos't by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Qapla'!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  3. If he wants to do more grammar vigilantism by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 1

    he should visit /. with his tool.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:If he wants to do more grammar vigilantism by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Why'd he want stickers all over his monitor?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:If he wants to do more grammar vigilantism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The Unicoder! We totally need a unicoder!

    3. Re:If he wants to do more grammar vigilantism by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2

      Well, look at it this way: sure he'd have stickers all over his screen, but even if he scrolled or reloaded the main page, he'd still end up with better edited posts than without the stickers.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    4. Re:If he wants to do more grammar vigilantism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      The Unicoder! We totally need a unicoder!

      I suppose that's preferable to the Ebcdicker.

    5. Re:If he wants to do more grammar vigilantism by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      You can have my rainbow-powered-unicorn-rocket when you pry it from my cold dead... monitor!

  4. Hail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Satan.

    1. Re:Hail by OhSoLaMeow · · Score: 1

      Santa.

      FTFY

      --
      They can take my LifeAlert pendant when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
    2. Re:Hail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Satin

  5. In my day.. by shaksys · · Score: 1

    Back in my day, we called them grammar Nazis. It might not be allowed these days though.

    1. Re:In my day.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grammar Trump?

      Hmm.

      Doesn't have the same ring to it. Sad!

    2. Re:In my day.. by denzacar · · Score: 1

      Grammar Nazis have become obsolete with the general acceptance of alt-sppeeleers and alternative sppeelings'.
      Day feel its gooder dat way, man.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    3. Re:In my day.. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Back in my day, we called them grammar Nazis. It might not be allowed these days though."

      The term we use today is alt-grammarians.

    4. Re:In my day.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      alt-grammalitia?

  6. Vigilante? by freeze128 · · Score: 2

    Golly, here on the internet, they're called "Grammar Nazis". Maybe people who correct bad grammar aren't so bad after all...

    1. Re:Vigilante? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This guy isn't bitching and moaning about people's grammar, he's just quietly going about fixing the signs. Grammar Nazis at best politely point out errors, but more often take a certain degree of relish in pointing out how stupid the person they are correcting must be to make such an error, lay on the sarcasm, and at worst are overtly offensive and trollish. So I don't think it's quite fair to put this guy in the same category.

    2. Re:Vigilante? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nazi has been overused to the point of saturation, though. You might at well call him a Grammar Straight White Cisgendered Male.

    3. Re:Vigilante? by lgw · · Score: 2

      People really need to check their twitch response when it comes to these signs. Consider the following:

      Your "Lowest Cost" Groceries

      Are those quotes inappropriate? Ask the grocer and he might say "no, I said that, it's a quote from me."

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    4. Re:Vigilante? by Hardhead_7 · · Score: 4, Funny

      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.

    5. Re:Vigilante? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      They read as sarcasm quotes to me. If it says "Lowest Cost" I'd assume it was not really very cheap at all.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    6. Re:Vigilante? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With the WWII generation dead, people have forgotten how evil the Nazis really were. Heck, 25 years after the end of the Soviet Union, we have a new generation of people who think that socialism is all hunky dory. Back to the subject: one could call such people anal, or nitpicky, but using 'Nazi' to describe them is over the top

    7. Re:Vigilante? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      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.

    8. Re:Vigilante? by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Interesting

      on the internet, they're called "Grammar Nazis". Maybe people who correct bad grammar aren't so bad after all...

      There used to be a site called Portland Pattern Repository at c2.com that was a wiki and discussion board for software-engineering-related topics. There was nothing really like it for general software engineering topics and debates. It wasn't a help-desk like StackOverflow, but up at the philosophical level. (It's messy, but arguably this accurately mirrors the different viewpoints and lack of formal research in SE.)

      It was the very first wiki, invented by Ward Cunningham, who coined the term "wiki" for a kind of web collaboration software resembling Apple Hypercard. ("Wiki" is based on a Hawaiian word for "quick".)

      Anyhow, a grammar-and-spelling-correcting "grammar vandal" (GV) ended up killing the wiki, which is set to read-only mode for now.

      To save it, volunteers had built scripts to try to back out GV's changes, but GV was highly persistent and kept a step ahead of the clean-up scripts, flooding it with garbage at times. GV was one determined SOB.

