Pedant's blood boils in apostrophe outrage

[iklboo]

DS (Year 1) brought home a new reading book today. The back of the book proclaims the title is 'How The Elephant Got It's Trunk' .

My inner pedant (to be fair, it's not buried that deeply) was rather offended.

Can you correct it?

I'll get the Tippex out.

I think you should take more direct and assertive action.

This abuse is intolerable

I have once shared in pedants' corner the day I found out that Sainsburys were serial apostrophe abusers. I dragged some poor hapless manager around the entire store pointing out the rogue apostrophes. He gave me money to make me go away to compensate for my distress. Only a tenner, mind. However I am delighted to report that they've never done it since.

My thoughts are with you at this difficult time.

I must try that Quattro!

I may have mentioned on here that I spent some time scratching off the apostrophe from a stainless steel sign outside a pub, saying Menu's.

Surely you are morally obliged to organise a picket at the publishing headquarters. And boycott this disgusting pedler of ungrammatical filth! It is your duty as a pedant to protect our innocent children from this abomination.

I did once correct dd's list of reading goals in red biro. I was soooo embarrassed, I still squirm (and did apologise to her teacher - who hadn't written them anywyay, but photocopied them from an official NC guide, all the way from HMSO!).

You should definitely point it out.

they're supposed to be teaching our children

and in a book [faints]

Jasper - i once spent ages with my sleeve and spit wiping away a rogue apostrophe from a chalkboard outside a pub.
When I first wiped it, I assumed it was normal chalk, but no it was one of those chalk pens. It took me ages! and I think it's still like it!

That's shocking, you should definitely write to the publishers.

Once when I was working in educational publishing I got a call from a bookshop saying, 'Er - this new Guide to English Grammar we've just ordered in says Grammer on the title page.'

I should hasten to point out it wasn't a book I had worked on, but still. The shame!

the Church Mice by Graham Oakley has just been re-printed, facsimile style, and it's got a possessive "it's" on one page.

Which means the the originals must have had that too.

On the whiteboard outside a Y2 classroom today "we are writing about our journey's to school".
Utterly shocking.

Copied from elsewhere:

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A local secondary school has a sign "Students entrance" - which is a bit worrying. I'm happy for teachers to be interested in children, but not really entranced by them.

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I like this thread.

Quattro- I once spotted some bad apostrophisation in Sainsburys. It was at the checkout, advertising something to do with Gok Wan. I pointed it out - in a humerous way to the checkout operator but didn't get offered any £ In fact I was probably the laughing stock of the staff room later (particularly as I used to work there )

And Jasper there is a cafe in my town which has a menu board outside on the street. I have to wipe the ' out of breakfast's daily! I must call in and point it out instead. (and then make sure that I never eat there, they will probably spit in my food)

:)

DS loves to discuss apostrophes with me - weirdo x

I think that bad apostrophe spotting is almost as much fun as teaching people how to use hyphens properly. I think people at my workplace run away when they see me coming with a circular in my hand...

DS has a small board book called Lucy the Ladybird. All is fine until the last page, where you find the utterly ghastly "learn't"

It gives me the sad's, it does.

It gives me the sad's, to see these sort's of things, so it does.