The head of the Apostrophe Protection Society in the UK criticized the grammar on a large billboard near Portlaoise for omitting a crucial apostrophe. The sign is advertising "Frans Crash Repairs". Oops.
I actually like grammar and wish I knew it better than I do. I just love rules. It was never emphasized when I was in school. I guess it was too archaic to teach kids how to use apostrophes, commas, semi-colons, quotation marks, etc. {When I got to college it was obvious that those kids who had gone to Catholic school had a much better foundation in grammar than did those of us who went to public school. Different philosophies…}
I keep trying to learn these things, but what really gets me now is that the rules are different on the opposite sides of the Atlantic. So now I'm not only battling my ignorance, but also the conflicts between my American education - such as it was - and the rules on this side of 'the pond'.
