Charles and his wife were laughing at the ridiculous gadgets in the SkyMall catalog when they came across an ad for this badly punctuated sign:
If only one Jackson lived at this house, it could be argued that this sign is OK. More likely, it's referring to the Jackson family, so it's a catastrophe. If you are talking about more than one member of your family, don't add an apostrophe to make your name plural. Sadly, this is a fairly common error. I even saw it recently on the cover of a photo album in a co-worker's cubicle.
Right: The Jacksons live in that house on the corner.
Right: This is the Jacksons' house.
Wrong: I am going to hang out with the Jackson's. They have a sweet pool!
Thanks Charles and Mrs. Charles!
Friday, July 24, 2009
SkyMall Catastrophe
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6 comments:
Do you correct your co-workers? I can't help but correct a co-worker who speaks poorly or writes poorly. Is it appropriate?
It's kind of my job to correct co-workers, but I wouldn't correct their personal possessions or what they say in a casual setting. I do correct their writing that will be sent out to customers because that's what I get paid to do.
I love these signs! I caught one last year while taking a walk near Seattle that made me chuckle.
Oh yeah, I think I remember that one.
The majority of signs like this that I've seen my entire life were all using the incorrect apostrophe in a plural. I've rarely seen a correct one, so illiteracy has been around a very long time.
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