Grammar Police: WBZ Website

[THE_VIKING]

A prominent headline straight from Channel 4's website:

"WBZ A-List 2007 -- And The Winner's Are..."

Last I checked, Boston wasn't market 234.

 

[PaulRAnderson]

Where do people "learn" that an apostrophe is ever used for a plural? It makes no sense. An apostrophe is only used when indicating possession--always has and always will.

Mistakes like this just make people, and broadcasters in this case, look stupid.

And why do people leave the last "s" off sometimes:

New Hampshire's Best Rock
Massachusetts' Best Rock

The word Massachusetts when above should be spelled "Massachusetts's". Unless the word is already plural, you should always add a "'s" at the end. Just because the word happens to end with an "s" does not eliminate the need for the "s" after the apostrophe.

I see this mistake almost everywhere, including newspapers, so maybe it's becoming accepted.

Cheer's to you all,

Paul

 

[BRNout]

Where do people "learn" that an apostrophe is ever used for a plural? It makes no sense. An apostrophe is only used when indicating possession--always has and always will.

Mistakes like this just make people, and broadcasters in this case, look stupid.

And why do people leave the last "s" off sometimes:

New Hampshire's Best Rock
Massachusetts' Best Rock

The word Massachusetts when above should be spelled "Massachusetts's". Unless the word is already plural, you should always add a "'s" at the end. Just because the word happens to end with an "s" does not eliminate the need for the "s" after the apostrophe.

I see this mistake almost everywhere, including newspapers, so maybe it's becoming accepted.

Cheer's to you all,

Paul

You are absolutely right!! The apostrophe is so misused in the media that it makes me cringe. Even relatively simple uses of it are routinely bungled. On your example of "Massachusetts's best rock", you are quite correct. However, so many of us were taught to place the apostrophe behind the last s (as a rule of thumb) in grammar school that I think it stuck. In reality, it should only be done when the noun is plural (i..e. 'the ducks' pond" - as in the pond that belongs to multiple ducks). Almost no one gets this right anymore - it has become a lost art.

Nonetheless, journalists/media folks should be held to a higher standard than the general public. The WBZ example is a rookie mistake that should have never been posted.