      Part of the problem was that some of the corrections were questionable/debatable in nature and potentially changed the interpretation different from what an author had intended (some content was signed). GV argued this was a small price to pay for improving overall grammar and spelling, which most disagreed with. Negotiations for a compromise broke down; GV wanted full editing control.

      The wiki is still alive in read-only mode, but Ward Cunningham decided to experiment with a "federated wiki" concept whereby different participants can keep a version of how they wanted the content to look and more control over who can change one's own copy. Interesting idea in theory, but so far it's failed to catch on the way the original did. It makes things too fractured for users and readers. And, you pretty much have to manage your own federated-wiki-server to participate.

      GV believed "my way or no way" and sank the entire ship. Jerk!

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    9. Re:Vigilante? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Fun fact: in Germany, they don't call them Grammar Nazis (obviously). Their word basically translates as "comma fuckers," which is way cooler.

      Uh, sorry, but that's just plain wrong.

      Dutch has Mierenneuker, which I believe translates to someone fornicating with insects of the family Formicidae, however, in less polite terms, and means nitpicker.

      But German ... no.
      We have Korinthenkacker (Korinthe is a type of raisin, and -kacker is a vulgar term for someone who defecates) - this is what the Dutch-German dictionary lists as the German translation for Mierenneuker - and I-Tuepfelchen-Scheisser (again, it's about defecation, this time of the dot on the i), but there's no fornication involved.

    10. Re:Vigilante? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      [replying to myself]
      Indeed, the OP was confused.

      It's Dutch that has Kommaneuker as a synonym for Mierenneuker.

      See: http://www.dwotd.nl/2008/02/368-mierenneuker.html

    11. Re:Vigilante? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you do realize all the nicest countries to live in are Socialist right?

      there was never anything actually socialist about the communist parties of the Soviet Union

    12. Re:Vigilante? by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      With the WWII generation dead, people have forgotten how evil the Nazis really were.

      Nazi leadership were dispicable, but it's really only movies that have taught us that Nazis were, to a man, inhumanly evil. It's fun having a cardboard villain, but hardly enlightening as to what people were like.

      Heck, 25 years after the end of the Soviet Union, we have a new generation of people who think that socialism is all hunky dory

      Why, it's almost as if with the passage of time we can look at things objectively rather than fall for the hysteria and propaganda of the day!

    13. Re:Vigilante? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A vigilante goes out and corrects things that don't need to be corrected. A nazi yells at you to FIX IT YOURSELF.

    14. Re:Vigilante? by Gonoff · · Score: 1

      This guy isn't bitching and moaning about people's grammar, he's just quietly going about fixing the signs...

      We don't bitch at people. We are British!

      --
      I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
  7. idiots like this on stackflow by known_coward_69 · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    you ask a question and they go in and capitalize words and change a few things for proper grammar but don't even bother to help you with an answer

    someone needs to show them a naked girl or slap them every time they go OCD on something

    1. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by Calydor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The level of care given to writing a question sets the bar for the level of care given to answering the question.

      If you can't be arsed to reach your pinky finger to the side to hit your Shift key, why should other people be arsed to stop what they're doing to help you?

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    2. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by lgw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You want help specifically from pedantic nerds, but you can't be bothered to speak their language? Further, you're upset about the very personality traits that make them able to help you?

      Just go back to Facebook and Twitter. You fit in there. You don't fit in here.
       

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    3. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by HornWumpus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      arsed too reply with speling and grammer correction?

      Does anybody think those replies are 'to help'? Pitiful, self congratulatory, mental fapping. The middle schooler, desperate to show how smart (s)he is. Big words, half understood, that's the grammarian.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    4. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As if people care about helping someone else regardless of if he used correct grammar or not. If he had it would be more likely that he would not get the Grammar Nazis but still wouldn't get a helpful answer.

    5. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      arsed too reply with speling and grammer correction?

      Does anybody think those replies are 'to help'? Pitiful, self congratulatory, mental fapping. The middle schooler, desperate to show how smart (s)he is. Big words, half understood, that's the grammarian.

      Literacy is a hallmark of the educated. If you show yourself to not appreciate education, why should anyone listen to you or help you become educated?

