[shifuimam]

I was at Fry's this weekend, and my boyfriend was needing a caffeine fix. We stopped in at the little cafe/deli thing that's in the middle of this particular Fry's location.

There on the menu board, right in front of me, was the following in large, bold, all-caps text:

COFFEE'S & TEA'S

Perhaps I am a little more anal about grammar and spelling than your average Joe, but come on. There were other menu boards on the wall, with headings like SMOOTHIES and ICED DRINKS and DESSERTS. Nothing else grossly misused the apostrophe.

I have even seen a pin at a department store that said "Everyone loves Grandma's!" on it.

It's so sad to think that our country has degenerated to the point where children and adults do not understand what an apostrophe is used for.

Does anyone else here feel my pain, or am I alone in my quest for a grammatically perfect world?

...

Sorry if this thread sucks.

[Gossamer]

In before Besson.

[kmkkid]

No theys doesnt matter any'more.

[Dakarʒ]

Noe thay doent'

[Dakarʒ]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Sorry if this thread sucks.

Apology not accepted.

[Oneota]

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ 

Apology not accepted.

:'(

That ju'st killed my mojo.

Also, the admin's really should put a language filter on "MAC" and "IPOD" so that the douche's that use said capitalization will be auto-corrected to the more appropriate "Mac" and "iPod". Whenever I see "MAC" I think of the cosmetic's company.

Man, it kill's me to use all these stupid apostrophe's incorrectly...

[andi*pandi]

well, I feel your pain on the apostrophe front... but should point out that "my boyfriend was needing a caffeine fix" is incorrect grammar also.

(this is where you point out that I forgot to capitalize everything!)

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Does anyone else here feel my pain, or am I alone in my quest for a grammatically perfect world?

I've come to the conclusion that people don't care.

[starman]

When I was working at the mall 15 years ago, there was a sign in the hallways behind the stores that said

DOOR OPEN'S OUT

It drove me NUTS.

[Dakarʒ]

I'll tell you the truth, I don't like to make mistakes, but when I do, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. It's a recreational forum, and good grammar requires effort.

As for real life, well, people are dumb. Or they over think things.

[ort888]

Was it a printed menu board or was it written in chalk?

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ 

It's a recreational forum, and good grammar requires effort.

So? Living requires effort. Get used to it.

Apostrophe misuse is one of my pet hates.

[kmkkid]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

:'(

That ju'st killed my mojo.

Also, the admin's really should put a language filter on "MAC" and "IPOD" so that the douche's that use said capitalization will be auto-corrected to the more appropriate "Mac" and "iPod". Whenever I see "MAC" I think of the cosmetic's company.

Man, it kill's me to use all these stupid apostrophe's incorrectly...

Not to be a nitpicker, but wouldn't "admin's" & "douche's" be the exact same grammatical error you are ranting about in the OP?


*edit* Oh, maybe you were trying to be funnay. I lose.

[Jawbone54]

Man: this iz tha fourtieth tiem Iv'e seen this threed!1!!!

[Dakarʒ]

Originally Posted by Mastrap 

So? Living requires effort. Get used to it.

Get used to what?

Originally Posted by Mastrap 

Apostrophe misuse is one of my pet hates.

Ill' rem'mber that' if 'im ever in the m'ood to piss' you of'f

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Mastrap 

So? Living requires effort. Get used to it.

 

No it doesn't. Ask Terry Shiavo.

I shouldn't have posted here.

[Dakarʒ]

Originally Posted by kmkkid 

I lose.

Trust me, no one wins with this type of thread.

No one.

[Sherman Homan]

lol!
u shud youse the grammer cheker. its' build in to just a bout every web brouser on teh MAC.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ 

Trust me, no one wins with this type of thread.

No one.

You only say that because you didn't win. Stop being a sore loser.

[Dakarʒ]

If that's supposed to be funny, it's going over my head.

[Railroader]

Your hystarical. I love it when someone get's all high and mighty and wants to point out how they hate bad grammer and incorrect speeling and puncuation and they also us incorrect speeling and puncuation in their post's.

I just hope yous people appreciate my malapropisms. I do them on porpoise.

[KeyLimePi]

Despite all the hilarious posts here (posting about bad grammer by using incorrect grammar....comedy gold!), I'm also peeved at the declining state of the written word. My latest gripe is when people use "1000's" to mean 'thousands.' I have seen this in ads, a sign and even on a TV commercial. Is it really so hard to spell out the word? Particularly since printing "100's" doesn't even come close to meaning 'hundreds.'

[kmkkid]

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ 

Trust me, no one wins with this type of thread.

No one.

Cool, now I don't feel so bad loosing.

