To tell teacher friend about grammar error?

[ImaSababa]

A friend of mine is a primary school teacher, and is making and selling cushions on Facebook. Lovely. The problem is, they're riddled with mistakes, such as "Christmas at the Johnson's" when surely is should be "Johnsons'".

Should I tell her?

I think we need to see how many members of the Johnson family are named on the house deeds before we can definitively make a decision on the place of the apostrophe.

It wouldn't make the slightest difference! Nobody ever refers to an individual member of a family as 'The Johnson', ,'The Price' or 'The O'Connor', so it would literally never be correct to say "I'm going to spend Christmas at the Johnson's/Price's/O'Connor's".

Plural version would be Christmas with the Johnsons.

Yes but that's a different construction altogether. By using 'with' instead of 'at', you are changing it so that you're talking about being with the people, not at the residence which belongs to them. So the possessive apostrophe is no longer needed.

Seriously, it's amazing how many people feel qualified to say what is correct here when they clearly don't have the faintest clue about grammar! I don't judge people for not being knowledgeable about grammar - most people aren't. I do judge people for lecturing others about grammar when they don't quite obviously don't know what the hell they're talking about!

In some cases there's some leeway in terms of style, register, local dialect etc. I'm afraid in this case there is no room for opinion. The OP is correct. Her friend is not.

@lazylinguist But have you met big Mick Johnson? He suffers a little from imposter syndrome and lack of self-esteem but makes up for it by insisting on all and sundry referring to him as The Johnson or he refuses to answer? Nah, I was just being facetious.

But have you met big Mick Johnson? He suffers a little from imposter syndrome and lack of self-esteem but makes up for it by insisting on all and sundry referring to him as The Johnson or he refuses to answer?

He (and his attitude) single-handedly sounded the death knell for Brookside

@lazylinguist is absolutely correct.
The only way it could ever be Johnson’s would be if was an entirely different sentence, not involving a plural name - Christmas at Mr and Mrs Johnson’s. There are two of them, but the name itself isn’t plural.

Surely in that context, assuming that there is more than one Johnson, it should be ‘at the Johnsons’ (since their house is implied.)

But - with the Johnsons - wherever it was going to be.

If there was just one Johnson, the apostrophe would go before the s.

And yes, I do think teachers, perhaps esp.. primary ones, should have SPAG errors pointed out. IMO they should not be making them in the first place. How are children supposed to get these things right if their teacher can’t?
I wouldn’t be so bothered in the case of e.g. a maths teacher at senior school level.

Reading this thread whilst sipping my tea from my favourite mug....

Sometimesonly . Maybe Mick 'The Johnson' is taking a leaf out of The Donald's book, albeit with his surname rather than his first name. I love your mug. I need one like that as my school mug.

OP:
Why would you want her to correct something that is already correct? The sentence implies possession so the apostrophe is required. It might have been worded more formally as “Christmas at the Johnson’s house / home / dwelling etc.

@Sometimesonly

Reading this thread whilst sipping my tea from my favourite mug....

Ah. What a lovely mug!

JaneGrey - have you read the whole thread? All the linguists on here have (repeatedly and in avariety of ways) explained why it's wrong. Also I'm sincerely hoping you meant 'What an amusingly ironic mug!'

@Janegrey333

OP: Why would you want her to correct something that is already correct? The sentence implies possession so the apostrophe is required. It might have been worded more formally as “Christmas at the Johnson’s house / home / dwelling etc.

Aaargh no! As Lazylinguist and do many have said, that makes no sense!

The filmstar's house - house belonging to the filmstar (maybe the only one you know)
The Johnson's house - house belonging to the Johnson - someone's penis. An unlikely possessor of a house, and not someone I would be visiting.

@Janegrey333
The OP is right. Yes, it’s possessive, but it’s plural possessive, not singular possessive.

@clary.

I am enjoying this thread no end! I also really want the OP to return and tell us what she plans to do....where are you OP?

@Janegrey333

OP: Why would you want her to correct something that is already correct? The sentence implies possession so the apostrophe is required. It might have been worded more formally as “Christmas at the Johnson’s house / home / dwelling etc.

This post had GOT to be a wind up?!

@Somethingsnappy I'd love one of those mugs in an a sarcastic, ironic way.

Sorry, attributed the mug to the wrong person @Somethingsnappy @Sometimesonly

Do we think that some people defending the friend assume that because there IS an apostrophe it is correct? Not realising that the placement of the apostrophe is the problem. That's certainly the case on my FB feed where the debate is still going strong after 3 days!

@lazylinguist

JaneGrey - have you read the whole thread? All the linguists on here have (repeatedly and in avariety of ways) explained why it's wrong. Also I'm sincerely hoping you meant 'What an amusingly ironic mug!'

Mea culpa! Where was my head earlier! Yes, of course, it’s a possessive plural - and of course it should be “...the Johnson’s’’ 🙃

I love the mug because it makes me laugh - as do teachers’ mugs with the following:
“I never make mistrakes.”

Thank you, autocorrect.

THE JOHNSONS’.

🙄

I don't think the accuracy/best intentions on this thread are helped by autocorrect ....

l’d love one of those mugs in an a sarcastic, ironic way.*

You sound like Prince Louis!

@kitnkaboodle

I don't think the accuracy/best intentions on this thread are helped by autocorrect ....

Haha

I am a primary school teacher. The OP is correct.
'Christmas at the Johnson's' is short for 'Christmas at the Johnson's House.' Having the apostrophe before the s implies that the house belongs to the Johnson, which of course is complete nonsense.

Christmas this year is at the home of the Johnsons. Therefore it is the Johnsons' house.

To those who have said it doesn't really matter that she's a teacher...Would you want your child learning how to use an apostrophe from someone who clearly doesn't know how to use them? It really is a very simple concept if you teach it properly. Far too many 'professional' signs and items incorrectly punctuated these days. Why do so many people think that you use an apostrophe to make a plural???

I used to make and sew personalised gifts. I would ALWAYS double check the spelling of names that I was sent if I thought there had been an error. For example, the name Lily. I would often be asked to personalise the item with the name Lilly. I would check with the customer - is it definitely spelt with a double L, rather than just one, like the flower?

Having the apostrophe before the s implies that the house belongs to the Johnson, which of course is complete nonsense.

To be strictly fair, it doesn’t belong to either of them...

To be strictly fair, it doesn’t belong to either of them... Huh?

It’s a joke - or it was - centred on the fact that the infamous Johnsons live at No 10. Do I really need to spell it out further? And yes, I realise they are not married yet so not actually the Johnsons.