There are apparently some people who think they’re supposed to insert an apostrophe before ANY USE OF THE LETTER “S” AT THE END OF A WORD. Including a PROPER NOUN.
(And by “proper noun,” I mean someone’s NAME.)
You assume the error in question was at least attempting a possessive, right? No! It wasn’t even a possessive!
There is just no excuse for this. How much longer until someone writes out my last name as “Mier’s”? Come to think of it, I think it’s already happened, but then at least it was someone trying to use the possessive.
If you’re overwhelmed by the rules of apostrophe usage, here’s a handy rule of thumb: when in doubt, don’t use an apostrophe. It’s not error-free, but it’s a step in the right direction. Better to neglect than to abuse.
If you like independent fiction and care about halfway-decent grammar, please check out my Challenge.
#1 by Tea & Sympathy on March 20, 2012 - 12:09 PM
The most frustrating thing is when people get your name wrong! thank god for online banking gone are the days of unusable cheques, miss-spelled. We love everything to do with proper english language and etiquette too. You might like our first instalment of our etiquette guide.
http://teaandsympathynewyork.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/how-to-marry-a-prince-a-british-etiquette-guide/
enjoy.x
#2 by jamiebmusings on March 20, 2012 - 7:53 PM
That drives me crazy too! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen stuff like that happen. Britney Spears’ mom was really bad with that- I remember seeing some posts she’d written and I just sat there in astonishment at the fact she was once a teacher.
#3 by alysonmiers on March 20, 2012 - 8:05 PM
Oh, dear. I taught English as a Peace Corps assignment. There’s a special kind of *facepalm* at seeing teachers mangle their native language.