No, that’s wrong. Apparently, it should be “10 items or fewer”, according to the grammar Nazis. Whilst people using “your” instead of “you’re”, or saying they “should of” done something drive me mad, that sort of grammatical pedantry is normally beyond me. Normally…
Last night, we went Christmas shopping. (“Too early!” I hear you cry). Anyway, we went into a well known confectionary shop (I’m not naming names, but it was Lindt). I made a purchase, and asked if I could use my Amex card. “No, I’m sorry” replied the young lady behind the till. Oh, if she’d only left it there.
She pointed at a piece of card on the counter and continued “It’s on the card for you right there”. Well, no, actually it wasn’t.
The card read: “Please note that a minimum £5 charge is applicable to credit card transactions. (* American Express cards excluded)”.
I bit my lip and walked out, as I didn’t want to cause a scene (we’ll let the whole ‘Free Santa’ incident slip, for now).
So, what’s the problem? Well, as far as I’m concerned, what that card said was that there was a minimum £5 charge for all types of credit card, except American Express. Whether there was no minimum for that type, or a higher one, was indeterminate. What it most definitely did not say was that they didn’t accept Amex.
I like to think I’m not a grammar Nazi, but I might admit to being a logic Nazi. Maybe I’m part Vulcan, like Spock?