[cwosigns]

It bugs the hell out of me, too. I used to work at a hospital, and the gift shop had a sign (written) that said, "No checks excepted." I had to talk to the manager about that.

[Jawbone54]

Our McDonald's had this on their sign a few months ago...

DO U WANT
A MCGRIDDLES?
$100

I took a picture with my phone, but deleted it after no one else thought it was quite as ridiculous as I did. They didn't even think that it was crazy for one hundred dollar McGriddles to be available.

[smacintush]

As long as the meesage is cleer it doesnt matter.

Language is a tool we use to communicate, we are not tools that language expresses itself through.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by KeyLimePi 

Despite all the hilarious posts here (posting about bad grammer by using incorrect grammar....[I]comedy gold![/I

I will only agree with this post if it's intent was sarcastic.

[Dakarʒ]

Why would you even want to add a decimal point and two zeros?

[ort888]

This is only semi-related, but my local video store has a set of two posters right next to each other that read...

MOVIES!
FREE KIDS

It is supposed to go the other way and say, FREE KIDS MOVIES!

When I pointed it out to the high-school aged girl at the counter she gave me this dumb look and told me it was supposed to be that way.

A few weeks later, I told someone else who said they would tell the manager.

It's been about 3 months now and the posters are unchanged. I'm not telling them anymore, because I now find it quite funny. I should demand some free kids and then sue them when they fail to give them to me.

[willed]

Is there a 'Bob the Angry Flower' cartoon for the difference between "Your" and "You're"?

SO MANY of my friends on Facebook aren't bright enough to make this distinction in their wall posts, messages etc... Maybe I need some different friends!

[andi*pandi]

just make up a paper arrow <-->, apply sticky tape, and put it on the posters the next time you go in. If they even notice, they won't think you're weird at all.

[willed]

Originally Posted by ort888 

This is only semi-related, but my local video store has a set of two posters right next to each other that read...

MOVIES!
FREE KIDS

It is supposed to go the other way and say, FREE KIDS MOVIES!

Or presumably FREE KIDS' MOVIES ?

[kmkkid]

Originally Posted by ort888 

It's been about 3 months now and the posters are unchanged. I'm not telling them anymore, because I now find it quite funny. I should demand some free kids and then sue them when they fail to give them to me.

Then when you get the kids, sue them for child support.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Our McDonald's had this on their sign a few months ago...

DO U WANT
A MCGRIDDLES?
$100

I took a picture with my phone, but deleted it after no one else thought it was quite as ridiculous as I did. They didn't even think that it was crazy for one hundred dollar McGriddles to be available.

Well, it's McDonands. They aren't known for having the sharpest crayons for employees.

[Oisín]

Well, it's McDonands.

I daren’t assume anything: was that intentional or not?

[Rumor]

Bah, there should never have been an apostrophe in McDonalds. Hence, I choose not to use one.

[::maroma::]

But McDonald is the name of the clown. Hence "Macdonald's" is his place. So the possessive is correct in this instance, no?

Also in the OP, the sign said "COFFEE'S AND TEA'S".. shouldn't it have read "COFFEE & TEA"? I don't think either Coffee nor Tea has a plural. Of course, I aint no dang English major, so what do I know?

[cwosigns]

Originally Posted by smacintush 

As long as the meesage is cleer it doesnt matter.

Language is a tool we use to communicate, we are not tools that language expresses itself through.

That's just it. The message isn't clear if the recipient's mind is hung up on spelling and grammatical mistakes. Right or wrong, people make assumptions about a person's intelligence based on his/her command of language. If I get a resumé that is riddled with spelling errors, I'm much less apt to hire the applicant even if their education and experience are exemplary.

[cwosigns]

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

Also in the OP, the sign said "COFFEE'S AND TEA'S".. shouldn't it have read "COFFEE & TEA"? I don't think either Coffee nor Tea has a plural. Of course, I aint no dang English major, so what do I know?

"Coffees and Teas" would indicate that there are a variety of coffees and teas, as opposed to just one kind of coffee and one kind of tea.

[ort888]

The clown has nothing to do with it. McDonalds was started by a pair of brothers with the last name of McDonald... so it should be called McDonald's... even though that is not the official spelling.

EDIT: Never mind, McDonald's is the official spelling. I is dumb.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

But McDonald is the name of the clown. Hence "Macdonald's" is his place. So the possessive is correct in this instance, no?

Also in the OP, the sign said "COFFEE'S AND TEA'S".. shouldn't it have read "COFFEE & TEA"? I don't think either Coffee nor Tea has a plural. Of course, I aint no dang English major, so what do I know?

I hope you don't believe that McDonald's is named after a clown.

