Montecore wrote:

Greengrocer's apostrophe!  Greengrocer's apostrophe!

I've never heard that term before, but it is perfect.

Emmeran wrote:

Montecore wrote:

"The commonalities of Jarhead's and Football Players"

Greengrocer's apostrophe!  Greengrocer's apostrophe!

Git 'im, George!

What the hell is that?

Emmeran:

Don't take it too hard - just having some fun with you and George, who likes her grammar and punctuation tidy.

The "greengrocer's apostrophe" is an apostrophe that appears where it shouldn't.  An apostrophe is used to indicate possession, not the plural.  Quick examples:

"Three potato's $1"

This is incorrect, because the dollar does not belong to the potatoes; they are plural, not possessive.

"The potato's skin is edible."

This is correct, because the skin does belong to the potato; this is possessive.

The reason it's called a "greengrocer's apostrophe" is that you often see it on grocers' signs.   Now if you're wondering why I put that last apostrophe after the "s" in "grocers" instead of before it, it's because if you have a word in a sentence that is both plural and possessive, that's where the fucking apostrophe goes - there is more than one grocer (plural), and the signs belong to the grocers (possessive).  It's a goddamn rule, and I didn't make it up.  So there. 

Isn't this much better - and shorter - than English class?  I mean, marginally?

Last edited by Montecore (2009-08-05 22:31:40)

Emmeran wrote:

Montecore wrote:

"The commonalities of Jarhead's and Football Players"

Greengrocer's apostrophe!  Greengrocer's apostrophe!

Git 'im, George!

What the hell is that?

'

*EDIT*  FFS, Monte, WordGift was upgraded awhile back.

Last edited by Scotty (2009-08-05 22:31:34)