Grammar Police Destroy Public Art

It's a case of what Dave Chappelle would call "keeping it real gone wrong." In their zeal to rid the world of typos, a pair of asshats defaced a 60-year-old sign painted by architect Mary Colter.

Jeff Michael Deck of Somerville, and Benjamin Douglas Herson, of Virginia Beach, Va., members of the Typo Eradication Advancement League, or TEAL, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court of defacing the irreplaceable Grand Canyon sign, which had been a registered National Historic Landmark.

Mary Colter, known as the "Architect of the Southwest," designed the masterpieces Hopi House (1905) and Desert View Watchtower (1932). But it was Colter's disregard for proper punctuation that Deck and Herson found to be her most poignant work. On the TEAL's website (since taken down), the pair lamented "Will we never be free from the shackles of apostrophic misunderstanding, even in a place surrounded by natural beauty?"

Bostonist loves language and has a shelf of English usage books. But when typos and misspellings are enough to ruin your vacation, it might be time to buy a looser pair of trousers. (Did Deck and Herson have to be sedated in English class when it came time to read Joyce and Faulkner?) Grammar is great, and proper grammar is lovely, but might not typos, like the imperfections in a great painting, have a certain beauty of their own?

Update: According to Language Log, who calls Deck and Herson "peevologists" rather than "asshats," this is the sign that they defaced.

An example of a typo-corrected sign at Harvard Station. Photo by Flickr user Sushiesque

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Comments [rss]

Az Auto Insurance

auto insurance is so diverse in its pricing with so many companies, I have always shopped around and found it was well worth the time.

cheap_robv

For those interested, the National Park Service sent me a photo of the sign:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob_v/2796795964/

~r

Rick Sawyer

Romulus, it's funny you should mention the word "emense," because that was the occasion of the most hilarious, self-satirizing quote from the asshats:

I was reluctant to disfigure the sign any further, so we had to let the other typo stand. Still, I think I shall be haunted by that perversity.

Haunted? Really?

captnitpick

There is no "supposedly" about the episode. They pleaded guilty to desecrating the sign.

romulus

According to the Globe, the sign reportedly included the word "emense".

Now, so far, nobody has a picture of the sign they supposedly desecrated. Doesn't that seem awfully strange?

Zebbler would be proud.

Korri Leigh Crowley

captnitpick's name is quite appropriate, but he is indeed right. I stand corrected.

captnitpick

It is not a complex sentence because it has two independent clauses with two different subjects: "Barely anyone" and "we." It is a compound sentence and needs a comma before the conjunction.

Kerry Skemp

a complex sentence is not a run-on sentence.

Rick Sawyer

I would argue that altering a historic sign's grammar demonstrates a remarkably narrow view of the evolution of English. Many rules of English grammar have been in place for centuries, but usage of punctuation marks, especially apostrophes, commas, semi-colons, and colons, has varied widely, even since the 18th century. Other rules, like the shibboleth against the split infinitive, have come in and out of style.

Now, granted, the work in question was only 60-something years old, but if these dudes took a trip to Boston historical sites, would they take it upon themselves to "improve" 18th century grammar? And what about all of the misplaced commas in Shakespeare?

It's one thing to "correct" public signage that has obviously missed a crucial step in copyediting, but quite another to alter a hand-painted work of art at a National Historical Landmark site. That's why they are asshats.

captnitpick

(unless that makes me a hero)

captnitpick

Barely anyone in this country can write properly and we are way too lax as a society when it comes to good grammar.

Perhaps I shouldn't point out your run-on sentence.

Rick Sawyer

To clarify, the sign in the photo is not the sign the asshats defaced. The sign they defaced was a hand-painted part of Mary Colter's National Landmark artwork. It is possible that it was this sign here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7202153@N03/432043193/in/set-72157594580929633/

Jim Genzano

That sign is public art? It just looks like a regular old sign to me—which needed better copy-editing. Go grammar police!

Korri Leigh Crowley

They are not 'asshats,' they are heroes. Barely anyone in this country can write properly and we are way too lax as a society when it comes to good grammar. They should not commit crimes or deface property to get their very valid point across, but their aim is valiant. Perhaps they could start up a letter writing campaign and bring all of the errors to the sign-owners attention?

I agree with ich..derek, the Government just brought more attention to their own errors and wasted money and effort by pursuing the case.

captnitpick

If only these asshats could vandalize the internet. They could fix "Banditos Misteriosos" to read "Banditti Misteriosi" or "Bandidos Misteriosos," and I could finally have a good night's sleep.

ichheissederek

Great use of asshat! Really, I think this word is brilliant.

Though I kind of disagree with your position. I'm very pro-grammar and really enjoy the idea of grammar superheros running around the nation and correcting imperfect signs. I think the government wasted time and money prosecuting them.

Kerry Skemp

i suppose they should have also inserted an 'of' into this bookplate:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/grca/photos/colter/drawings/pages/13231.htm

and added some m's into "accomodating":

http://www.nps.gov/archive/grca/photos/colter/drawings/pages/16682.htm

http://www.nps.gov/archive/grca/photos/colter/drawings/pages/16712.htm

i can't read this enough to find something to correct, but it's awesome:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/grca/photos/colter/drawings/pages/16958.htm