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?

Bloody hell those pesky Johnson’s have no idea what havoc they are causing and they haven’t even got the bloody cover yet !

Please believe me that apostrophe was spell check FFS !!!!!

@Crunchymum

' is only relevant if the name ends in an S

So if the surname is Johnson then Johnson's is correct. If the the surname is Johnsons then it should be Johnsons'

That is so wrong. Johnson is the surname. There are two of them -the Johnsons (plural of Johnson). Their house is the Johnsons’.

If it was a surname like James... Two of them make them the Jameses (plural of James). Their house is the Jameses’ house.

If it was a single person with a surname James... Mrs James. Her house is Mrs James’s house (modern grammar). Mrs James’ house is also acceptable in some style guides too (more old-fashioned but still widely seen).

When one makes personalised items to order, one uses the exact wording as provided by the customer.

There's no real consensus on whether this teacher is actually wrong anyway, though I'd say not.

The teacher is 100% wrong. There may be no consensus among a bunch of random MNers, but go and ask a bunch of English teachers or English-speaking linguists and you'll certainly find a consensus.

@lazylinguist

There's no real consensus on whether this teacher is actually wrong anyway, though I'd say not.

The teacher is 100% wrong. There may be no consensus among a bunch of random MNers, but go and ask a bunch of English teachers or English-speaking linguists and you'll certainly find a consensus.

Exactly. Wish I could like a post. The OP is correct, her teacher friend is not. (can I still do that?)

There's no real consensus on whether this teacher is actually wrong anyway, though I'd say not.

This thread is both hilarious and terrifying

But you are allowed to make a mistake now and then. Teachers are human too. Making a mistake whilst installing gas, and placing an apostrophe in the wrong place are hardly comparable!!

Plumbers are human as well - are they not allowed to make careless trade-related mistakes?!

I think there's a huge difference between dashing off a quick ephemeral note for somebody and making a display item for a paying customer, which is intended to be a treasured possession and to last a very long time.

@lazylinguist I agree, the key people to ask for this kind of thing are often MFL teachers (I think that's what you are? and it's what I was) as they really need to know and understand and be able to explain grammar.

I had a teacher friend post on Facebook about some stickers she had made for her class, like reward stickers for good work. They said things like “your a star” “your amazing” (god even writing that out on purpose is annoying!!)
She’s not a super close friend so I never said anything and she is really nice and I’m sure a great teacher and actually teaching in early years so I don’t think it will matter in terms of teaching the children, but I cringed incase she got some awkward feedback from parents!

Please believe me that apostrophe was spell check FFS !!!!!

Yeah yeah...

When one makes personalised items to order, one uses the exact wording as provided by the customer.

Would you not query it, though? I understand that what the customer asks for is what they get, but anybody who knows that you made it would always assume that you made the mistake.

To cover yourself and guard your reputation, the simplest, most diplomatic method would be to make the cushion say "Christmas at the Johnson's (sic)"

OP, in answer to your question as to whether you should tell your friend, could you do it along these lines....'oh dear, your clients have their grammar wrong on this one! I suppose you wouldn't really want to correct them though, would you?'. Saves face all round.

Ouch. That's embarrassing!

I'd have to tell her, I think.

If the surname is Johnson then Christmas at the Johnson’s is correct. Apostrophe for ownership of the Johnson house.

I have a friend who burns things onto wood. She is a bit hit and miss with her apostrophes. Another friend commissioned her to make a wall plaque, sent her the properly-punctuated text she wanted and a request that she copied it EXACTLY. When she received it, apostrophes had been added before every s.

She was too embarrassed to say anything so she thanked her and paid!

I think some people regard apostrophes as purely stylistic devices used to signify formal communication. Another friend sells scented “Wax’s” in her very formal sales posts on Facebook, but uses “waxes” in messages.

@longwayoff

You ommited a question mark at the end of your sentence. More attention to your own grammar before opining on other people.

Mate, I'm not making cushions and flogging them on Facebook...

@longwayoff - That's a bit smug given your spelling mistake!

@flaviaritt

What does this have to do with her teaching? Butt out!

Clearly it has a lot to do with it, if she's teaching the incorrect use of apostrophes! Sheesh...

@Benjispruce2

If the surname is Johnson then Christmas at the Johnson’s is correct. Apostrophe for ownership of the Johnson house.

Your reasoning is incorrect as several people have already demonstrated on this thread. The house is owned by more than one Johnson, therefore it's the house of the Johnsons, or the Johnsons' house.

Yes if more than one then Johnsons’ or Johnsones but the latter looks clumsy. I thought the op was arguing for no apostrophe.

@LaceyBetty

But one that is very confusing to me is my friend's family name of Moss. How would that work?

It would be the Mosses' (house). Double S followed by another S would look a bit odd.

OP is correct. "Johnson's" is not correct.

In the grand scheme of things going on who really cares

@timeforanewstart

In the grand scheme of things going on who really cares

Are you new to AIBU?