[NPInfo] greengrocer's apostrophe

Jeffrey Hazzard jeffnp27 at yahoo.com
Mon Jun 23 07:19:38 PDT 2008


   Remember we were discussing misuse of apostrophes?  There is a term for an added, unneeded apostrophe--greengrocer's apostrophe.
          Jeff
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 FROM THE INTERNET WEBSITE:
 
There's a traffic sign at the end of the street where I live. It reads: 

Please drive carefully,
for our childrens sake 
It's an official sign of the Department of Transportation. I imagine there are thousands of these reflective blue signs around the state of Washington. 
These signs may not be necessary now. Children don't play outside anymore. There are more than enough Nintendos and Hanna Montanas and Facebooks these days to keep them busy. But that's not why I mentioned the sign. 
We're missing something here. A little squiggly mark. 
We may be missing an apostrophe here but, over all, the universe's apostrophe store stays in equilibrium. We don't put them where they belong, and we add them where they don't. Many a grocery store display signs such as: 

Apple's $3 per pound 
There's even a term for the gratuitous inclusion of these marks: greengrocer's apostrophe. 
Sometimes we are not sure whether an apostrophe is needed, so we simply add one, as if considering pillars to support a roof. "Well, let's add one here; it may not be needed, but it's there if necessary, and in any case it's not hurting anything." 
This week we feature terms that use apostrophes, terms that do need them. These selections answer: Whose What? And remember, it's not: Who's What? 


      


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