Entertainment

Grammar pedants are up in arms over this part of the £5 note

Did you spot it?
Did you spot it? Did you spot it?

If you were having a good read of the new polymer £5 note (and let’s face it, why wouldn’t you) you might have noticed something a little odd. Well, perhaps the real issue is not what you noticed but rather what you didn’t.

Many people have been shocked to discover a distinct lack of quotation marks around Winston Churchill’s famous adage: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Not only that, but there’s not even a full stop to be seen at the end of the sentence – the horror!

£5 note
£5 note
(Joe Giddens/PA)

According to the Telegraph, this travesty of grammar was not always meant to happen. The note was complete with all the appropriate speech marks and full stops, which were removed for the final design.

This, of course, has caused a scandal in the world of grammar.

The National Literacy Trust has deemed it grammatically incorrect and a spokesman told the Telegraph: “If you are referencing a quotation word-for-word, use double quotation marks at the start and end of the quoted section. Place full stops and commas inside the quotation marks for a complete quoted sentence.”

So there you go.

With around 400 million of the notes in circulation, grammar enthusiasts are no doubt in for a tough time whenever they need to spend a fiver.There’s nothing quite like a good, old-fashioned punctuation debate to really ease you back into work after the bank holiday.