My number one pet peeve, the thing that sticks in my craw harder than anything else, has a name. How I’d never heard it or been told about it until now is one of life’s great mysteries.
It Keeps Pulling Me Back In
I said I had given up on the misused apostrophe and perhaps I have. But it hasn’t stopped bugging me. I don’t think a decade of therapy could even make me simply ignore it when I see it.
And thanks to Scott Simpson, I now know its name: Greengrocer’s Apostrophe.
The term was coined in the 1990s after it became commonplace to see the unneeded apostrophe on signs written by sellers of produce. You’ve seen them. Not just at grocers but banks, on flyers and in ads. They make my skin want to crawl off my body, grab a pen, and rewrite those signs properly.
It had a name all along. And someone to blame! Although, who taught the grocers – or rather, didn’t teach them? Because the phenomenon seems to have blown up in a single decade. But it continues to this day.
Fighting AI and Predictive Text
It takes a bit of knowledge and effort to get it right because predictive text in smartphones sometimes gets it wrong. No matter which it’s/its I want to use, my phone will try to convince me that “it’s” is correct. People are in a hurry. Grammar is hard. And there goes the apostrophe, sticking its nose in where it’s not needed.
I don’t judge you if you use it wrong but I will notice it. I can’t help it. I’m like a dog that’s trained to sniff out drugs from luggage. Even when they’re retired, they’re going to give your suitcase a once-over just for old time’s sake.
Damn you, green grocers! We appreciate your fresh apples and lettuce but lay off all the apostrophes, will you please?
Oh Lisa , I chuckled when I saw this because just the other day I noticed in an email to YOU, I never noticed until sent I did that. It’s Michaels not Michael’s. I have added it to my dictionary. It went unnoticed by me (but not you probably 🤣) in all the excitement of your future fun investment. Oooops!
Carolyn
Rest assured I didn’t notice because that’s one of those brand names I am never certain about! Like Tim Hortons. 😉
Oh goodie! 😊
This is something I would have never known or even considered. To me green grocers is simply a company name.
Speaking of punctuation what I hate is when I receive a document where the author has used the graphic symbol for punctuation verses the actual symbol. So I hear beep beep beep graphic 169 beep beep graphic 172 beep beep beep graphic 192 etc.
FYI the beeps are what I’m saying while trying to listen.
I’ve read that it’s better not use punctuation at all when writing to someone who is blind and uses a reader. Would that be even better? Would the reader still read the word don’t if it was written as dont, without the apostrophe?
Never heard that about not using punctuation. Actually we can have our screen readers read all, most some or none of the punctuation. Punctuation also helps the screen reader pause at the appropriate time. I will insert blank lines and use white space to break up paragraphs to improve the phrasing of the screen reader when it speaks.
I had my sight, so I still very much approach things the way I did back then and not the way many within the blind community does. So I might be the wrong person to advise or ask.
The unnecessary apostrophe is one of my many grammar pet peeves too. But my top one has to be when people use the word less when they they should use the word fewer. I control myself when in the company of people who do it, but if I hear it from someone on TV or radio I’ll shout at them fewer! Fewer!! FEWER!!!
Oh yes! I had a voice audition come in recently that misused less over and over again. They should have used fewer instances of the word less!
I do judge.
Along the same lines as your fixation . . .
A neighbour is doing renovations. A pile of lumber arrived recently and was left on their lawn.
Their address was spraypainted in red on the wood. No doubt that’s so it gets to the right house.
But here’s the thing: There were quotes around the address. So it was rendered like this:
“123 Smith Street”
Why the hell are those quote marks there? It’s bugging the hell out of me.
I obviously need professional help, too . . .
Oh no – now I need to know!!! 😲