For time immemorial, England has provided America with certain aspirational rules for proper decorum—for example, putting skirts on beds and tables, reading A Tale of Two Cities one’s first year of high school, and dividing lists with commas as God and Oxford university intended. Now, with Brexit fast approaching, England, perhaps negatively influenced by America’s lax relationship with grammar and existing agreements, seems to have simply decided that no rules are real, throwing out their commitment to commas right alongside their membership in the EU. The British Royal Mint has issued a 50p piece to commemorate Brexit with a message reading “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations,” a phrase even Grammarly tells me is missing a comma. Next, they’ll be eating roast on Tuesday and having tea time before lunch while the world as we know it collapses into dystopia.
