Help me figure this out

[conuly]

I saw a truck today with writing on the upper corners.

On the upper left corner it said:

Gourmet Chips
And Pretzel's

and on the upper right corner it said:

Healthy Foods
And Drink's

So... what, exactly, did that person think the apostrophe is for?

Also, don't want this getting lost: My credit union is asking us all to contact our congresscritters. Honestly, maybe I should buy a book of postcards. Of course, my handwriting is terrible....

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Comments

[jessie_c]

'So many people egregiou'sly abu'se apo'strophe's.

[conuly]

Okay but seriously I don’t understand the logic they’re working with!

[dine]

there is no logic. people treat them as if they're decorative, with no actual connection to the grammatical rule. if it ends in an "S", best throw in an apostrophe, just in case

[conuly]

Sure, but what about the other two words they didn’t do that to?

[glaurung]

The sample size is small, but it looks like the rule in their head is, a plural ending in S gets an apostrophe when it is the last word?

So they’d write “milk and egg’s”. But not “egg’s and milk”.

[steorra]

Another possible rule is that the apostrophe is only for "longer" plurals, i.e. plurals where the base word is more than 4 letters, so "Chip" and "Food" are too short for an apostrophe. (It can't be based on syllable count, obviously.)

I also wondered if it's based on anything about the class of sounds the word ends with, but I can't find anything. It would have been interesting if it was only after voiced sounds and not voiceless ones, or vice versa, but that doesn't work.

[calimac]

I've seen that called the grocer's apostrophe, as purveyors of foodstuffs seem particularly prone to it.

Also, the two corners are a bit contradictory. Chips and pretzels are not the first definition of healthy food.

[conuly]

Yes, but why only put an apostrophe sometimes?

And no, it’s a general food delivery truck.

[spiralsheep]

Yes, in the UK it's known as the grocer's or grocers' (there is argument!) apostrophe, because potato's and tomatoe's are both spelled with a '
;-)

[spiralsheep]

Sry 2 here u hate Ms Pretzel's and Ms Drink's Gourmet Chips and Healthy Foods, bb. ;-P

[cactuswatcher]

I'm dyslexic. It's miracle if I get "its" and "it's" correct and not put apostrophes in the wrong places, if I write more than a paragraph at once. Proofreading, honestly, is a difficult chore for some of us. And getting it right the first time? Well...

So, I guess that truck could be more a case of can't do better than didn't know better.

[conuly]

That’s why you hire a proofreader. Even without dyslexia it’s hard to catch your own mistakes!

[cactuswatcher]

Yep, and don't hire whoever painted the truck as your proofreader!

[lilysea]

Meanwhile,

what's with all the signs at cafes advertising

"fresh" fruit juice

and signs at greengrocers advertising

"fresh" vegetables

Why are they all using random inverted commas????

[moon_custafer]

I'm convinced that many people think they're for emphasis, and not, y'know, the thing the sarcastic air-quotes gesture is based upon.

There used to be a sandwich place in my city that used them around every instance of "authentic" on their menu. I suppose it's also possible the shop's owner just had a rye sense of humour.

[moon_custafer]

"The 12-minute piece has now been named Ganz kleine Nachtmusik."

I know just enough German to get that joke.

[l33tminion]

The apostrophe means "here come's the S"!

[conuly]

See, I'd get that if that was it!