The Chicago Traveler

Apostrophe Catastrophe

by Matt B on April 4th, 2008

As I reported on Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs honored Ernie Banks with his very own bronze statue in front of Wrigley Field. It included an inscription of his catchphrase:

See the problem?

At least half the people I asked leaned toward the inscription, mouthed it'Lets play two, lets play two, lets play two'then shook their heads, no. (ChicagoSports.com)

*sigh* C'mon people! Maybe I'm biased because I earned my B.A. in English, but it can't be that difficult, can it? We all learned this in fifth grade. When you drop a letter between words, you use an apostrophe. Let us play two. Let's play two.

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

'I'm the sculptor, I'm not a writer,' laughed Lou Cella. That's all well and good, Lou, but I'm not asking you to write a dissertation. I'd just like to think that, after speaking and writing English for all of our lives, we'd be able to remember some simple grammar rules.

Not to mention, how many people inspected and saw the statue before the big unveiling? None of them noticed? Someone should call their English teachers.

On Wednesday morning, Cella fixed the error, adding the necessary apostrophe.

Many thanks to Shane (The Tokyo Traveler) for the tip on the story.

Photo credit: polomex

Related Stories

No related posts

POSTED IN: Architecture & Attractions, Sports and Recreation