Rogue apostrophe and sad vireya

[vilakins]

There's a new cafe going into the local mall where a pie seller used to be. Today I had a look and saw that they've hand-painted on the wall, in a very nice casual font and an attractive coffee colour, a list of coffees available. Or as they have it, "COFFEE'S". I called out to the decorator and a guy I assume is the owner and told them about the rogue apostrophe. "Can't have that in our coffee, can we?" said the guy. "No," I said, "I find them very bitter." I bet they won't change it though, and I probably won't be able to bring myself to go there. I am a sad pedant.

And for those who went to so much trouble finding out what the flowers were that I drew yesterday, here's a photo of the clump of flowers and the tree, taken today. It's a vireya (a tropical rhododendron) and not a very happy looking one it seems; no wonder I didn't think it was evergreen. I suspect it needs repotting and some plant food; I'll do that when the weather's a bit warmer.

Flowers and tree, and bonus Vic


The clump I drew, from a different angle which shows the trumpet shape better


Poor little tree and Vic, who's peering down at Ashley and wondering if he'll ambush her

Comments

[toft]

I totally approve of your irritation against rogue apostraphes. I'd discriminate against them too.

[brewsternorth]

And me. There was some kind of flyer taped to a lamp-post advertising I've forgotten what for, but I was very tempted to go over it with a pen adding proofreader's marks to correct the errant apostrophes, and an ironic "YOUR WELCOME".

[vilakins]

I must do something about that tree. The flowers are so pretty. I am a very bad gardener.

I can understand that some people might instinctively revolt against putting a plain s on the end of words ending with a vowel (most of them foreign, like tomato, camera, coffee etc) but really, is it so hard that it's a plural, dammit? I want to ask, "Coffee's what?"

[ultrapsychobrat.livejournal.com]

I agree about the apostrophe--every time I was there I would focus on the damned apostrophe. Cute picture of Vic.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I know why they do it--plurals of non-English words ending in vowels--but it grates so much.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Well done for pointing it out. It's easy to walk past and grumble but not actually do anything. I hope they do change it.

Hee, cats do love that. Muffin sits on the garden table and watches the neighbours' cats go by. I don't think he ever does jump on them, but he's clearly prepared to, if need be....

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I won't hold my breath. :-(

It was funny; when I first let the girls out, I only had to find Vic and look where he was looking to find them.

[bramblyhedge.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say that your icon there made me pause for a second, figure it out, and then LOL. *g*

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

That photo was so funny: Vic was sitting on Greg's keyboard, his paws by the mouse, and looking really puzzled at the beeping of the error window showing behind him. I got a pic (http://pics.livejournal.com/vilakins/pic/0000hrbx) before we lifted him off.

[trixieleitz]

There was a laundrette near here, that I had to pass every day, that had "Garden's Laundrette" on the window. (It's near the Botanic Gardens, and the shopping centre it's in is called "Gardens Corner"). Drove me nuts. I always wanted to get a razor blade and scrape the apostrophe off. Finally, someone did - presumably in an official capacity.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Good for them! Unless it was owned by Graeme Garden which seems very unlikely.

It's an idea though: a guerrilla razor blade for signs on glass.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Yes, that apostrophe would nark me into not going too (I never claimed to be reasonable... and anyway, there's nothing unreasonable about their spelling spoiling the taste)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'd always want to ask, "The coffee's what?"

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

There is a builders van that parks near my home that states it does window's. Makes me want to paint it out ;0)

There is a shop in Sussex called Marsha's, and the sign says it sells 'furniture, sofa's, bed's'

aarrgghh!!!!!!!!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

[beats head on wall] Those don't even match the usual pattern of foreign words ending in vowels, except for "sofa". And perhaps the shop's owned by two people called Marsha because that has to be a plural too. ;-)

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I think the Marsha's bit is historical, because years ago it was called Marsha's Barn. They moved premises (there was never a barn, unless it was a previous place) and they dropped the barn part.

I mean we can all make mistakes, to be honest I find myself making more mistakes now I'm older than when I was a child, but I think signwriters should have a responsibility to point things out to their stupid clients before setting things in stone (or vinyl, or wood)

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Good luck with your vireya! Judging from the branch spread it definitely wants more root room & maybe specialized potting mix. I think vireyas need something lighter than normal potting mix- more like orchid potting material, IIRC from yesterday's quick read up. And they say not to prune it unless its in good condition.

Does Blake's 7 have an apostrophe or not? I get confused on that. :^)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It doesn't in the logo, but I put it in. I regard the logo as just that.

I'll have to go to a garden centre (they have nice cafes anyway) this weekend and ask for advice.

[wolfma.livejournal.com]

Have you read Eats Shoots and Leaves? There's a picture on the cover of the author painting out an apostrophe from a sign.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I have that book! It's an excellent one, and I rec it to new writers who don't know punctuation rules. It's not the author on mine though; it's a panda (because they eat shoots and leaves, but don't eat, shoot, and leave).

[wolfma.livejournal.com]

I thought there was a picture on the inside of the jacket (or somewhere) of the author with a paintbrush in front of a sign.

I need to go find my copy. It should be easily accessible, but the boys like to take my books!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, there is: inside back cover. She's putting an apostrophe into "two weeks notice", just as she is in this article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1054453/KEITH-WATERHOUSE-Apostrophes--AAAA-fights-back.html) jhall1 linked to. :-)

[wolfma.livejournal.com]

I want to Photoshop an apostrophe into the Blake's 7 titles. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I always spell it with one, and excuse the title as being a logo. Otherwise it's just >wrong.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Ah, that tree! Thank you for showing us. Haha, Vic the Hunter!
The apostrophy is not common in Czech and yes, some students have these problems, similas to that "coffee" thing:-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

OTOH English doesn't have accents and umlauts etc, unless they're in borrowed words like cliché. Really though, the rules are fairly simple: they go in possessives (except for its) or contractions. I never put them in plurals, even though some say they should be in years (the 1920s) and letters (two PCs) but I don't because that just muddies the waters.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1054453/KEITH-WATERHOUSE-Apostrophes--AAAA-fights-back.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1133563/KEITH-WATERHOUSE-The-apostrophe-story--goes-on.html

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Most seem to appear in words like "coffee" which end in a vowel and aren't originally English, so people seem to not like just putting an S on the end, but that first article was whacking them in everywhere. :-P Actually if they decided to remove them from the language altogether, that would be better than spelling reform because of the huge number of English dialects. I say "marry merry Mary" and "bear" and "beer" differently, though I know many don't. I think we have to live with English spelling and the mess the great vowel shift made of it.

As for possessive on signs, they were removed here decades ago in most cases; I was taught that place and street names didn't have them, so we have Princes Street and Hawkes Bay on signs and maps though it's still Hawke's Bay in normal writing.

They should have proofread the second one.
Greengrocer's signs in street markets
What, there's only who writes those signs? That explains it!

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Vic is a good cub compass then :¬D

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Not as much as we was now he's more used to them, but it was very useful when they were small and I was worried when I couldn't see them.