    6. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because I have arthritis in my hands I typo stuff sometimes. I could carefully proof read my internet posts, but it's fucking Slashdot. Incorrect case isn't going to stop people understanding the message.

      And if you are that bothered by it... Okay, I'll go without your reply, my life is too short to care about trivial mistakes.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by arth1 · · Score: 1

      arsed too reply with speling and grammer correction?

      I can't figure out what you asked here, so I won't bother with the rest of your reply.

    8. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You want help specifically from pedantic nerds, but you can't be bothered to speak their language? Further, you're upset about the very personality traits that make them able to help you?

      Just go back to Facebook and Twitter. You fit in there. You don't fit in here.

      Strictly speaking the "I'll bitch about your grammar instead of helping" personality trait does not in fact make a positive contribution to their ability to help.

    9. Re:idiots like this on stackflow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IS THERE a tech website for people who prefer correctly-spelled and -punctuated comments?

  8. No thanks by SuperKendall · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Slashdot is already plenty full of tools.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  9. Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What does this story have to do with what Slashdot is supposed to be?

    1. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by smooth+wombat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Considering the amount of misspelled words and improper usage (their/there/they're or break/brake), it might be a not-so-subtle hint to get your act together.

      If you don't think proper grammar is important, then you probably don't believe proper coding is important either.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    2. Re: Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nerds can't punctuate any more, so it's not news for them.

    3. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Grammar, it's the difference between knowing your shit, and knowing you're shit.

    4. Re: Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Number not amount. ...number of misspelled words...

      Misspelled words are countable.

    5. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      brake; /*OOPS*/

    6. Re: Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A number is a measure. A count is also a measure.

      By transitive property misspelled words are countable, and the count is an amount.

    7. Re: Why is this even on Slashdot? by buchanmilne · · Score: 2

      "A count is also a measure."

      Only if accompanied by a unit

    8. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      brake; /*OOSP*/

      FTFY.

    9. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...hey, if it compiles...

    10. Re: Why is this even on Slashdot? by denzacar · · Score: 5, Funny

      "A count is also a measure."

      Only if accompanied by a unit

      Occasionally, a count is a vampire.
      And number is how you feel after he sucks the blood out of your body.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    11. Re: Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nerds can't punctuate any more

      So, they have punctuated so much, they have run out of places to put punctuation marks?

      You mean "nerds can't punctuate anymore." A blank space is also punctuation.

      You're welcome.

    12. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by bad_fx · · Score: 1

      And it's the difference between helping your uncle, Jack, off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.

    13. Re: Why is this even on Slashdot? by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      and the count is an amount

      and the bird is the word

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    14. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by pjt33 · · Score: 1

      Except that it isn't. That's orthography, not grammar.

    15. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you had even the slightest idea of Slashdot's past you wouldn't ask that, or if we're really lucky be here

    16. Re: Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Misspelled words are countable.

      Not on the internet.

    17. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      I would much prefer the latter, thank you, but leave my uncle out of this.

    18. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There speaks the voice of experience.

  10. Some People Really Need to Get a Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    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.

    It's like the submitter never learned how to apostrophise plurals, what a loser!

    1. Re:Some People Really Need to Get a Life by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      Perhaps he could give you some help with commas.

    2. Re:Some People Really Need to Get a Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your joking. There's nothing wrong with my grammar; my apostrophes' are perfect?

  11. Texas needs him by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If only he would come and correct all the "Nacho's" signs outside small-town Texas restaurants. (Or does a guy named Nacho own a couple thousand little restaurants here?)

    1. Re:Texas needs him by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      (Or does a guy named Nacho own a couple thousand little restaurants here?)

      Well, since they were supposedly invented by a guy named "Nacho", maybe they are all just paying homage to him.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Texas needs him by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nacho isn't that uncommon of a name... It's a nickname for Ignacio.

  12. As long as it's just apostrophes... by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 1

    ...and not trying to correct things like "10 items or less" when there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. (Clue: "ten or less items" is wrong; "ten items or less" isn't.)

    --
    No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
    1. Re: As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not less but fewer. ...ten or fewer items...

      Items are countable.

    2. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Both are actually incorrect. It should be fewer rather than less.