There is a plural for coffee and tea. One (or two, for that matter) would be correct in saying "I served five coffees and six teas to the eleven people here earlier," or, a restaurant manager may want to know how many coffees were served, as opposed to how much coffee was used.

At a company where I used to work, management put a sign up at the entrance to the office area and the employee lounge, and it said EMPLOYEE'S ONLY. I pointed this out to the manager, and he had a hard time understanding what a possessive form was, although he did have the signs changed, and then told me that they didn't look right.

[andi*pandi]

If there were many kinds of different coffee or tea, then COFFEES & TEAS would have been acceptable... right Oisin?

[OldManMac]

I'm obviously not Oisin, but yes, it would have been, but without the apostrophe. The problem I have with those who dismiss these errors as being no big deal is that they fail to comprehend that there are reasons why standard forms of communication are used in the real world. If one applys for a job, and their resume looks like it was churned out by a fifth grader, then they're going to spend the rest of their lives working at McDonald's. If they can't even spell simple words correctly, or don't know the difference between word usages such as chose and choose, or lose and loose, or they intentionally spell words differently to be "cool," like teh or meh, they advertise their lack of interest in paying attention to those around them, and the message isn't always "cleer." (sic) They make assumptions that, just because they know what they're talking about, everyone else should as well, and that just isn't the case. There's a time and place for showing your individuality, but communications amongst each other isn't it, especially when you're trying to get a message across to someone who doesn't think as you do. You become viewed by the intended recipient of your message as being unable to clearly communicate, which is counter to what should be happening.

[::maroma::]

Aight, I've learnt sumthin new about plurals taday!

I also learnt that spelling dont count on teh intarnet.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ 

I'll tell you the truth, I don't like to make mistakes, but when I do, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. It's a recreational forum, and good grammar requires effort

Many things need to be practiced to be maintained. Why not take the opportunity to practice good grammar rather than reinforcing bad habits? Once proper grammar is a natural part of the way one writes, it really doesn't require any additional effort to get things right on a consistent basis.

That's what I think.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by KeyLimePi 

Despite all the hilarious posts here (posting about bad grammer by using incorrect grammar....comedy gold!), I'm also peeved at the declining state of the written word. My latest gripe is when people use "1000's" to mean 'thousands.' I have seen this in ads, a sign and even on a TV commercial. Is it really so hard to spell out the word? Particularly since printing "100's" doesn't even come close to meaning 'hundreds.'

And, on top of that, it should be 1000s, 100s, etc.

I hear ya....

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by smacintush 

As long as the meesage is cleer it doesnt matter.

Language is a tool we use to communicate, we are not tools that language expresses itself through.

It does matter. If you want to make a good impression in your writing, and I would hope that most people here do when having serious conversation, good writing is just something that is to be expected, just like how good manners in formal environments is likewise expected.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by KarlG 

I'm obviously not Oisin, but yes, it would have been, but without the apostrophe. The problem I have with those who dismiss these errors as being no big deal is that they fail to comprehend that there are reasons why standard forms of communication are used in the real world. If one applys for a job, and their resume looks like it was churned out by a fifth grader, then they're going to spend the rest of their lives working at McDonald's. If they can't even spell simple words correctly, or don't know the difference between word usages such as chose and choose, or lose and loose, or they intentionally spell words differently to be "cool," like teh or meh, they advertise their lack of interest in paying attention to those around them, and the message isn't always "cleer." (sic) They make assumptions that, just because they know what they're talking about, everyone else should as well, and that just isn't the case. There's a time and place for showing your individuality, but communications amongst each other isn't it, especially when you're trying to get a message across to someone who doesn't think as you do. You become viewed by the intended recipient of your message as being unable to clearly communicate, which is counter to what should be happening.

Well said!

And, to the original poster, I'm famous around here for being irritated by bad grammar. It's not so much the fact that people are making mistakes, but it is a few kinds of mistakes in particular that are so commonly misused:

- apostrophes, like you pointed out
- your vs. you're
- they're vs. their vs. there
- to vs. too

IT'S NOT HARD people, just get it right! People who make these mistakes when it appears as if they aren't just whipping off a very quick note come across as complete dummies to me, I can't help it.

[centerchannel68]

They matter to me. And I judge people based on their writing abilities. It is NOT that complicated, and when people who are taking English as a second language speak/write/type it better than some Americans, those Americans are STUPID.

Hence why I judge them as either mentally deficient or really, really lazy.

Also:

accept, except.

And the number one way I'm sure someone is a total nob: If they write "REDICULOUS". That makes me want to kill something. REEEEEEEEDICULOUS BILLY BOB! WOOOWEE! Ugh.