Mayhaps, lettering twenty-teen million damn signs would lessen your objecting.

In sooth, wouldst not such repetitious practice refine their artistry?

It's not like they are cutting corners by leaving something out. They are adding an apostrophe which isn't needed.

Now plural possessives are another thing. There is a sign "Reader's Room" which should be "Readers' Room". A minute error .. but the sign is in the National Library of Australia! :smack:

RK, sorry for hijacking your thread!

A sign maker will make the sign the customer requests. Mistakes and all.

Indeed, English speech requires inconstancy in idiom, there being no Academie Anglaise.

Misplaced, misused tadpoles -- these are things up with which we shall not put. And we can see an instance of this done unintentionally above: possessive nouns take the apostrophe, but possessive pronouns do not to escape confusion between possessives and contractions. Some possessive pronouns haven't even a chance to acquire an improper apostrophe -- they/their, et cetera.

The difference of meaning between shall and will is not, I think, as observed in American English as in British. However, I observe it carefully, liking the precision. It's also why I use further more seldom than farther. Likewise ensure v. insure.

Come to read it again, Zen, I think I'm going to have to brief you on the usage of the Second Person (Ancient). "Wouldst?" There? I'm throwing the yellow card!

I need a hari kari Smiley

After the first two, did you not realise that the individual staff are not responsible for corporate signage and perhaps your abuse would be better directed to the head office, in writing?

How would one differentiate between a room for a reader, and a room for multiple readers?

Just as above. As written, it's a room for just one. Must be small. Move the apostrophe to after the S and now you've got them all covered.

No. I am very, very slow.:p

allso I doent spell to gude.

Honestly, as long as someone is reading this one, I'm happy. :rolleyes:

Just reflecting on the thread drift here, it seems that we are MUCH more concerned with spelling and the correct placement of apostrophes than with the serious issues RK was raising.
:eyebrow:
Cue link to generation Q thread.

Thread drift -- it's not just on planet Pern any more...

Wasn't that thread fall?

(wracks brains ... Anne McCafferty? Red Sun Rising??)

Pass me my dragon, would you?

It was a hijack.

I think they also took to talking of drift... meaning Threadfall somewhere funny. They were supposed to be pretty good at predicting Thread locations. There are upwards of a double handful of books in the Pern series to look in.

McCaffrey did write Dragonsinger and Dragondrums, but never got to a Dragonbass or Dragonlead. ;)