    3. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jokes on you, I've never bought any "items", just my groceries for the week... I've never seen anything in those stores labeled "item"...

    4. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by moeinvt · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh, cripes. Are you suggesting that less & fewer are *sometimes* interchangeable? Wonderful. Just what we need is another ambiguity in this language.

      I've heard the argument that what you have in your shopping basket ("groceries") is a fluid quantity because you don't talk about having a 'grocery'. That sort of makes sense. I think it's like quantum mechanics though. As soon as you take the groceries out of the basket and put them on the conveyor, they cease being fluid and become discrete "items".

      I would refuse to shop in a place that has "10 items or less" on a sign. :-)

      There's everything "wrong with it" when you've spent decades using "fewer" for that which is discrete and "less" only for that which is fluid or continuous.
      "10 items or less" just sounds wrong.

    5. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Take an economics class, you always buy widgets.

    6. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      As soon as you take the groceries out of the basket and put them on the conveyor, they cease being fluid and become discrete "items".

      How many discrete items are 1.5 pounds of grapes, sold by the pound?

      --
      Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
    7. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How many discrete items are 1.5 pounds of grapes, sold by the pound?

      One.

      Take a look at your receipt sometime. It actually tells you how many items you bought.

    8. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Unless you didn't put them in a bag, in which case, your grapes are pulling free from the stems and dancing all over the conveyor and onto the floor. So, 0, because nobody wants floor grapes. Dumbass. Use a bag next time.

      Also, 2500 Kool-Aid packets are 2500 items, regardless of the number of distinct SKU's involved. (And, yes, "SKU's" is correct, not "SKUs" because individual letters and numbers get an apostrophe-s when pluralized, and acronyms are sequences of individual letters, not words.)

    9. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      Nope. Both are fine. The insistence on fewer in that caseis one of those prescriptive grammar rules that has stuck around because of grammar pedants.

      Here's oxford dictionaries blog to clarify

    10. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      Acronyms are abbreviations made of the initial letters of other words and pronounced as separate words themselves. Examples: NASA, FUBAR, SNAFU.

      Initialisms are abbreviations made of the initial letters of other words but pronounced by speaking each letter in turn. Examples: UN, US, UK, NSA.

      "SKU" is sometimes treated as either. It can be pronounced "S-K-U" or similar to the word "skew."

      Anyway, whether you add an apostrophe before the 's' in a plural form depends on the style guide you choose to follow. Oxford says not to use it (except in the case of a single letter or digit), as does the Chicago Manual of Style. However, the NYTimes guide says it must be used.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    11. Re: As long as it's just apostrophes... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Even worse are the people who confuse the style guide their teacher taught from with "rules" of English.

    12. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always insist it should be "10 or a smaller number of items" :-P

    13. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      There are some places on the internet where fluid quantities are denoted by the -age suffix. The basket would be full of foodage.

    14. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Discrete objects: ten items or fewer.
      Continuous units: ten kilograms or less.

    15. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about "No more than 10 items"?

    16. Re: As long as it's just apostrophes... by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 1

      Wow I wish the OP had also exhibited lousy reading skills and got modded +5.
      Now I'm going to explain to those who can be arsed to read the post properly why a sign announcing "Ten items or less" (notice the word order?) is not wrong.

      "Ten items or less" is not a sentence, therefore you are being asked to infer meaning from it. From that point on, the "less" refers to whatever you then infer. You might well think, when you spot the sign, "Ten items or less? Thats OK, my basketful is less."

      A non-sentence cannot be a grammatically incorrect sentence.

      --
      No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
    17. Re: As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Phrases still follow grammatical rules, but that's irrelevant since it's not about grammar - it's about semantics.

    18. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      X items where X is a member of the set of natural numbers less than or equal to 10.

    19. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Judging by the picture and prices here, there are about 40 grapes in a 500g pack costing 2 pounds. So for for 1.5 pounds, I would expect to get about 30. Does that answer your question?

    20. Re:As long as it's just apostrophes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How many discrete items are 1.5 pounds of grapes, sold by the pound?

      As far as I can make out, about 0.68 kilogrammes. I remember reading about pounds, Fahrenheit, feet, furlongs and other medieval stuff. They were disappearing from around here about 50 years ago.

