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So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

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10,950
Location
My mother's basement
Idunno about you, but I had an awful night's sleep last night. Came home from work and took a nap.

So of course, now I can't sleep tonight!

I don’t know your age, but many reliable sources have it that among the more common complaints of the no longer young is a difficulty in getting a good night’s sleep.

I awaken after six hours, max, most nights. Too often it’s more like five hours. Sometimes I can drift off again, but certainly not always.
 
Messages
10,950
Location
My mother's basement
^^^^
Falling asleep is rarely the problem. It’s the waking up after too few hours. Some nights it’s as few as three or four.

I’d prefer not resorting to medications, seeing how I’m on half a dozen prescription drugs already. I’ve cut way back on caffeine (it’s now decaf coffee only after 10 a.m. or so).
 
Messages
13,025
Location
Germany
^^^^

I’d prefer not resorting to medications, seeing how I’m on half a dozen prescription drugs already. I’ve cut way back on caffeine (it’s now decaf coffee only after 10 a.m. or so).

That's funny! I actually got coffeine-free (freeze-dried) instantcoffees, from german storebrand and classic brand. They both taste really good! Above average of freeze-dried instantcoffees. :)

But I'm still a total tea-drinker. :D
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,846
Location
New Forest
Use of apostrophe s to make any word in the English language plural.
Am I missing something? How do you contrive a plural with an apostrophe? A lot of people don't know how to use the possessive apostrophe when a word ends in the letter 'S.' So many times you will see that they end the word thus: s's. It ends without the second letter S.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Am I missing something? How do you contrive a plural with an apostrophe? A lot of people don't know how to use the possessive apostrophe when a word ends in the letter 'S.' So many times you will see that they end the word thus: s's. It ends without the second letter S.

I cannot speak to the rest of the world but in Canada I believe it started with sign makers, making those garden signs some people insist on having.

So the Smith family is on the sign "The Smith's", for reasons no one can identify, other than perhaps ignorance of the fact that a personal name is made plural in the same way as most words (one John, two Johns, etc.).

Fun fact- when first typed John plural, it auto corrected to 's...

We have a local business now "The Schneider Brother's". I am dying to paint "what, and to which brother does it belong" at the end.

Government liquor store in Stratford Ontario used to sell "ale's and lager's" until I pointed out the issue.

Pointing it out online of course, one is a pedantic troll. I do it anyway...
 

Nobert

Practically Family
Messages
832
Location
In the Maine Woods
And then there’s Albertsons, the supermarket chain, which dropped the apostrophe a few years back.

It was Albertson’s, possessive, prior to then. Marketing research is to blame, I suspect.

I suspect it's one of those, "A little education is a dangerous thing," things. Market people spend a lot of time interacting with graphic designers, and graphic designers hate typographical flourishes, such as periods in acronyms or hyphens. Some marketing person probably listened to a designer explain why the lettering looks better and more "clean" (the designer's favorite descriptor, usually prefaced by "nice and") without unnecessary punctuation, and figured that eliding the apostrophes would make a better look.
 
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Woodtroll

One Too Many
Messages
1,268
Location
Mtns. of SW Virginia
So the Smith family is on the sign "The Smith's", for reasons no one can identify,

I share the frustration with the plural apostrophe, but in this case I think I can at least understand the logic behind it. When we think of a house, or property, and we say, "that is the Smith's place", we think of it as a possession of the family, not as the family itself ("The Smiths"). So I see those signs implying that this is the Smith's place, the Smith's house, or whatever. I guess in that context it should most prperly be written as "The Smiths' ", though ;), since it belongs to the whole family? Unless you're refering to the blacksmith's shop, then it really could be "The Smith's". The English language is so confusing! :D
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,846
Location
New Forest
So the Smith family is on the sign "The Smith's", for reasons no one can identify, other than perhaps ignorance of the fact that a personal name is made plural in the same way as most words (one John, two Johns, etc.).
Now I get the gist of your annoyance. As Woodtroll points out, The English Language can be so confusing. Nobert is on the right track, it's a grammatical word play and although annoying, it's still readable. In other languages the bastardisation would be seen as gobble-de-gook.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
I share the frustration with the plural apostrophe, but in this case I think I can at least understand the logic behind it. When we think of a house, or property, and we say, "that is the Smith's place", we think of it as a possession of the family, not as the family itself ("The Smiths"). So I see those signs implying that this is the Smith's place, the Smith's house, or whatever. I guess in that context it should most prperly be written as "The Smiths' ", though ;), since it belongs to the whole family? Unless you're refering to the blacksmith's shop, then it really could be "The Smith's". The English language is so confusing! :D

The problem there is the plural possessive - it would the Smiths' place. "The Smith's" asks which particular Smith in question owns it.

I do not feel I am being technical here, just correct.

Like the thread says, trivial, and yet...
 

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