When Tom Torriglia was a technical writer, his editors would comb through his work with a fine-toothed comb and would correct any grammar and punctuation errors. Some editors would find a mis-placed comma on page 286 of a 400-page manual and would criticize Tom for the error. Then after work, Tom would find himself bombarded with ads on TV and print that contained incorrect grammar and punctuation. Why, he thought, could these ad writers get away with bad grammar and punctuation and he was screamed at over one mis-placed comma in a 400-page document?

In 1986, Tom Torriglia started the National Association for Good Grammar (NAGG), a watchdog organization that would, well, NAGG companies by asking them about the copy in their ads and why they didn't punctuate correctly or use correct wording. When Tom found, saw or heard ads that didn't have correct grammar or punctuation in them, he would either make a note of the ad or in the case of print ads, clip them out and then contact the company and ask what was up. He wanted answers…and he wanted corrections.

The typical reply was that "We're advertising.  We don't need to conform to correct rules of grammar and punctuation." Or, they would say stuff like "Well, we follow the AP style guide," or "We know it is wrong, but if we used the correct grammar or punctuation, the message wouldn't have the same impact." Sometimes they would say it was for space reasons.

After his first book, The Nighttime Good Time Guide to San Francisco, which detailed fun places to eat, drink and be merry in San Francisco came out in 1988, he was asked to work as an entertainment journalist on Bay Area radio  stations talking about upcoming events and providing critiques of musicals, plays and other entertainment. After one of his segments, the DJ, who knew he was grammar geek, asked him to come in to talk about grammar. So, he went to the file cabinet and pulled out a bunch of case files – not the misdemeanors…grammar felonies…only the big stuff.

After about only two minutes of talking about the ads, the phone lines lighted up with people calling to complain about bad grammar. He really touched a nerve and the listeners were as outraged as he was.

Some of the old case files got lost somewhere, but not his passion for NAGGing companies. If you find an ad somewhere that outrages you and think it should be considered for his web site or his new book, The Grammar Police Never Sleep, please send it along via email at squeegeetom@yahoo.com.