One of the most blatant grammatical horrors that sends any editor or proofreader into a tizzy, is the “Grocer’s Apostrophe’ – using ‘s to form the plural of words such as ‘apple’ (apple’s) ‘banana’ (banana’s) and so on and named such due to its widespread use (misuse) by these eponymous traders.
Seeing such an abuse of the (already much-abused) apostrophe causes great distress and much grumpy mumbling amongst those of us who strive, against the odds, to maintain standards in English writing.
But it is not only grocers who perpetrate this language vandalism. Last week, driving along in the Blue Mountains, I had to take a second look and then a third, at this roadside sign (see below). How could that have slipped past the combined grammar knowledge of the marketing, creative and printing teams?? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Seeing such an abuse of the (already much-abused) apostrophe causes great distress and much grumpy mumbling amongst those of us who strive, against the odds, to maintain standards in English writing.
But it is not only grocers who perpetrate this language vandalism. Last week, driving along in the Blue Mountains, I had to take a second look and then a third, at this roadside sign (see below). How could that have slipped past the combined grammar knowledge of the marketing, creative and printing teams?? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
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