  13. What a looser by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Man this guys teh rediculous,

  14. Grammar this by earthloop · · Score: 4, Funny

    I have a friend who has the nickname 'Chip'. I keep suggesting to him that he should open a fish and chip shop and call it.....

    Chip's

    1. Re:Grammar this by bheerssen · · Score: 1

      He'll need a friend named Fish.

      Fish's & Chip's

      --
      (Score: -1, Stupid)
    2. Re:Grammar this by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      He could also sell wood chips, but call the shop "Would Chip's?" Not that it makes a lot of sense, but it's no weirder than Tuesday Morning.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    3. Re:Grammar this by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      Hire a monk to run the kitchen and call him the Fish Friar.

  15. Similar sign-fixer in Los Angeles by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A few years ago a local artist improved a confusing L.A. freeway sign, making an interstate number shield in the process:

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/the...

    https://www.good.is/articles/t...

    http://gizmodo.com/how-one-fed...

    One down, 9,999 to go...

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Similar sign-fixer in Los Angeles by MTalisman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have often wanted to change the traffic sign at the exit of the George Washington Bridge in NYC onto the Harlem River Drive from
      Use Both Lanes
      to
      Use Either Lane

    2. Re:Similar sign-fixer in Los Angeles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not a confusing sign; it was simply lacking a useful piece of additional information.

    3. Re:Similar sign-fixer in Los Angeles by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      That's not a confusing sign; it was simply lacking a useful piece of additional information.

      To delve into a little language debate here, I don't find that a wrong statement as given. As I understand/interpret the word "confusion", it can be caused by ANY of these:

      1. Ambiguity
      2. Wrong info
      3. Missing info
      4. Sloppy reading
      5. Ill-informed reading (poor language skills)

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    4. Re:Similar sign-fixer in Los Angeles by mjm1231 · · Score: 1

      Of all the confusing and uninformative signs along the entire GWB, this is the one you fixate on? At least it tells you the correct direction to go in!

      --
      Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
  16. The original is better. by msauve · · Score: 1

    It actually has content.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  17. I could care less by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 1

    https://xkcd.com/1576/

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    1. Re:I could care less by sconeu · · Score: 1

      I've always treated "I could care less" as implied sarcasm, as in:

      I could care less..... if I really, really tried hard.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    2. Re:I could care less by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Which is likely the origin - specifically, NY Jewish culture. There are several similar sarcastic phrases (e.g. "I should be so lucky") in use.

    3. Re:I could care less by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That one's in the same league as "more than likely" when the speaker means "more likely than not."

      What does "more than likely" mean? It means "certainly," which is more likely than not not what they intended to mean.*

      *Yes, I know I used a double negative.

  18. yuO Fail It? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    iyou Have a play

  19. Wrong Criminal by MrLogic17 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The real criminals here are the sign makers. People who's job is written communication are either unable or unwilling to see basic, simple mistakes.
    None of these incorrect signs should exist.

    Moral of the story: just because you're paying someone, doesn't mean they are competent at their job.

    1. Re:Wrong Criminal by fnj · · Score: 5, Funny

      People who's job

      Bwahahaha!

    2. Re:Wrong Criminal by MrLogic17 · · Score: 2

      (Hangs head in shame)

    3. Re:Wrong Criminal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Muphry's law strikes again.

    4. Re:Wrong Criminal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Muphry's law strikes again.

      Ha! I thought you misspelled to be cute, then checked the URL just to make sure. Very pithy.

    5. Re:Wrong Criminal by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      You want to see bad writing? Look at the displays in a school. The ones written by the teachers.

    6. Re:Wrong Criminal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you mean:
      (Hang's head in shame)

  20. My favorite mispuntuated sign by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No! More Rape
    A protest sign held up by a feminist.

  21. How shít is this article? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    On the level of the Bristol Stool Scale, how shít is this article, lads?

  22. Works at night by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

    Works at night correcting signs because if he did it during the day someone would surely correct his face.

    Whereas, grammar may have reached an epidemic of horribleness*, I think grammar Nazis are perhaps more of a problem than grammer**.

