September 24 is National Punctuation Day. Many laudable ways to celebrate are listed online. I say, show us the errors of our ways. Call out the egregious “misteaks” on menus, billboards, signs. What punctuation errors irk you? What makes you recoil from a printed article when “they should know better”? What has you lamenting what “they” don’t teach anymore?
If you are confident with rules of correct punctuation, rise up!
Use your skills to educate. Do not avert your eyes from the apostrophe placed willy-nilly just because a noun has an ‘s’ added to it.
Apple’s and Pumpkin’s for Sale (Huh? )
Apostrophe’s always confuse me. (Oh, I guessed that.)
Pack a red marker in your bag/pocket/ fanny pack. Have Wite-Out at the ready. Slash, circle, and strike out the misplaced apostrophes, incorrect quotations, and capital letters. Make your mark! Correct errors on menus and offer to spellcheck the owner’s drafts on their next four menus for free.
Save lives!
Raise awareness
Relish excitement
Enhance romance
Thank you to illustrators and artists who show us errors in a humorous way.
Ethel Lee-Miller blogs regularly about people, the power of words, and her writing life. She retired after 30 years of teaching, and semi-retired from coaching, and professional editing. Founder of the Eastside Tucson Writing Room based in Tucson AZ, she’s posted 100s of blogs, and is the author of Thinking of Miller Place, and Seedlings, Stories of Relationships. These days she writes to inspire, to connect with folks, teaching about the power of words, gather writers together, and for the pure enjoyment of it. Ethel enjoys teaching, speaking, and storytelling at Odyssey Storytelling, Artists Standing Strong Together, Center for Spiritual Living Tucson, and anywhere there’s a mic or a Zoom room.