Have you heard of this “Grammar vigilante”?
For more than a decade, an unknown corrector of poor English has been venturing out in the dead of night and tidying up the punctuation on Bristol’s shop fronts and street signs. … The man said he began by scratching out an extraneous apostrophe on a sign but had since become more sophisticated and has built an “apostrophiser” – a long-handled piece of kit that allows him to reach up to shop signs to add in, or cover up, offending punctuation marks. “This is a device that enables you to plant an apostrophe quite high up and get over any obstacles,” he said.
My hero! He should make those devices and sell them!
Among the signs he has corrected in and around Bristol – the home town of the street artist Banksy – is a nail shop that used to bear the “gross” sign “Amys Nail’s”. “It was so loud and in your face. I just couldn’t abide it. It grates.”
Hah! I love this guy.
I’m trying to remember the apostrophe error I saw on a business’s truck the other day. Maybe something about getting rid of termite’s. I think business owners owe this guy a debt of gratitude for fixing their signs. Apparently he’s careful and neat about it.
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Though as all good superhero fans know, there’s an ever-present danger of Going Too Far, and crossing the line from hero to villain. Flashback to 2008:
They were convicted of vandalism, and got hit with a $3000 fine and a year’s probation, during which they weren’t permitted to visit any national parks.
http://archive.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/08/22/20080822grammarcops0822.html
AARGH no probably you should not deface Historic Landmark signs, even if they have an error on them.
… and turned their experience into a book, THE GREAT TYPO HUNT, because wouldn’t you?
I thought you were joking, but no:
The Great Typo Hunt