Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to quietly correct this?

190 replies

forgotmypassagain · 23/07/2024 10:44

I want to preface this with saying at this juncture I have not uttered a word.

Through my DDs I am friendly with one of the school mums (sit with her at parties, message about the kids, take them to soft play together).
She’s recently set up a business…let’s call it The Happy Faces but on all her promotional things she’s put an apostrophe in faces so the the business is called “The Happy Face’s”…

I suppose I’m asking if anyone would point this out to her? The type of business it is lends itself to correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. Mine is by no means perfect btw and I’m asking more from the point of view that she is absolutely lovely and i would like to see her succeed and wouldn’t want people to be put off the business by incorrect punctuation in the business name.

OP posts:
jackstini · 23/07/2024 12:55

Tell her - but agree give her an 'out'

"Not sure what agency you are using for social media but they've made a few errors. Just wanted you to know as overall the business looks great"

ByFlakyHazelTiger · 23/07/2024 12:54

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

HappierTimesAhead · 23/07/2024 12:53

Sunshineafterthehail · 23/07/2024 10:59

One of the dm's at our school has a business with a shop. .
Laura & Janes card shop.
*not real names..
Surely Laura & Jane's?

😬 Ooooh, it just feels uncomfortable.

SnakesandKnives · 23/07/2024 12:52

Tena Fridays 😂

A friend used to have a business called Prestige Paint. Barclays set his account up, including the card and chequebook, as ‘Prestidge Paint’. Apparently they really couldn’t understand why he wanted it changed and a new card and chequebook and he had to close it and get an account with Lloyds instead!

ByFlakyHazelTiger · 23/07/2024 12:51

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

ByFlakyHazelTiger · 23/07/2024 12:50

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

MaltipooMama · 23/07/2024 12:49

purpleme12 · 23/07/2024 10:50

Oh god this is so awkward

It really really grates on me and I don't buy from businesses who can't get their name right with apostrophes

Totally this!

You must tell her though as loads of people will notice and it may well cost her business. Agree with other posters with the line of "oh looks like your autocorrect has incorrectly changed the word Faces to Face's, just thought I better give you a heads up in case you haven't spotted it yet!"

Maybe tell her over text so you don't have the awkwardness of trying to explain it if she doesn't understand it straightaway!

ciderhouserules · 23/07/2024 12:48

SeeSeeRider · 23/07/2024 12:05

They are awfully common on MN - your/you're, there/their/they're, loose/lose, its/it's, and my pet hate: 'of' for 'have'. But it is said to be cruel to mention them.

Edited
Show quote history

I was once on the mailing list for a local company (not a small one, either) which was littered with 'are' instead of 'our'. As in, 'are ingredients are top-quality'. I emailed to point it out, and the reply was that they were writing it quickly, and didn't preview. No, I'm sorry, no-one writes 'are' instead of 'our', even quickly, unless they really don't know the difference.

I also worked in a school and got an email from the HEADTEACHER with 'could of' in it. Again, he cited speed. Again, no one writes 'could of' when they (should) know it is grammatically incorrect. It's not auto-correct.

I don't even read posts where the poster uses 'of' instead of have, let alone use a company's services.

Sallyh87 · 23/07/2024 12:43

I wouldn’t tell her, she will have people who are closer to her to inform her. Particularly if there are loads of errors.

purpleme12 · 23/07/2024 12:42

Turophilic · 23/07/2024 12:41

Are you quite sure?
Not a Friday offer for women-of-a-certain-age?

Show quote history

Yes quite sure 😂

Lifeomars · 23/07/2024 12:41

Point it out as a typo, that will help her save face and in the longer term make her business look more professional. Personally, it is one of the things that makes me cringe. My spelling and punctuation are far from perfect but I always double check things I have written in a professional capacity and will get someone else to cast their eye over it too.

Turophilic · 23/07/2024 12:41

purpleme12 · 23/07/2024 12:09

One business I saw would put on Facebook
'Tena Fridays' when she meant 'Tenner Fridays'

Are you quite sure?
Not a Friday offer for women-of-a-certain-age?

purpleme12 · 23/07/2024 12:38

JudgeJ · 23/07/2024 12:35

Then if possession is the only thing being considered it should be Laura's and Jane's Card Shop, indicating it belongs to both of them but that's also a very clumsy construction.

