You smell like a monkey...

WC's comment to an earlier post about errors in a school district manual reminded me of a photo I saw about a year ago. A friend had taken a photos at a local school. In one of the classrooms, the teacher had posted all the students' birthdays on the wall. It was a very cheery and personable display. The title about the birthdays read, "OUR BIRTHDAY'S." Aaarrrgh! For those of you who are apostrophically (good one, huh?) challenged, here is the lesson for the day:

Apostrophes are not used to indicate plurality.

Apostrophes are used to show possession and in contractions.

(I can't think of any other uses right now. Can you?)

Consider the following examples:

• Jessica's birthday is in January.
• Jordan's birthday is in January.
• Their birthdays are in January.

My initial instinct was to call the school to point out the error, but I never did. I figured that the call taker would find me arrogant and rude, and the offending teacher would suffer embarrassment. Still, it haunts me that the students saw the error everyday and thought it was correct, since, after all, the teacher posted it.

I am led back to reactions to my BT blog. One blogger was insistent that it is rude to point out others' errors and it is best to be courteous and keep quiet - "unsolicited critique is rude." What do you think about this situation?

With all due respect...

I must correct an error that I am beginning to see more and more frequently. Two recent infractions come to mind - one in written correspondence from a Town of Bluffton staff member and one in a recent post to the Bluffton Today blogs. A BT blogger recently wrote, "With all do respect...." The correct wording is "with all due respect." "Do respect" makes no sense. I believe this common mistake is due to aural interpretation without really giving the words any thought. This type of misunderstanding is common in other expressions, to which we may give some thought at a later date. American Heritage Dictionary offers one definition of "due" as "In accord with right, convention, or courtesy; appropriate: due esteem; all due respect." Doesn't that make more sense now?