    * deliberate use of an unword
    ** I wanted to make someone's skin crawl with that spelling mistake.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    1. Re:Works at night by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > deliberate use of an unword

      You should try deliberate use of a dictionary!

    2. Re:Works at night by Megane · · Score: 1

      Shame on you. Kelsey Grammer's name should be capitalized. But I will admit that he isn't much of a problem these days.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  23. Amazon ban by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazon banned me today from posting comments to their user reviews. They didn't like that I correct people's grammer. They call it being spiteful.

  24. Crisis Averted! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No more apostrophe catAHstrophe!

  25. A special term for integers and real numbers by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 1

    That's right. And the mathematics I was taught in grade school was wrong, too. Correctly:

    2.3 is less than 2.6, but

    2 is fewer than 3.

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    1. Re:A special term for integers and real numbers by cellocgw · · Score: 2

      2.3 is less than 2.6, but

      2 is fewer than 3

      No, 2 are fewer than 3 . //yes dammit I'm being funny and serious, and yes I'm well aware of the difference between numbers and collective nouns, and the difference between British English and American English when it comes to collective nouns.

      --
      https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
    2. Re:A special term for integers and real numbers by Gonoff · · Score: 1

      ... the difference between British English and American English when...

      Putting the words "British" and "English" together in that way is redundant. If you just refer to a spelling or grammatical construction as being in the English language, , this implies that it is not "American English". Only if you want to include serial commas, drop the letter U from some words, replace S with Z and so on, do you need to identify it as something other than just plain English.

      --
      I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
  26. Don't forget what happened to this guy by robert+bitchin' · · Score: 1

    http://pilotonline.com/news/gr...

    1. Re:Don't forget what happened to this guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The funny thin is that this asshole claims he "didn't know the significance of the sign or the watchtower," when it is explained right on the freaking sign he vandalized.

  27. Only in Bristol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I heard that police in Bristol arrested a big mean looking guy with several pedants hanging around his neck. I asked if that should have been pendants but now I understand.....

    1. Re:Only in Bristol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always wanted to market a footstool branded as "Peda-Rest" just to see who would buy it.

  28. Dupeman: Superhero of the Dark [Re:Bansky?] by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    How would a slashdot dupe-story vigilante work? DOS the dupe? Hack into slashdot and delete the dupe? Turn it into a cow story via word substitution? Flood the dupe story with ***WARNING: DUPE STORY***" flags? Pop the tires of the editor's car as punishment? Volunteer to read-check for free?

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  29. If only he were on the Internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He would discover the joys of being a troll.

  30. RTFA by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

    Did you RTFA? If you read only the summary, you did.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  31. Superhero by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds like my kind of superhero. And I nominate "Comma Custodian" as his street name.

  32. Vigilante's identity: Dave Barry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From Tips for writers: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article1936919.html#storylink=cpy

    Dear Mister Language Person: What is the purpose of the apostrophe?

    A. The apostrophe is used mainly in hand-lettered small- business signs to alert the reader that an "S" is coming up at the end of a word, as in: WE DO NOT EXCEPT PERSONAL CHECK'S, or: NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ITEM'S. Another important grammar concept to bear in mind when creating hand-lettered small- business signs is that you should put quotation marks around random words for decoration, as in "TRY" OUR HOT DOG'S, or even TRY "OUR" HOT DOG'S.

  33. Gloucester Road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some of the BBC footage was just around the corner from me on Gloucester Road.

    Gert lush innit.

  34. Title has grammar error... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ('Grammar Vigilante') Should be double quotes ("Grammar Vigilante") like it is in the story.

    1. Re:Title has grammar error... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, ' is used for feet and " for inches. Maybe quoting with ' is more emphatic than quoting with ".

  35. Ideas over grammar by VikingNation · · Score: 1

    The grammar police need to chill. Constant word smithing to correct insignificant grammar issues takes away from meaningful ideas and suggestions.

    1. Re:Ideas over grammar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      never

      there cannot BE meaningful ideas and suggestions made without correct grammar, as the meaning of said ideas and suggestions cannot be confirmed with certainty

  36. Re:I just want to know which slashdot user it is. by billybob2001 · · Score: 1

    I just want to know which slashdot user it is.

    Alright, ill admit, its myself.