My small part
in trying to get back some educational standards
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Recently I
have seen irritating grammatical howlers appearing in British auction
catalogues, including from well-known London firms. To my mind it detracts
from what should at least in part be scholarly publications. It’s for
its: It’s
is short for ‘it is’. Simple. Medalette or medallet:
It’s
medalet Minted: a
coin or medal is struck (or
sometimes, cast) ‘Sat’ or
‘stood’:
This is amongst the worst of grammatical howlers, sadly on the increase.
Britannia is never ‘sat’, she is seated or sitting. Likewise she is never
‘stood’ but standing. American
spellings: these are also creeping in to some British
catalogues (not catalogs!). I’ve seen ‘center’ for centre and words such as
‘cancelation’ dropping the double-l. Also ‘collectables’ is often misspelt as ‘collectibles’. Further
irritants: “Upcoming” instead of forthcoming, the “Grocer’s
S” (to imply a genitive) when a plural noun is intended. General irritants:
when a British person says ‘gotten’ (again, sadly on the increase) by which
they mean ‘got’, I just think they are intellectually challenged and/or had a
particularly poor education. Likewise “get-go” (start, beginning, outset) and
“oftentimes” (often). No doubt
more will follow! |
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