What I can't understand is why there is no 's' on Welding.
However, Anna has had around 90 years to get this correct:
I don't really expect anyone to comment on this because......well, just because it's a sad reflection on our use of language.
I've got it off my chest, though.
Nooo... now you've got me started....
ReplyDeleteYes, JayCee, once we see something like that it starts us off for the day.
DeleteMay I suggest that the van is just a joke to attract attention. I don't think anyone could really have thought that was correct.
ReplyDeleteCro, your suggestions are always welcome and, I'm sure, very often correct. I'd like to think that was the case here.
DeleteOh dear. What I don't understand is why the apostrophes esses.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, you and I are both wondering.
DeleteOf all the misuses of the language ( and there are many) it's the misplaced apostrophes that drive me farthest around the bend. 'Your" used instead of "you're" comes a close second.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I agree with you (as you would expect) but I will forgive people where it's a one-off and due to the fingers and the brain not working together. I have been known to insert an apostrophe in its when it was inappropriate. I then hastily amend it (assuming I can) and wonder how many people noticed it before I did.
DeleteAnna is just being Swedish. "Annas" (Annas Pepparkakor) is the trademark. You'll notice she got "Sweden's" right but also refused to translate pepparkaka. We're funny that way over here, sometimes! :)
ReplyDeleteJust yesterday I threw away a rusty Pepparkakor tin (Annas, of course). My mother-in-Law was Swedish.
DeleteMonica, I wouldn't usually have been so impolite as to comment on the translations of someone using English as a second language but it was sitting in front of me on the table and it just made the post that bit more interesting and colourful.
DeleteOh, it did. I just suspect leaving out the apostrophe in Annas is deliberate because it's a registred trademark.
DeleteYou put me in mind of an episode of 'Open All Hours' when Arkwright deliberately mis-spells a word to catch a customer who wanted to correct him :)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, that was a lovely, innocent, funny programme.
DeleteMy sister and I were just discussing punctuation while on the phone earlier today. We were saying how we use punctuation and proper grammar even while texting and so many people do not!
ReplyDeleteEllen, I confess that I used to be punctilious in my use of punctuation when texting and messaging. I confess (may I be forgiven) that I'm not always as strict these days. Speed takes over and I'm also guilty of checking after I've sent a message which, if there is a mistake, just upsets me.
DeleteI once read something that was basically saying our fixation on spelling, punctuation and grammar is just a way to differentiate the haves from the have-nots and on thinking about it, it's probably true. I still scream inside when I see it!
ReplyDeleteKylie, you may well be correct (you so often bring a fresh thought to a discussion) but my reason has always been that it hopefully prevents misinterpretations.
DeleteI grind my teeth a lot these days. I haven't started using the red pencil to set things aright, yet.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I have been known to correct menus and similar things.
DeleteI agree and the lack of proper grammar these days annoys me, It shouldn't but it does lol, especially the apostrophe between the last letters and the s.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I couldn't agree more.
DeleteYes incorrect usage of the apostrophe is common and can be annoying. However, language is forever changing. Over the centuries all languages have changed. We do not write or punctuate the same as centuries ago. In fact in the last century language has changed and now with the advent of computers and messaging applications language is changing faster than ever. I found it interesting to see how the Greek language has changed over one's lifetime. Greek migrants in Melbourne do not speak the same as Greek in Greece. In Greece it has evolved like all languages do. When a Greek migrant returns to Greece after some years in Australia their Greek is not the same as the modern Greek. My husband's first language is Swiss but when we return to Switzerland people often comment that he speaks in an old style. Language is forever changing. Don't be surprised if the apostrophe disappears in the future.
ReplyDeleteDiane, thank you for those interesting facts. Perhaps the apostrophe will be replaced by different sentence constructions. In Shakespeare's time there was no use of "ing" in the English language.
DeleteThis has been an enjoyable discourse, Graham, and it all started with a couple of photos. I agree with so many of the previous comments on the misuse and indeed abuse of language. My favorite misuse of the apostrophe is for its and it's.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice, I am always horrified when I write something and later read it and find an "it's" instead of an "its". It's rarely the other way around.
DeleteI'm with you, Graham. Remy's smile and Shama's smile tell me they are in agreement, too. (Remy and Shama, of course, are my two cats). :)
ReplyDeleteLee, how could I ever forget Remy and Shama?
DeleteI share your discomfort Graham. It's always especially concerning when professional sign writers get it wrong. Furthermore, it's interesting that mistake makers often bristle when corrected - as if somehow the adviser was at fault for helpfully mentioning the error.
ReplyDeleteYP, I find that the usual response in the situation you mention is "Well you understood it, didn't you?" as if that excused the error.
DeleteImagine my dismay when a new shop opened up right at the end of my street, and they put up an enormous (professionally installed) sign: "STATIONARY" - I mean, it's not like we thought it was going anywhere... and in fact, it didn't go anywhere much. It's now a Halal food store. Delicious!
ReplyDeleteMarcheline, such mistakes are almost unforgivable.
DeleteI am with Cro there, hoping the writing on the van is meant as a joke to attract attention.
ReplyDeleteAs a non-native speaker (and writer) of English, I often wonder how come the natives make so many errors. But it is of course the same here, too; so many native German speakers and writers make mistakes even when writing in a professional capacity.
Meike, whilst I'm willing to consider every possibility, I hae me doots this was attempted as a joke to attract attention. Although I'd like to give the perpetrator the benefit of the doubt I can't convince myself.
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