Defendant: Unknown maker of novelty signage.
Count 1: Negligent usage of an apostrophe in the construction of a plural noun.
Count 2: Rendering negligent grammar permanent via glazing.
Count 3: Felony paradox.
Report: Officer was in a Los Angeles thrift store shopping for props when he witnessed the grammatical malfeasance. Sign was prominently displayed among depressing second-hand trinkets and baubles. Sign was available for purchase, presumably to be hung in the workspace of a professional educator.
Fine: $644 and mandatory registration in the national Grammatical Offenders database.
Brian Sack
I started Banterist in 2003 after this conversation with my cat. It led to all sorts of good things.
Hi. I found your site – because I bought your book.
Also, am really enjoying that book, and blogged about it today…
Also, love this post :)
I don’t know… could it be used to denote a rule made by the teacher? Perhaps it’s a reminder to follow some rule set by a teacher?
But yeah, probably not. Imagine giving that as a gift to an English teacher…
Instant fail.
Or it could be possessive, with THE rule to follow on another sign.
Love It! I have used some of your grammar cop photos to teach my sixth graders what NOT to do. What a way to teach–they think it’s hilarious. Maybe I’m copying, but it’s for the greater good!
The sign isn’t necessarily grammatically incorrect. It depends on how it is used.
If the teacher who buys it places it over a second sign that says, “STUDENTS MUST NOT LAUGH AT ME TO MY FACE, NO MATTER HOW FUNNY THEY MIGHT FIND MY HIDEOUSLY UGLY PUSS,” the sign you’ve depicted would be grammatically correct as it would be labeling the second sign as being the rule the teacher enforces in his or her classroom, i.e., the “teacher’s rule” (possessive).
Wow, you guys sure like to give the benefit of the doubt. I’d want you on my jury. -B.
Who made the sign, and who was the sign maker’s english teacher? If the teacher is still alive, he’s probably crying into his stewed prunes. If dead, he is no doubt spinning like an atomic-powered gyroscope.
I think it’s a pun, and meant to have two meanings. The fact that you think it’s incorrect means the joke’s on you! I can hear the sign’s creator laughing.