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). Pronunciation
Guidance Through
no fault of their own, I notice young British numismatists who were born well
after the demise of LSD (that’s predecimal
coinage), have no knowledge of the correct pronunciation of the following denonimations. But fear not, I am here to help by
providing the following: Halfpenny
is ‘Haypnee’ Twopence
is ‘Tuppence’ Threepence is
‘Thruppence’ No doubt
more thoughts will follow! |
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