Tuesday, 9 September 2008

The Apostrophe Police and "The Sportsmens Rest"

Last night Isla set up a Facebook Group called "The Apostrophe Police". This was largely inspired by the (now legendary) "Sportsmens Rest" - the name chosen for the relaunched "Clock Inn".

Even as I type this I can see a red line underneath "Sportsmens" which is refusing to go away. Should I ask Firefox to add it to its dictionary?

As Isla says, "Sportsmens Rest" is wrong on so many levels. Yes, it's gramatically incorrect, and hardly a good use of inclusive language - although I note that two of the three "sportsmens" on the poster are female...

We all make mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation and language, but rarely spend a lot of money on signage to spread the word. Well done Isla - and best wishes to the Apostrophe Police!

1 comment:

Peter Leeson said...

When I looked for Isla's group, I found three groups called "the apostrophe police" and one called "grammar police". I am sure there is a lesson in there somewhere!