Pedants sign here.

[lionheart]

Is this new topic an attempt to contain the rampant pedantry that exists on MN?

Discuss.

RETRACT! RETRACT!

so I'm a PIT GIT?

I'm a pedant, can I join in? And what do pasties have to do with it, IG?

Have we done loose instead of lose yet? i hate that one!

Have said this before but there is a sign near Glossop advertising:

Bed's
Sofa's
and
Mattress'es

desi

I am a bit of a pedant but still get things wrong, especially where typing is concerned for some reason. Will watch the threads with interest, loved the links already posted.

ROFL UnquietDad. I wonder what was going through the writer's poor tortured mind as he/she composed the sign. I imagine them seeing that 'mattress' heading their way with an feeling of impending doom.

Still, at least whoever it was knew that 'mattress' is spelled with a double t (two ts? . Argh. It's a minefield out here).

There was an entire thread on MN once about whether photo's was right or wrong (IIRC, the general consensus was that it was wrong).

IG - no offence meant - a badly worded rant methinks

I think that photo's is wrong. 'Photo' is commonly accepted as a word in its own right so the apostrope is not there to indicate a contraction. That would be the same as writing 'bus or 'phone which used to be common but are now outdated.

For what it's worth, I agree. No one writes photo' (i.e. with terminal apostrophe to indicate abbreviation) so equally photo's is wrong.

Well, I shall continue to write photo's to indicate that I've dropped the 'graph'. It can't be wrong because it's always been right before

Photos looks a bit weird to me. It looks like a Greek island.

I always write 'photos'. I guess the problem with it is that it looks as though it should be pronounced 'photoss'.

I wonder why it is not 'photoes' -- by analogy which 'potatoes'.

Since this is pedants' corner, perhaps we should just call them 'photographic simulacra'

...or possibly 'photographs' threadworm?

TC, No offence taken!!!!

There are a hell of a lot of editors/priofers outn there who are unbale to spell and who havemn't got a basic command of punctuation and grammar.

I have seen some shocking stuff that's been let throiugh before.

IG -

The whole photos/photoes thing is the same as the pianos/stereos/ratios versus mangoes/potatoes/dingoes mess. As far as I know there is no rule (at least that is what the scheme said when I got to that page whilst teaching year 5) but I guess there could be a rule if you look at the etymology.

If you write photo' then photo's would be correct but I'd say that it is so out-dated that people would presume that you have misused an apostrophe. And I don't think that the sign referred to earlier has the apostrophe to show a contraction. Or am I just being cynical?

I like it here. I spend a considerable part of my working day complaining about the misuse of punctuation. I hate my job-sharer's excess use of exclamation marks at the end of every sentence! She doesn't know how to use apostrophes either!

Photo's may seem outdated to some younger MNers, perhaps, but it cannot be considered incorrect. It is correct, but it's understandable if you do not wish to use it.

Similarly, many words have gone out of fashion, but once invented, a word cannot be uninvented.

It's definitely an 'agree to disagree' grammatic example.

HuwEdwards, you should be thankful it doesn't read:

'Fish, Chips and Pee's'

I was educated in Coventry - it's frightful!

Is this sign in Fishy Moores by chance?

I particularly enjoyed the menu in a local pub today which read:
------
Sandwiches: £4.95
Baguettes: £5.95
Children: £2.95
Pensioners: £3.50 (Thursdays only)
------

I presume that they get their pensioners caught fresh off the van on Thursdays!

hehe at photo's

no, I suppose it isn't incorrect. but surely it's hopelessly old fashioned even to old timers like you, desiderata?

I don't see it that way.

But if you want to use the outdated argument, perhaps we should ditch the apostrophe in 'shouldn't', as I can't remember the last time someone said 'I should not do this ...'

I'm all for that (losing the apostrophe in shouldnt). but it looks wrong without. maybe we should all start using the Northern pronunciation and write "shoont" instead. much better.

otoh people do still say things like "he should not have done that" when the "not" is emphatic.

Desiderata, out of interest, If you use an apostrophe for photo' then do you use one for 'phone?

Personally, I am an apostrophe freak. Eats, Shoots and Leaves is my Bible and I become quite militant about good punctuation and grammar. I often add apostrophes where they are missing (e.g. film posters). However, I think that when a word becomes commonly accepted in its own right (e.g. photo and phone), then the apostrophe should be dropped.