Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
As a frequent reader of Apostrophe Abuse and The "Blog" Of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks and Apostrophe Catastrophes: The Worlds' Worst. Punctuation;, this report from the Daily Mail is discouraging. Waterstone's, the bookstore chain founded by Tim Waterstone, is dropping the apostrophe from its name. All the right people are outraged:
John Richards, chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society said: ‘It’s just plain wrong. It’s grammatically incorrect.
‘If Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s can get it right, then why can’t Waterstone’s?
'You would really hope that a bookshop is the last place to be so slapdash with English.’
The most important part of this whole story? Learning that there's an Apostrophe Protection Society. Do you think we could start a chapter here at Ricochet?
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
I'll be a charter member. Apostrophe abuse is a far greater threat to the country than toys in Happy Meals.
Aug '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
If Tim Waterstone no longer owns the Waterstone's, I see nothing wrong with going from the possessive to the plural. After all, it is a chain with multiple locations. Those locations are Waterstones.
Dec '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
That is the exact sentence I wanted to open with.
Jul '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
It could also be the Waterstones'.
Jun '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
I'll join!
Aug '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Lets !?
Jan '11
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
It really bothers me when people modify the names of individuals - ie "it's Mr Jone's".
It stabbed me in the heart to type that by the way. . . .
Apr '11
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
I love everything about this post.
Its' one of my favorites'.
Lynn Truss would be proud.
Jan '12
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Count me in as a charter member as well! I love this post.
May '11
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Your going to miss all those little marks.
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Charlotte, I think our own Bill McGurn would concur. When he left the White House to return home to New Jersey, his parting gift to each of the remaining speechwriters was a copy of "Eats, Shoots & Leaves."
Charlotte: I love everything about this post.
Its' one of my favorites'.
Lynn Truss would be proud. · Jan 12 at 8:59am
Oct '11
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Sign me up! Spelling and punctuation errors stop my reading eye cold and drive me stark mad.
Dec '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Same here. It's why I could not be trusted with editorial duties.
May '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
I am in ... er, I'm in. (Just checking: is there a similar society determined to end the use of prepositions at the end of sentences?)
Jul '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Fun and informative - it's why I'm a Ricochet member. Add my name to the charter membership list. Please.
Sep '11
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Now this may not be relevant, but Tim Waterstone is a Christian. I wonder, is there an issue about Christian's and apostrophe abuse? And does the APS, as I'm sure we shall soon all be calling it, have any religious affiliation? And - here's the killer - do APS members ever marry apostrophe abusers, and if so, how are the children brought up, as apostrophe apostrophisers or as everyday abuser's?
Sep '11
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
By the way, in England we call the misplaced or redundant apostrophe the "greengrocer's apostrophe" because greengrocers commonly advertise the price of pear's and apple's and of course (who could forget this?) potatoe's. They also have their own sense of humour and are fond of putting labels on soft fruit, such as pears, saying "Please don't squeeze me till I'm yours" (with or without a few extra apostrophes). They are also all said to be "fences" (people who handle stolen goods). Salt of the earth, in other words (with a tendency to read, and believe, the Daily Mail).
Feb '11
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
I'm in, for sure. And with all these charters, is there a chart?
Maybe our inaugural event should be conspiring to drive up the Twitter numbers for some grammar folks? I'll start with @grammarmonkeys.
Edited on January 12, 2012 at 6:41pmAug '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
Uh...yes there is -----------------------------counselor.
May '10
Re: Bookstore Chain Embrace's Poor Grammar
The reason for this awful mess
Boils down to the web address.
Punctuation demands a crop
The apostrophe we have to drop.
We take dashes,
We take slashes,
We'll even take your dot
But browser crashes
And other trashes
Say apostrophes we do not.