Grammar Police v Wedding Party *MNHQ tweaked title at OP's request*

[WillLiveLifeAgain]

I'm usually OK with grammar but this one has me scratching my head. Probably lack of sleep (not over this).

Went to a wedding at the weekend. They had one of those neon signs with their surname but added an apostrophe. So it said

The Smith's (name changed)

Shouldn't it have said The Smiths? There were four of them including children. Not one belonging to something/someone.

I'm very happy to be proved wrong. I'm not a grammar nazi but would hope something like that would have been right?

I know this is AIBU so disclaimer obviously what matters is the happy marriage of two loving people not an apostrophe.

I read it as the Smith's family (family implied). The family belonging to the Smiths

I thought it would be the Atkinses', ie the dog belonging to all the Atkins family. More than one family member would be Atkinses plural surely? It's the Atkins family's dog or the Atkinses' dog.

Don’t you think it’s more of a colloquial term than fascist ideology, white supremacism and genocide? But being all offended about the albeit ill used term is more important.

They probably got it on the cheap. An online thing where it just produces exactly what you write and gets shoved in a box for posting. A lot of these things have disclaimers that they’ll print what you enter and it won’t be checked before production.

No, the family does not belong to the Smiths, more than one Smith is just the Smith family or the Smiths. It would be the Smith family's ( family is singular) dog or the Smiths' ( more than one Smith so plural) dog.

I should have or is it of?

Yes, of course it’s wrong, but it seems to explain a lot of the misplaced apostrophes.

And we think it’s wrong now, but 50 years down the line it will probably be a genuine rule, just as “different to” is now standard, and didn’t the OED say effectively that “literally “ does mean “metaphorically “?

I would have said the "Smith" wedding myself.

It's ok I'm ducking down right now.

There’s a taxi company near me whose sign proudly proclaims “Bobs Car’s”

They don't know which is right so they're covering all bases?

I used to have a boss who couldn't write a word ending in the letter S without randomly putting an apostrophe either before or after it. Or both, in some memorable instances.

It was a 50/50 chance really...

I've a friend who in our local pub (who were a heller for tomatoe, potatoe, chip's and pea's) took to dipping his finger in his pint and surruptitiously correcting the blackboard.

Hmm might open a stationary shop with pen’s in the title 😂🙈

I saw a photo that my local tattooist uploaded the other day of one she'd just done that said 'know you're worth'. I actually couldn't believe that neither her or the person having it done thought to just double check that it was right

If the person ever notices, it can be easily fixed if they go back to the tattooist and get ‘it’ added at the end!

I can’t work out if you’re being amusing or thick 🤣

Me too.
Got a sign with our name on it for Christmas one year and it has an apostrophe in it so it sots in a.
cupboard now cos l can't look at it!

Sometimes the right answer just looks wrong, so you have to find a workaround. My surname ends -ses, and although the correct plural would be -seses, that's just too many eseseseses, so I usually write 'the Finkses family' or similar.

Just make sure you choose the right font so it doesn't look like penis!

The grocer's apostrophe strikes again.

Where I am (Australia) it's a common mistake to leave off the genitive apostrophe, too. It's reaching a point where grammar standards are just sliding.

I received an email at work from Mr Richard's. I really hope that was an autocorrect issue.

The inscription on a grave in our local churchyard " Gone but not forgotton".

Les Smith just sounds like an old bloke who likes drinking at the pub with his best mate Les Miserables

A mobile shop - maybe a re-purposed ice cream van - would be even better