Many Manon's, Lily's, Hazel's, Reuben's.

[marshmallowfinder]

I keep seeing plurals like these being apostrophised, especially on Mumsnet. For example, ' there are lots of little Lily's in my daughter's class.' It's driving me absolutely bonkers. Why is it seen everywhere? 😫

It's not just in names - it's the good old 'greengrocers' apostrophe' being trotted out "potato's, leek's and cabbage's". Probably all those greengrocers have gone out of business, what with supermarkets taking over and everything, and they've got to do something with all those unused apostrophes.

On the Middle East thread I have seen Gazans and Israeli's in the same sentence and I wonder WHY get one right and not the other, but...there we are.

(No, I am not talking about the actions or shoes of one Israeli person.)

The world is increasingly going to the dog’s, I fear. Whenever I see a chalkboard with misplaced apostrophe’s I feel an almost physical urge to correct them. DP just look’s at me & says ‘let it go…”

I wish we didn't let it go. I wish it could actually be appreciated to have these things pointed out. Apostrophe use is straightforward.

I even saw someone write the name Jame's once. 😭😭😭

I have seen Gazans and Israeli's in the same sentence and I wonder WHY get one right and not the other

I have noticed that it is quite common to put the spurious apostrophe in when the singular word ends with a vowel, and not when it ends with a consonant. (Another example I saw in my town: Chips, Kebabs, Burgers, Pizza's.) I assume the reasoning behind it is that people think if they write "Israelis" or "Pizzas" it might look like it should be pronounced "IsraeLISS" or "PizzASS." I don't really get why, but it does seem to have its own internal consistency.

With the names, I'd try to not get annoyed by it, because it might be that they see Lilys, Hazels and Reubens more as nouns.
Some names look like surnames if you add an s.

There used to be a shop near me called '* Bed's and Sofa's'

Some illiterates think any word that ends with an ‘S’ needs an apostrophe. They don’t seem to understand anything about the possessive and the plural x

Maybe they weren't taught it well, and maybe it wasn't reinforced well when they were taught it. I don't know how crammed the education curriculums/i are and whether there's time to consolidate.

They are nouns, proper nouns, and they obey the normal grammatical rules for plurals and possessives.

I’m a total purist. I also balk at CD’s, DVD’s, KC’s, IOU’s and any other acronym pluralised with an apostrophe.

It’s astonishing how many educated people just can’t accept that CDs is perfectly correct. Often people who get apostrophes right everywhere else.

DH bought us a lovely doormat saying Seasons Greeting's. (Actually he probably brought it knowing him).

@Chewbecca , you married him?

Because lots of people don't know what apostrophes are for. They just take pot luck and stick one where they think it might look right.

With the names, I'd try to not get annoyed by it, because it might be that they see Lilys, Hazels and Reubens more as nouns.

They are nouns. Why would that mean they need an apostrophe when they are plural?!

@ErrolTheDragon , I agree, but something like 'Lilys, Rubys, Daisys and Lucys' might look wrong to non-pedants

Is it meant to be ironic? I.E. this is so annoying let's wipe the dog poo off our shoes and on to this mat?

@ErrolTheDragon , I agree, but something like 'Lilys, Rubys, Daisys and Lucys' might look wrong to non-pedants

Well yes, they might. But what do you mean by 'I agree'? You said that Lily, Ruby, Daisy etc aren't nouns.

Autocorrect has a lot to answer for here. You're much more likely to be talking about a single Helen and her things than multiple girls called Helen. So it auto corrects the apostrophe for you

@AllProperTeaIsTheft , it doesn't matter.
If a random uses Lily's to mean more than one Lily, I choose not to get wound up about it.

Sometimes mistakes are just sloppiness, typos or autocorrect.

???

Pedants’ corner threads always go wrong when they get in active!

DH does have plenty of reedeeming features thankfully. And yes, wiping your mucky feet on an excess apostrophe is very pleasing. It’s been put away for another year. I am quite fond of it now as it always causes merriment when it comes out.

There was a woman in my area doing a roaring trade in Christmas decorations and PJs (and they weren’t cheap) with “Christmas at the Smith’s/Brown’s/“ etc, and families proudly wearing them, including some teachers!

But that WOULD be plural wouldn’t it as it’s their home?

Not sure why I've upset you or annoyed you @Chewbecca ? I wasn't thinking of your dh, I'm slightly baffled by your reply, maybe you're quoting the wrong person?

I'm responding to the op who has said that mumsnetters incorrectly place the apostrophe when referring to multiple girls with the same name. Eg Helen's instead of Helens.

Why would you think I'm thinking of your husband? I don't know the fellow

My phone does it, whether I like it or not. I have to back up an correct the most ridiculous plurals.

However in the case of names, is a group of children called Lilly actually a group of Lillies? The plural is no longer the name.

It should be plural possessive, so Christmas at the Smiths' with "house" implied.

Yes it would be plural. “The Brown’s” isn’t a plural though.

Did you mean “that WOULD be possessive”?

As above, it should be both plural and possessive.