The misplaced apostrophe epidemic

[dusty]

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 ****** 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.

 

[AgentQ]

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!

 

[tagutcow]

Originally Posted by dusty

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 ****** 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

 

[naprava]

I will make this my personal vendetta just for you, Y'know cause your special and all. Yeah I agree gfreeman.

 

[rennavate]

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 **** — that's a vestige of the typewriter days when every letter was the same width. Now they aren't, so ******* single space.

 

[tagutcow]

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.

 

[Milpool]

Originally Posted by gfreeman

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 **** "” that's a vestige of the typewriter days when every letter was the same width. Now they aren't, so ******* 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?

 

[zippyh]

 

[TheIdler]

Originally Posted by naprava

I will make this my personal vendetta just for you, Y'know cause your special and all. Yeah I agree gfreeman.

Originally Posted by naprava

Y'know cause your special and all.

Originally Posted by naprava

cause your special

Originally Posted by naprava

your

Hee.

 

[Andrew V.]

Misused apostrophes bug me too.

I do like double spaces after sentences. They make paragraphs look nicer and easier to read.

 

[MrGimpy]

Originally Posted by TheIdler

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.

 

[MrG]

I find this annoying as well.

Misused quotation marks are similarly bothersome.

 

[JohnGalt]

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).

 

[Tangfastic]

The epidemic has a name - the greengrocers' apostrophe.

 

[runner-guy]

This is nothing compared to the number of idiots I see on Facebook who don't know the difference between "their" and "they're".