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~ Friday, July 18, 2008 ~
Grammatical Hang-Up
College Education. No Child Left.
Last Sunday I saw this ad for Thomas Edison State College as I rode the NJ Transit back from meeting with a new student. There were some high school kids occupying the spot where I needed to stand to get a good shot of the ad, so I did a fine job of embarrassing myself while I craned my body into their personal spaces trying to get all the text into the little screen on my camera phone. It took me several tries, and by the third attempt one of them (who clearly thought I was nuts to be so excited about photographing the thing) asked disgustedly if I just wanted him to take it for me. "Thanks, I got it this time," I said, and returned to my own seat. The silver-haired lady sitting next to me looked at me quizzically, and to her I felt obligated to explain why I was so keen to photograph the thing. I'd sorta hoped she would have spotted the error too (have we all forgotten the grammar we learned in school?), but she turned out to be German, just travelling in the US, so I forgave her and explained how the lack of a possessive apostrophe changes the meaning of the copy.
~ prattled by Miriam at 11:55 p.m. [+]
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Comments:Ransom, thanks for that. "Amusing"
indeed!
To be fair to the Edison folks, I should note that I think I recall a rule that says to not use apostrophes when you're writing in all-caps, but even if that rule exists, I think it gets trumped by the unwritten rule of avoiding ambiguity.
Also, it looks like someone on the LJ universe beat me to it:
http://community.livejournal.com/grammar_whores/4212058.html
Perhaps it is recent overexposure to other peoples' children but I rather like the meaning as written.
Hi Borden, nice to see you here! Nothing like other people's children to remind you to count your blessings. :) It's not that there's anything wrong with them, per se--they can be quite charming--I just wouldn't want to be responsible for one. Yikes.Post a Comment
