"So nice to see you here. I admit I don't stop in as often as I should but it's always fun when I do. I think you're in the correct place. Life gets in the way but we all get back to writing :) "
The plural of book is NOT book's!
I have a new grammar pet peeve: the use of a possessive apostrophe to denote a plural. In just the past few weeks, I’ve seen the following on signs, menus and posters around New York City:
- Great gift idea for teacher’s
- Open Sunday’s and Monday’s
- We print on tank top’s!
- Banana’s and mango’s on sale this week
I have no idea why this has become so popular, but it’s everywhere I go, and it drives me nuts! I even saw it in a self-published book last week, in which the narrator mentioned how she had consulted with various doctor’s. Yes, doctor’s. I was annoyed but kept reading, only to be distracted by countless other grammatical blunders throughout the book. The storyline was interesting, but it was completely overshadowed by the errors that popped up on every page. Every single page. Because of that, I will not be recommending the book to anyone, which is a lost opportunity for the author because I love to talk about books.
If you’re going to put your work out into the world, make sure the grammar is perfect. If grammar isn’t your thing, hire an editor! Actually, you should hire an editor anyway, because we all need multiple sets of eyes to help catch what ours can no longer see after staring at the computer screen for so long.
In a future blog post, I’ll go over the most common grammatical errors I see. For now, see if you notice the apostrophe overload. Maybe together we can stop the madness!
-Maria
Maria Murnane writes romantic comedies and provides consulting services on book publishing and marketing. Learn more at www.mariamurnane.com
This blog post originally appeared on CreateSpace.com. Reprinted with permission. © 2011 CreateSpace, a DBA of On-Demand Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
Comment
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Comment by Elisabeth Kinsey on October 29, 2011 at 3:27pm -
I *heart* let's eat Grandpa. I remember a Simpsons where the Aliens have How to Cook Humans...then they blow the dust off to reveal several versions of How to Cook for Humans...The comma works the same as the dust.
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Comment by Lynette Benton on October 29, 2011 at 2:45pm -
Is part of the joke the other errors in the post (in the email that went to members), like "than," rather than "then?" And the misplaced comma after Grammar Geeks?
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Comment by Widdershins on October 29, 2011 at 1:01pm -
It's an evil apostrophe plot!!!
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Comment by Olga Godim on October 29, 2011 at 11:34am -
Maria. I'm glad someone finally raised this issue. Such mistakes are funny, true, but they also make the language seem 'dirty'. When I see such mistakes, they offend me, make me wince. That's why one of my favorite books is a grammar book: Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. Everyone who considers herself a writer should study that little book. Thanks for the post.
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Comment by Elaine Fields Smith on October 29, 2011 at 11:23am -
Yea Cindy! Yeah buddy, this conversation's has many fine points...The point's made.
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Comment by Cindy Brown on October 29, 2011 at 10:49am -
Regarding punctuation, this says it all...
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Comment by Maria Murnane on October 29, 2011 at 10:24am -
I am loving all the fun responses to my post! Please keep them coming-- I'm dying laughing at the "egg's" one hahaha. :)
Here's another picture for you all from my local grocery store:
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Comment by Linda Joy Myers on October 29, 2011 at 10:18am -
I love this post too! It drives me crazy that writing teachers and coaches do the same thing on their home page! I've been asked to judge contests where the grammar and the dratted apostrophes are wrong, so they immediately go in the "No" pile. People can't win a contest without understanding the rules of writing.
With the explosion of self-publishing, all we can do is to keep urging people to hire an editor. It's amazing how many people think their friend can do it--maybe so, if the friend IS an editor! Right on with correcting punctuation around the world!
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Comment by Caroline Bock on October 29, 2011 at 9:53am -
Fun post!! Funny thing is I once tried to hire an editor -- except she didn't 'do' grammar. A copy editor is what I needed -- and should have hired. Though, I'd love to know what 'tricks' people have to edit their own work, or even any computer programs out there other than Microsoft Word to catch grammatical mistakes. Though next time, I am going to research with Shewrites! Keep writing all!! My book did get published -- LIE -- and the big plus of a professional publishing house (St. Martin's Press) is that they did a terrific copy edit of the book!! www.carolinebock.com
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Comment by Georgia Ann Mullen on October 29, 2011 at 8:56am -
Author-published books hampered by grammatical errors give self-publishers a bad name. Sloppy production is one reason some traditional publishers refuse to consider later works. If you have great ideas but are poor at execution, hire an editor--she needs the work.
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