I know I'm being silly, but the sign above my new house is really getting to me.

[Belgianchocolates]

My hands are itching to get out a pot of black paint and repaint the name of the cottage.

It's something along the line of 'Lucy's Cottage', but the sign says "Lucys Cottage"

Ohh it reminds me of a house on the way to work. It has a sign saying "lillac cottage" and then a lovely little illustration of some lilac. On days when im feeling really unreasonable I want to knock on the door and point out the spelling mistake, but I dont think the owners would appreciate it!

Perhaps Lucys (pron. Loosis) is a figure from classical antiquity, and the cottage has been named in his honour.

Surely the plural of Lucy is Lucies.

If you join the history society and find that it used to be the home of a peasant or farm labourer then it can still be a cottage, it's only usually one storey.

How old is your cottage, Belgianchocolates? Apostrophes weren't introduced until the late C17th, and were used as randomly as they are today until the Victorians tried to smarten them up a bit, so you may have an example of historical quaintness, not declining standards.

Nice idea, but somehow I doubt the paintwork has survived since the 17th century.

There is a pub near us called 'Robin Hoods Retreat' sans apostrophe. I always say, "Do they?" as I go past it. Perhaps 'Lucys cottage' is a statement about two girls called Lucy who like to meet in a public lavatory to engage in . . .?

Oh dear! I hate to break it to you guys, especially you, PuppyMonkey, but take a look at this. Basically what they're saying is that correct grammar is too much effort for some people so we all have to "dumb down" to their level. What is the world coming to?