[NPInfo] greengrocer's apostrophe

[Diana Galler]

One of my favorite signs is the one you find in neighborhoods that says :
   
  SLOW
CHILDREN
  AT PLAY

  If ever there was a need for some sort of punctuation mark somewhere, it would be here. Do they mean the children are slow?? If physically slow, they should move faster to stay out of harm's way. If they're mentally slow, they probably shouldn't be playing out in the street without supervision anyway. If vehicles need to go slow, there sould be a punctuation mark after the word SLOW and the rest of the sign would then serve to provide the explanation for the command.
  Dena Galler
   
   
  Jeffrey Hazzard <jeffnp27 at yahoo.com> wrote:
     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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