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Pedants' corner
Original poster

I've seen the worst misuse of an apostophe ever...

55 replies

SoupDragon · 28/02/2009 21:51

On a war memorial in Croydon, carved in black granite with the letters highlighted with white, they have had to amend the incorrect use of IT'S to ITS.

Did someone not check the text before it was carved??

OP posts:
AnnVan · 01/03/2009 17:40

I used to go past a shop on my way to work each day advertising washer's dryer's cooker's etc. Good grief.

muggglewump · 01/03/2009 17:40

I saw a pack of sharp "knifes" yesterday. Admittedly I was in Poundland so perhaps to be expected.

cilitbang · 01/03/2009 18:31

flimflam was just about to bring up the panini thing - cafe close to us has a huge specially made sign which states that they do coffee, tea, sandwiches and panninys - drives me nuts. How many people must have seen it before it reached the sign on the door. As an Italian speaker I can enlighten somewhat....one is a panino and masculine plurals end in 'i' therefore 2 panini, no need for an s. That said, we use this word in English fairly regularly say for example like or salami (singular would be salame) so I don't understand people getting uptight about using an s on the end of panini or salami. I would just like to see it spelt correctly!

squeaver · 01/03/2009 18:37

did'nt - every day on Mumsnet.

is'nt - every day on Mumsnet.

Here here - every day on Mumsnet.

cilitbang · 01/03/2009 18:38

Sorry Jumpjockey, you got there before me re the panini/panino singular and plural thing. Sorry

permatired · 01/03/2009 18:48

Wahoo - does this mean I can stop being wound up about barbeque? - I always thought it was barbecue which could be abbreviated to BBQ (still don't get why barbeque ok as surely then s/be barbequeue (!) or pron. bar-bec-way - help, where's Lynn(e) Truss when you need her?)

Original poster
SoupDragon · 01/03/2009 20:40

I've never seen it spelt "barbecue"

OP posts:
Original poster
SoupDragon · 01/03/2009 20:40
Smile
OP posts:
lisalisa · 01/03/2009 20:42

I thought the worst example was in my 7 yr old's homework book today ( done by her not the teacher I hasten to add!).

" Sophies mother loves to coo'k".

I kid you not. The penny had not dropped with dd at all who simply and truthfully answered :

" Mrs so and so said to always put the apostrophe at the end of hte sentence".

popsycal · 01/03/2009 20:43

gras's
a nine year old

jumpjockey · 01/03/2009 20:44

Another great panino/i/a disgrace is a local caff advertising paninnies.

Dinning tables - we get that in our local free ads, also lots of lady bikes. I like to think they mean bicycles for ladies, but who knows, it could be a much more sinister sort of sale...

NotPlayingAnyMore · 01/03/2009 20:56

LOL @ "asparagu's" and "gras's"

HappyCrappy · 01/03/2009 21:00

jumpjockey - asparagu's - seriously?! flimflammum - panini would be the plural of panino.
What really hacks me off are letters from the school where the Head misuses "", eg this is a "Health and Safety" issue/ a big hello to all our "new Mums"/ some of our valued staff are "leaving" etc ad nauseam. My literate friend and I once counted 9 pairs of inappropriate inverted commas in one letter. Is it unreasonable to expect a Head Teacher to know better?

benfmsmum · 01/03/2009 21:05

The tenant in my flat wrote on facebook today that he was annoyed (not his use of word!!) that he wasn't aloud to see his children today!!

Lindenlass · 01/03/2009 21:15

I read in a menu at the festival hall once 'gateaux's' . Firstly, no need for an 's' as 'gateaux' is the plural, secondly, why the apostrophe? This was a nicely printed menu too!

excuse any typos/lack of caps - nak

flimflammum · 01/03/2009 21:27

Paninnies must be very silly Italian sandwiches.

AnnVan · 02/03/2009 09:03

Panninnies
MIL's DP is Jamaican. One evening he said to us in total shock 'I saw this cafe advertising two punani for a fiver. Punani! That's a BAD WORD!In Jamaica that's a bad word.'
When we asked him to spell it - 'P-A-N-I-N-I' We had to explain to him about paninis. MIL hasn't let him live it down.

purplemonkeydishwasher · 02/03/2009 09:20

in the window of our local chinese takeaway:

chinese cusine made right before you're very eye's!

Wuxiapian · 02/03/2009 09:38

Hairdressers called "Kerry's Kut's".

I shudder each time I drive past.

moondog · 02/03/2009 10:49

Hilarious Wux!!

PlumpRumpSoggyBaps · 02/03/2009 11:05

Okay I know it's not apostrophes, but it's been bugging me for years and I think it might be time to Let It Go.....

Layeezee. The bed company. How was that allowed to happen?

Always makes me think of egg-laying. Not something I want to contemplate while sleeping/being pestered in bed.

Or bricks and brickies.

GooseyLoosey · 02/03/2009 11:12

Paninis is something that dh gets very excited about. "Panini" is the plural and therefore adding an "s" to it, is just plain wrong. A single one of those bread thingies would be a "panino".

StealthPolarBear · 02/03/2009 11:16

Maybe we should just ban all apostrophes for a year and then once misuse has been driven out of peoples's heads, start from scratch!

moondog · 02/03/2009 11:23

Good idea Stealth.Blank slate and all that.

DaphneMoon · 02/03/2009 11:35

Our local shop has a blackboard outside advertising various things, one of the items is "Cans of Larger"! . My DP said the other day he regularly passes a bridge which someone had sprayed "Peas" on it! It has been like that for years, suddenly someone has changed it to "Give Peas a chance" I work with several guys who use the wrong spelling of words for example, lose instead of loose, aloud instead of allowed etc. I blame spell check half the time, they use that and it inserts the wrong spelling.