Bless them , Waitrose are trying hard to defend our language. A few months back they changed the signs on their basket-only checkouts to read “Ten items or fewer”. I made the mistake of congratulating the cashier of their usage and she apologised. “I know, I know, people keep telling me, it should be ‘ten items or less’.” Nooo… I didn’t know where to start sorting that out, I tried but she just looked confused,
England’s smoking ban has had me in a consistent state of annoyance for the last 18 months. Not for the ban itself – it’s lovely to be able to go to a pub or restaurant and come away not stinking – but for the signs that have appeared in every shop window: “It is against the law to smoke in these premises”.
This evening I noticed that Waitrose has tried to correct this with “It is against the law to smoke on these premises”. They clearly understand that a “premise” is a piece of land and it is impossible to smoke in a premise unless you dig a hole. So well done Waitrose. Sort of. Still not right, because the law bans smoking in public buildings, not on land in general. I am sure Waitrose’s premises extend beyond their building. They should say what they mean: “It is against the law to smoke in this building”.