Show quote history

No it should still be Laura and Jane's card shop

zingally · 23/07/2024 12:35

I would tell her.

I once did the same thing for a friend setting up a personalised stationery company. She'd spelt it "stationary"... It's a common mistake, but I noticed it straight away. It's "e for envelopes" and "a for absence of movement."

Turophilic · 23/07/2024 12:35

Kta7 · 23/07/2024 10:52

All businesses or just one where that sort of attention to detail is required?

Show quote history

Most of them, unless I have a good reason to ignore it like a glowing personal recommendation.

It indicates a lack of attention to detail (or at least getting things looked over) that I wouldn’t want to see in other areas of work

JudgeJ · 23/07/2024 12:35

purpleme12 · 23/07/2024 12:32

Well ok but that's using it as an adjective.
Your call if you're naming the shop.
We were just talking about where to put apostrophes

Show quote history

Then if possession is the only thing being considered it should be Laura's and Jane's Card Shop, indicating it belongs to both of them but that's also a very clumsy construction.

purpleme12 · 23/07/2024 12:32

And yes Laura's and Jane's wouldn't be right. I hadn't said that was right

purpleme12 · 23/07/2024 12:32

JudgeJ · 23/07/2024 12:26

I would call it The Laura and Jane Card Shop, Laura's and Jane's sounds clumsy.

Show quote history

Well ok but that's using it as an adjective.
Your call if you're naming the shop.
We were just talking about where to put apostrophes

TheChosenTwo · 23/07/2024 12:31

Cheeesus · 23/07/2024 10:54

Are there a many businesses where attention to detail isn’t needed? Whatever it is you need them to turn up on time, charge the right amount etc?

Show quote history

I was thinking about this too.
Something like a manual trade a bit of poor spelling or grammar wouldn’t necessarily bother me because I would expect their level of expertise lay elsewhere. For something remotely education or IT based yes it would bother me and I’d be less likely to use the business because if a basic admin error has been made I’d think their attention to detail was perhaps poor too. Especially if it is a highly saturated field it would be easy to discount one with a glaring error.

pictoosh · 23/07/2024 12:27

forgotmypassagain · 23/07/2024 12:03

I just had a good look through the Facebook page and the posts are littered with errors like “If your looking for somone to….” instead of “you’re”. I feel like the name is the tip of the iceberg.

Yep. It's hardly worth mentioning the error in the name with all that going on.
At this point, I'd leave her to it and say nothing.

JudgeJ · 23/07/2024 12:26

purpleme12 · 23/07/2024 12:19

It does if you read the previous posts she was replying to

I would call it The Laura and Jane Card Shop, Laura's and Jane's sounds clumsy.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 23/07/2024 12:25

‘I don’t know whether you’ve noticed but there’s a typo - that apostrophe in ‘Faces’. Probably wretched autocorrect again!’

FalderalderaldoSittingintheWater · 23/07/2024 12:24

UpThereForThinkingDownThereForDancing · 23/07/2024 11:12

'oh no! The printers have put in a dodgy apostrophe... Don't let them charge you to correct it. Good luck with the launch, so exciting!'

Why blame the printer?

JudgeJ · 23/07/2024 12:24

Gracelet · 23/07/2024 10:46

I would tell her. Just say something like "Oh no, have you noticed this error?"

I would tell her. As a consumer I would never use a business where that kind of simple error was made, I would consider the owner to be careless with their sign and probably careless with other things. My butcher years ago would ask me to have a look around at his notices!

FalderalderaldoSittingintheWater · 23/07/2024 12:22

SeeSeeRider · 23/07/2024 11:03

But autocorrect (at least on my Android phone) offers the choice of what you originally typed plus some suggestions. You have to pick something. If you pick the wrong thing that's you, not the phone.

Show quote history

If you don't know the grammar, punctuation or spelling, relying on autocorrect is bonkers because you don't know which is the correct one

Swipe left for the next trending thread