Newsletter – August 30, 2024
No, I didn’t make up a new word this time, you can put away your score cards. But don’t throw them away all together, I’m bound to invent more in the future.
Apostrophizing is “to punctuate a word with an apostrophe.” And since Grammar Girl has discussed this issue on her podcast twice in three weeks, I thought I’d add my two cents’ worth. (Note the apostrophe after “cents.”)
The sign in the photo has been hanging on the family home for at least ten years, maybe twenty, and the apostrophe has been getting my goat all this time.
As a theatre professor teaching in liberal arts colleges for many years, I corrected hundreds—my wife says thousands—of student papers. Supporting a Writing Across The Curriculum dictum, it was my job to assign papers, give corrections, collect rewrites, and grade them. I got really good at spotting errors and deciphering what the students actually meant to say. There was a lot of teaching going on in those exchanges!
So what’s wrong with the Margerum sign? It’s beautifully crafted and a lovely gift to my parents that I’ve kept hanging by the front door just for the aesthetic, but that apostrophe is all wrong.
This is a house that holds more than one Margerum. So the sign should simply say “The Margerums” without an apostrophe.
If you argue that the implied concept is that it’s the house belonging to the Margerums, then the possessive apostrophe belongs at the end: The Margerums’ House. In its current location the possessive would be the house of only one Margerum. That has never been true in the history of this domicile.
I’ve seen a crayon-type of wood filler sold in many different wood shades which could potentially fill in the offending punctuation mark, but it’d still be visible. Kind of like applying White-Out to a scribbled out misspelling on a birthday card. We all see it.
So live and let live, I guess. Maybe the Grammar Police won’t come pounding on our door…or door’s.
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I highly recommend Grammar Girl podcasts as well as her books and website. She’s very accessible and explains grammar with genuine enthusiasm and a sense of fun.
Her episodes on the apostrophe are #1006 and #1009.
You’ll find her at https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl/
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I’ll be returning to Barnes & Noble in Lafayette, Indiana, to do another book signing on Saturday, September 7 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is also available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles
Eric Margerum 