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The misplaced apostrophe epidemic

post #1 of 51
10/18/10 at 11:23pm
Thread Starter 
Everywhere I look I see apostrophized plurals. Today I saw a painted, permanent sign advertising "Condo's". A Kmart ad claims that "critic's have spoken". And it's not limited to plurals: I saw a sticker on a window, a piece of official Brinks Security Company signage, that read "Only Brink's has combination to safe". What the hell is going on here? I've had a stick up my ass w/r/t grammar for as long as I can remember but I've never noticed these errors being made so frequently as I have recently.
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post #2 of 51
10/18/10 at 11:32pm
That is pretty egregious, especially Brinks vs. Brink's. The only confusion I've seen recently is Barclays vs. Barclay's. You should write to your congressman!
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post #3 of 51
10/18/10 at 11:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dusty View Post
Everywhere I look I see apostrophized plurals. Today I saw a painted, permanent sign advertising "Condo's". A Kmart ad claims that "critic's have spoken". And it's not limited to plurals: I saw a sticker on a window, a piece of official Brinks Security Company signage, that read "Only Brink's has combination to safe". What the hell is going on here? I've had a stick up my ass w/r/t grammar for as long as I can remember but I've never noticed these errors being made so frequently as I have recently.

I don't remember ever not seeing these misplaces quotes.

http://www.pri.org/business/social-e...typos2398.html
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post #4 of 51
10/19/10 at 1:59am
I will make this my personal vendetta just for you, Y'know cause your special and all. Yeah I agree gfreeman.
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post #5 of 51
10/19/10 at 2:03am
Yeah, that bugs me almost as much as people who DOUBLE SPACE AFTER PERIODS when typing on a computer. You aren't supposed to do that shit — that's a vestige of the typewriter days when every letter was the same width. Now they aren't, so fucking single space.
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post #6 of 51
10/19/10 at 2:27am


Somewhat related, when referring to bathrooms, I'll write "mens room" or "womens room". I don't know why, but I can swear it's customary.
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post #7 of 51
10/19/10 at 6:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gfreeman View Post
Yeah, that bugs me almost as much as people who DOUBLE SPACE AFTER PERIODS when typing on a computer. You aren't supposed to do that shit "” that's a vestige of the typewriter days when every letter was the same width. Now they aren't, so fucking single space.

I learned to type on a typewriter. So I'll double space after the period all I want. Just for you.


Where is the damn carriage return on this thing?
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post #8 of 51
10/19/10 at 10:39am
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post #9 of 51
10/19/10 at 10:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by naprava View Post
I will make this my personal vendetta just for you, Y'know cause your special and all. Yeah I agree gfreeman.

Quote:
Originally Posted by naprava View Post
Y'know cause your special and all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by naprava View Post
cause your special

Quote:
Originally Posted by naprava View Post
your

Hee.
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post #10 of 51
10/19/10 at 12:30pm
Misused apostrophes bug me too.

I do like double spaces after sentences. They make paragraphs look nicer and easier to read.
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post #11 of 51
10/19/10 at 12:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIdler View Post
Hee.

This one seems to be happening more and more, too. I suppose all the apostrophes that should be in "you're" have to go somewhere, so they migrate toward plural's.
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post #12 of 51
10/19/10 at 12:45pm
I find this annoying as well.

Misused quotation marks are similarly bothersome.
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post #13 of 51
10/19/10 at 1:11pm
The one that gets to me even more is the usage of apostrophes with numbers and abbreviations/acronyms (e.g., 1980's, DVD's). I believe this may have been acceptable at one point and for that reason people continue to do it (similar to two spaces following a period).
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post #14 of 51
10/19/10 at 1:24pm
The epidemic has a name - the greengrocers' apostrophe.
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post #15 of 51
10/19/10 at 2:32pm
This is nothing compared to the number of idiots I see on Facebook who don't know the difference between "their" and "they're".
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