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Pedants' corner

Apostrophes

(47 Posts)
Allira Sun 02-Feb-25 12:33:24

Grandma70s

Allira

what is the plural
That, of course was the possessive. 😁

The Jones clan? Jones family?
Or The Joneses.

Hence the expression “keeping up with the Joneses”.

😁

No-one can, Grandma70s

Grandma70s Sun 02-Feb-25 12:26:05

Allira

^what is the plural^
That, of course was the possessive. 😁

The Jones clan? Jones family?
Or The Joneses.

Hence the expression “keeping up with the Joneses”.

Allira Sun 02-Feb-25 12:25:24

Ilovedogs22

Yes MissAdventure it does look a bit strange. 'The Davieses' sound like a juggling circus troupe to me. Regarding apostrophes (should there be one here!). My grammar jumps out window sometimes in my sad, eager anticipation to post stuff & waffle & moans! 😚

😂😂😂

Allira Sun 02-Feb-25 12:23:46

Ilovedogs22

See what I mean MissAdventure! I've just noticed a missing 'the'
in my eagerness to get a word in. Third-child syndrome I think.
Oh bum, should there even be a hyphen in third __child ???
I think I need a slap quite frankly.🙃

Third children always like to get a word in 😁

MissAdventure Sun 02-Feb-25 12:19:21

grin

Ilovedogs22 Sun 02-Feb-25 12:15:55

See what I mean MissAdventure! I've just noticed a missing 'the'
in my eagerness to get a word in. Third-child syndrome I think.
Oh bum, should there even be a hyphen in third __child ???
I think I need a slap quite frankly.🙃

Allira Sun 02-Feb-25 12:11:39

what is the plural
That, of course was the possessive. 😁

The Jones clan? Jones family?
Or The Joneses.

Allira Sun 02-Feb-25 12:09:57

JamesandJon33

Just a little deviation. If your surname is Davies, what is the plural. Obviously it would not have an apostrophe.

I suppose if you're a Jones, Davies, Edward's, Phillip's or another of those Welsh names the possessive would be

Mr Davies's goat, Mr Jones's cow.

Goodness knows about Edward's and Phillip's because autocorrect, as you can see, has inserted an apostrophe where it is not needed.

Mr Edward's's horse?
Actually, autocorrect can behave itself - Mr Edwards's horse. 🙂

MissAdventure Sun 02-Feb-25 12:06:49

Ooh err, missus!

Allira Sun 02-Feb-25 12:05:52

kittylester

I agree but Autocorrect doesn't.

No, autocorrect loves apostrophes, it inserts them in the most inappropriate places.

MissAdventure Sun 02-Feb-25 11:59:55

grin
It's sometimes more important to express yourself than second guess yourself, I think.

Ilovedogs22 Sun 02-Feb-25 11:57:21

Yes MissAdventure it does look a bit strange. 'The Davieses' sound like a juggling circus troupe to me. Regarding apostrophes (should there be one here!). My grammar jumps out window sometimes in my sad, eager anticipation to post stuff & waffle & moans! 😚

MissAdventure Sun 02-Feb-25 11:33:58

Davieses doesn't sound right, to me.
Not that I'm an expert on these things.

Barleyfields Sun 02-Feb-25 11:32:40

The Davies family or the Davieses.

MissAdventure Sun 02-Feb-25 11:24:46

JamesandJon33

Just a little deviation. If your surname is Davies, what is the plural. Obviously it would not have an apostrophe.

Davies'?
I've all but given up on apostrophes.

GrannyGravy13 Sun 02-Feb-25 11:21:19

All my tech are Apple devices, they appear to disagree with my apostrophe usage.

I also forget to double check, in my defence on occasions when I have checked the device has altered it when I have pressed post/send 🤷‍♀️

JamesandJon33 Sun 02-Feb-25 11:18:51

Just a little deviation. If your surname is Davies, what is the plural. Obviously it would not have an apostrophe.

ViceVersa Sun 02-Feb-25 11:02:22

Ah yes, the aberrant apostrophe is one of my pet hates. I do confess that I get the urge to carry a marker pen around with me so that I can correct them when I see them on shop signs and so on!

Witzend Sun 02-Feb-25 09:12:25

Ooh, yes - especially baby’s, family’s, party’s, etc., as well as all the others. Box’s, bus’s, Christmas’s….😩

kittylester Sun 02-Feb-25 09:09:15

I agree but Autocorrect doesn't.

grumppa Sun 02-Feb-25 09:07:55

Agreed!

loopyloo Sun 02-Feb-25 09:07:16

Not new complaint but apostrophes used in plurals.
My current red flag!!!