Sticking my nose in?
A business moved into the village where I live a few months ago. It was good to see occupants in the empty building, which had been looking sorry for itself since the departure of the previous tenants. It’s a sign- and banner-making business. They specialise in PVC banners that advertise all manner of events and occasions. Imagine my horror – as a self-confessed grammar nerd – when they put up a placard on the wall outside saying they did signs for:
- Concerts
- BBQs
- Receptions
- Classes
- Fete’s
- New businesses
- Events
Why the errant apostrophe in the word “Fete’s”? Given that, in English, we make lots of plurals by simply adding an ‘s’ to the word, I couldn’t understand why they would use an apostrophe in one plural but not others. Was it because ‘fete’ is a foreign word? Or because it looked odd with just an ‘s’ added? Whatever the reason, they managed to prove that the greengrocer’s apostrophe is still alive and kicking – so called because market stall greengrocers tend to be particularly generous in their use of the humble apostrophe. In markets the length and breadth of the country, signs abound for orange’s, cauli’s, courgette’s and so on…
I walked past several times tutting under my breath. I do this a lot and sometimes it’s not really sotto voce either. Should I go in and point it out to them? Or should I just get off my high horse and leave them to it? A quandary, indeed.
Eventually, my desire to help got the better of me and I ventured inside. The two guys working at desks in the white-walled, parquet-floored room looked up expectantly. “Can I help?” one asked. “Actually,” I replied, “I hope I can help you. Did you realise you had an error on your sign outside?” They were aghast and immediately blamed Gary – a third colleague who wasn’t there. Whether it was his fault or not, the poor guy certainly took the blame that afternoon.
I pointed out that the plural of ‘Fete’ is ‘Fetes’ and said I couldn’t bear them to have a mistake in letters six inches high outside their door, especially when their business is making signs! I went on to explain that all the other words on the sign were spot-on and that they only needed an ‘s’ to make a plural. They nodded and looked slightly crestfallen. I offered my services as a proof-reader and they noted down my name and phone number. They’ve not called me yet. But the placard has been removed.
I’m still wondering whether I should have intervened or not. Part of me thinks it’s their own fault and they’re in business, so they make their own luck; but another part of me thinks, if someone doesn’t point it out, what damage might it do to their reputation and, ultimately, their bottom line. And I care about businesses being successful, particularly fledgling ones. One of my core values is to support the ‘little guy’ over the big corporate where I can. I hope they’ll learn from their mistake. It would be even nicer if I could get involved in checking their wording before they make costly errors. In the meantime, I await the new placard.
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