Apostrophe'''''s, when did the rot set in?

Apostrophe'''''s, when did the rot set in?

Author
Discussion

MitchT

15,789 posts

208 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all
Codefaster said:
I was in WH Smiths at the weekend and noted a magazine called HOBBY'S in the general/hobby section.

I haven't looked into this (there is probably an explanation I guess..) but it just looked so wrong!
The company is WH Smith. Why do people always put an 's' on the end of a company's name? The other day one of my female collages said she bought something from Etams. No, you bought something from Etam.

Darkslider

3,071 posts

188 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all
MitchT said:
Codefaster said:
I was in WH Smiths at the weekend and noted a magazine called HOBBY'S in the general/hobby section.

I haven't looked into this (there is probably an explanation I guess..) but it just looked so wrong!
The company is WH Smith. Why do people always put an 's' on the end of a company's name? The other day one of my female collages said she bought something from Etams. No, you bought something from Etam.
Smiths, Etams, Tescos, Safeways. Just something people do I guess.

GKP

15,099 posts

240 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all
Darkslider said:
Smiths, Etams, Tescos, Safeways. Just something people do I guess.
Poor people, you mean? Others use Waitrose.

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

254 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all
dibbly_dobbler said:


hehehehehehe
You'd think somebody, somewhere, would have a quiet word with the sign makers, wouldn't you...?

dibbly_dobbler

11,257 posts

196 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all


hehe I'm on a roll now !

dibbly_dobbler

11,257 posts

196 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all


hehe Ok thats enough of that !























see what I did there ?


Titan Simba

18,444 posts

193 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all
This thread is giving me heart pulpitations.

Dogwatch

6,223 posts

221 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all
Titan Simba said:
This thread is giving me heart pulpitations.
Preaching to the converted? laugh

Edited by Dogwatch on Tuesday 10th March 20:40

Einion Yrth

19,575 posts

243 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all
El Guapo said:
The grocer´s apostrophe has been around since the mid-1980s.
Strictly: I'd suggest that should be " grocers' ", since no single grocer is responsible.

paperbag

dibbly_dobbler

11,257 posts

196 months

Tuesday 10th March 2009
quotequote all
Dogwatch said:
Titan Simba said:
This thread is giving me heart pulpitations.
Preaching to the converted? laugh

Edited by Dogwatch on Tuesday 10th March 20:40
Oh very good ! clap

Prometheus

Original Poster:

367 posts

182 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
It's shoddy and lazy and infectious.


Dr_Gonzo

959 posts

224 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
mybrainhurts said:
dibbly_dobbler said:


hehehehehehe
You'd think somebody, somewhere, would have a quiet word with the sign makers, wouldn't you...?
I've often wondered, are sign makers generally thick or do they just write what they're told without questioning it? I saw two vans on the same day that both said "No Job To Small".

Mr Whippy

28,945 posts

240 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
dibbly_dobbler said:


hehehehehehe
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A790175

article say's said:
There seems to be some primordial urge in writers of shop signs to use it to denote plurals. This is manifestly wrong.
hehe

DickyC

49,549 posts

197 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
If ever there are moves to get rid of the apostrophe, which I think I can use correctly, can we also get rid of whom, which I've always had trouble with?

Sciroccology

29,908 posts

229 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
DickyC said:
can we also get rid of whom, which I've always had trouble with?
As in a laydee's reproductive organs?

DickyC

49,549 posts

197 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
Sciroccology said:
DickyC said:
can we also get rid of whom, which I've always had trouble with?
As in a laydee's reproductive organs?
Chateauneuf Du Pape! Have I fallen victim to a terminological inexactitude?

central

16,744 posts

216 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
PH thread said:
OFT bans Estate Agent's
;)

Skodaku

1,805 posts

218 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
GKP said:
Darkslider said:
Smiths, Etams, Tescos, Safeways. Just something people do I guess.
Poor people, you mean? Others use Waitrose.
laugh

ol

2,380 posts

207 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
Dr_Gonzo said:
I've often wondered, are sign makers generally thick or do they just write what they're told without questioning it? I saw two vans on the same day that both said "No Job To Small".
Exactly. We had a bus stop put up outside our school when I was a lad. The school was called 'Queen Elizabeth Grammar school,' yet they managed to spell it 'grammer'...

sublimatica

3,196 posts

253 months

Wednesday 11th March 2009
quotequote all
Those who continue to abuse the humble apostrophe in formal communication should be rounded up and posted to oblivion along with those who say 'myself' when they mean 'me', and 'yourself' when they mean 'you'. The majority of the police, call centre workers and estate agents would be included in this motley group.

'Certainly, sir. I'll post a form out to yourself and if you could post it back to ourselves as soon as possible please.'

I wish I didn't get so grumpy about this terminal decline of our language. But I do.