The Pedants' Arms

[Dayvo]

Now yo'ure taking the pis's, Dayvo.

Mais wee!

 

[vernon]

Thats a lot of good's.

 

[TVC]

Thats a lot of good's.

He probably stole them

 

[vernon]

It's not a matter of how literate the staff are but more like what the council's naming convention is for street names.

 

[vernon]

I think I'll lose more sleep wondering how young you have to be before you can die of old age than fretting over the (mis)placement of apostophies in pub signs and street names.

 

[Yellow Fang]

People criticise pedants, but look what happens. For decades pedants have been pointing out to the ignorant (i.e. unknowing, not obnoxious) that literally means really or actually, not figuratively nor metaphorically, but to no avail. Now the Oxford English Dictionary defines literally as meaning both literally and not literally.

 

[alicat]

The Royal Mail (it probably calls itself Royal Mail now) doesn't bother with apostrophes, much to my chagrin. So I have the misfortune of living on Prince Ruperts Way - rather than the good fortune of living on Prince Rupert's Way.

 

[mr_hippo]

Was, for example, The Butchers Arms owned by a family called Butcher, a group of butchers or mainly frequented by butchers? In the last case there is no need for the possessive apostrophe but in the first two there is.
In relation to church names, the church is dedicated to a saint and was named The Parish Church of St Peter which was shortened over time as St Peters Church with no possessive apostrophe; the 's' was possibly added to stop confusion - who was St Peter Church?
Some names end in an 's' like James and the plural may be pronounced as Jameses abbreviated to James's or James' where an apostrophe is need; this does not denote possession but deletion of letters

 

[vernon]

People criticise pedants, but look what happens. For decades pedants have been pointing out to the ignorant (i.e. unknowing, not obnoxious) that literally means really or actually, not figuratively nor metaphorically, but to no avail. Now the Oxford English Dictionary defines literally as meaning both literally and not literally.

The English language is a fluid and dynamic entity. The Oxford English dictionary is about to delete the word pedant as it doesn't have a place in a fluid and dynamic language.

 

[hopless500]

Some do. It depends on how literate the Council staff are. I remember when I was in Oxford that a road sign that had been correctly spelt was replaced with one without an apostrophe - that provoked letters in the press and the road sign was duly amended.

Council here is shite too. King's Lynn has many signs en route, and it's a half and half lottery as to whether the apostrophe is correctly placed. It was one king, not many, so put the bloody apostrophe in. Please. It isn't difficult. Just employ someone who is vaguely literate.

 

[classic33]

If Frank Butcher ran a pub, I suppose he could call it THE Butchers Arms. It doesn't matter about the missing apostrophe anywhere in the world as our eyes will always spot one somewhere it should not perhap's be - as compensation.
Why are no pubs called The Queens Arms? * Or an Irish owner who had 'The O'Pen Arms'

* Whoops! Always gives one a nice filip when they are open.

One of those would be a Glottal stop.

 

[buggi]

its bloody slack if you ask me.

 

[vernon]

Some names end in an 's' like James and the plural may be pronounced as Jameses abbreviated to James's or James" where an apostrophe is need; this does not denote possession but deletion of letters

[rare moment of pedantry]
I'm not convinced that you are are correct with James''. A single apostrophe indicates the deletion of one or more letters.
Examples:
o'clock from of the clock
fo'c's'le or fo'c'sle from forecastle

Two adjacent apostrophes is more commonly known as a quotation mark, inverted commas or a speech mark.

The plural of James is Jameses so a car belonging to them would be written as the Jameses' car. It could be a clumsy pronunciation but it is unambiguous.

I've not read any style guide that advocates the use of a pair of apostrophes. Though I would love to be proved wrong about their non-existence.

[/rare moment of pedantry]

 

[Aperitif]

Peddlant!
It's enough to drive anyone to the pub...and not look at the flippin' sign en route through the door...

 

[swansonj]

Visitors/Visitors' Car Park.

They put up signs with no apostrophes at work once. A mate and I were working late one night and were alone on site, so we went out with a roll of black insulating tape and a pair of scissors and added apostrophes. One of them was still there when the site closed several years later.