Should it be "Grammar Vigilante" or "Punctuation Vigilante?"

[2ffat]

Please read 'Grammar vigilante' sneaks around at night fixing bad apostrophes and then tell us which title the vigilante should have used.

BTW, some of the signs they show set my teeth "on edge," too.



James P. Cottingham
I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!

 

[budbyrd]

Depending the situation it could be grammatical, punctuate, or spelling. But as a vigalante title I would go with 'Bored' If you have that much time on your hands I would suggest a more productive hobby.


Dermis and feline can be divorced by manifold methods.*
*(Disclaimer for all advise given)--'Version Dependent'

 

[strongm]

Well, an apostrophe is a punctuation mark, but the rules on where it is to be used ... well, that's grammar. So, since the vigilante is making sure the rules are followed, I'd support 'grammar vigilante' but accept that 'punctuation vigilante' is an viable alternative.

 

[MakeItSo]

Virgulante?


"Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family." (Kofi Annan)
Oppose SOPA, PIPA, ACTA; measures to curb freedom of information under whatever name whatsoever.

 

[holdmusic34]

Maybe he started off with grammar and then branched out, like how BP produced palm oil and then moved on to fossil fuels. Once you have prior art and brand recognition it can be confusing to your customers to change.

Gunpoint 132 and Bush.Cover's code three

 

[BobRodes]

To expand on strongm's post (seems old habits die hard):

"Grammar" is defined as "The whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics." Of these, "syntax" is defined as "the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language." Finally, "punctuation" is defined as "the marks, such as period, comma, and parentheses, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning."

While one may perhaps argue from these definitions that punctuation is not a part of syntax, since punctuation marks are not themselves "words and phrases", I believe one may more convincingly argue that they are nevertheless part of "the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences." Therefore, I am of the opinion that punctuation is a sub-category of syntax, which is itself a sub-category of grammar.

A bit of googling reveals that most online "Grammar" references include a section on punctuation, suggesting that my opinion is that of the majority. I did find one blog entry here opining thus:

GRAMMAR refers to the way words are put together to make units of meaning...PUNCTUATION refers to the “symbols” we use to help people read/process sentences the way we want them to be heard and understood.

But I only found the one, and the poster doesn't style herself as an authority on either grammar or punctuation.

Thus, in my opinion, the "grammar vigilante" was entirely correct to so style himself. Styling himself a "punctuation vigilante" (or dare I say "apostrophe vigilante") would be correct as well, if he wanted to limit his practice to the eradication of the "apostrophosis" epidemic and other punctuation-related diseases. But that would be more confining to any future aspirations he might have to expand his vigilanteism to address other grammar-related diseases.

An unforeseen consequence of the information revolution has been the exponential propagation of human error.