English teacher corrects graffiti

[JonLP24]

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Milwaukee English teacher is fighting graffiti with a grammar lesson.

After someone spray painted a police call box in her neighborhood, Beth Biskobing posted fliers correcting the vandal's grammar.

The tagger had painted, "Where da bitches at?"

Biskobing's flier responds: "Hey, Tagger! We'd like you to work on your grammar, please! Your tag SHOULD read as follows: Where are the female dogs?"

She explains that using the verb "are" turns the fragment into a complete sentence. She says "the" and "da" are not interchangeable, and a sentence should not end with a preposition, such as "at."
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/wisconsin/wis_ap_milwaukee_english_teacher_graffiti_200905151058_rev1

[Bucky]

1. She's wrong. There's no reason at all to not end a sentence with a preposition

Or, more properly put, a preposition is something it's okay to end a sentence with. In the grammer racket, that's an example of what we call "over correcting."

[cwydro]

3. Um,

it's "grammar", not "grammer".;-)

[Kali]

11. ...

:spray:

and now, I'm outta here - I'm a writing slob on teh internets

[Deep13]

8. So what is the object of that preposition?

Either your "with" or the vandal's "at"?

[Bucky]

14. It might not be a preposition... it could just be an adverb.

A preposition without an object of it just downgrades to adverb. And adverbs are quite properly placed behind the verb, thus increasing its likelihood of being the last word in a sentence.

[rucky]

16. Then shouldn't it be "Where da bitches atly?"

[MissHoneychurch]

2. Reminds me of this ...

(Brian is writing graffiti on the palace wall. The Centurion catches him in the act)

Centurion: What's this, then? "Romanes eunt domus"? People called Romanes, they go, the house?
Brian: It says, "Romans go home. "
Centurion: No it doesn't ! What's the latin for "Roman"? Come on, come on !
Brian: Er, "Romanus" !
Centurion: Vocative plural of "Romanus" is?
Brian: Er, er, "Romani" !
Centurion: "Eunt"? What is "eunt"? Conjugate the verb, "to go" !
Brian: Er, "Ire". Er, "eo", "is", "it", "imus", "itis", "eunt".
Centurion: So, "eunt" is...?
Brian: Third person plural present indicative, "they go".
Centurion: But, "Romans, go home" is an order. So you must use...?

Brian: Aaagh ! The imperative !
Centurion: Which is...?
Brian: Aaaagh ! Er, er, "i" !
Centurion: How many Romans?
Brian: Aaaaagh ! Plural, plural, er, "ite" !
Centurion: "Domus"? Nominative? "Go home" is motion towards, isn't it?
Brian: Dative !

Brian: Aaagh ! Not the dative, not the dative ! Er, er, accusative, "Domum" !
Centurion: But "Domus" takes the locative, which is...?
Brian: Er, "Domum" !
Centurion: Understand? Now, write it out a hundred times.
Brian: Yes sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar, sir.
Centurion: Hail Caesar ! And if it's not done by sunrise, I'll cut your balls off.

Monty Python: Life of Brian

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. That's what came to mind for me too!

It hilarious :) :party:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. Brings back memories of Latin class in high school.

Yes, I am one of those people who took Latin in high school because it was good for me.

Sum, esse, fui.
Latin is screwy. :D

[kentauros]

4. Of course, if the tagger had in fact used quotes

around Where da bitches at? that then becomes dialogue and grammar rules don't apply ;)

[RandomThoughts]

5. Not to mention, its not nice to call people types of animals.

There are some people that like to use animal representations for people. It helps them treat other groups as lesser people. It is derogatory and breaks empathy allowing a person to think of themselves as better.

[DS1]

6. People whom end any sentence with 'at' really grind my gears.

/Peter Griffin

[kentauros]

7. Then you need to use a CVT

(Constantly Variable Transmission) and adapt where you're at :P

[GCP]

10. "Whom"?

I hope that was Peter who said that and not you! :P

[madinmaryland]

17. If you can't find em, grind em.

/Passenger commenting to the driver of a stick shift who missed the gear!

"ouch"

[Sabriel]

13. My last birthday card sums it up nicely

Woman 1: "Where's your birthday party at?"

Woman 2: "Don't end a sentence with a preposition."

Woman 1: "Where's your birthday party at, bitch?"

I'm an English teacher, too, and I'm more concerned about "tagging as vandalism" than "tagging as expression of poor grammar skills."

[TheMightyFavog]

15. This is right out of an old article from MAD magazine.

It's somewhere in my stack of old MADs.