Punctuation Saves Lives!

I confess. I'm sort of anal about punctuation and grammar. Not to the point where I expect perfection. Nor do I deliver perfection. We all make mistakes, and this is a blog, not our college thesis.
But there are some things that just drive me insane!


I love the title of this book. It's based on this joke:

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

'Well, I'm a panda', he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large: black-and-white bear-like mammal; native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

~*~*~*~

This is a big-time pet peeve of mine.

When you're saying YOU ARE, it's "you're", not "your", people!

And here's another big one. I see this SO often and it seriously makes me itch. How have people gotten through at least 13+ years of school and not learned that the APOSTROPHE "S" signifies possession?

Here's an example for you: The DOGS are barking.
This is the DOG'S bowl.
It's really so simple.
ALL words that end in "S" do not require an apostrophe. I promise!

No no NO!!!

*Scream* I give up!

Oh, and if you happen to own a business, please make sure your signs do not have any grammatical or punctuation errors in them. Because if they do, people like me will rant and rave at their poor husbands (the only people who will listen to our tirades) and swear to never utilize your services.
I'm just saying.