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Pedants' corner

Apostrophes

(54 Posts)
evianers Sun 12-Jan-20 14:34:15

Just arrived back in UK after 44 an absence of 44 years. Wow! what a challenge - but we are getting there.
Local shop with large blue sign above saying BARGAIN'S!!!!! Just recently, the astrophe disappeared. Spoke to the owner saying "super that you have taken out the apostrophe", to which she replied "oh, many people think it's a shame". "But it's plural, not possessive" said I. She really had no idea what was meant..........oh dear.

Witzend Sat 18-Jan-20 09:43:19

Jillybird, I sometimes I wonder whether hopeless SPAG is a requirement for being an estate agent! Not just apostrophes, but the shower cubicals, flower boarders, etc. And so often, nobody seems to care, let alone proof-read anything.

EAs are much less sloppy/more professional in some other countries, e.g. the US, but then they do have to have a professional qualification, and charge substantially more than is usual here - 5-6%, as my sister who lives in the US has told me.

evianers Sat 18-Jan-20 12:02:12

Witzend
having just sold our house in France, can assure contributors that the norm is now 6.5% of the selling price, which in our case was pretty substantial!!!

Callistemon Sat 18-Jan-20 12:44:14

It's interesting that Lynne Truss, author of Eats Shoots and Leaves, has a sister, Liz, who was once Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education.

Any grammatical errors in my posts I will blame on auto-correct grin