Writing Wednesday: Why you might be writing your holiday cards wrong

My lovely friend Jenny suggested I address proper holiday card punctuation for this week's Writing Wednesday post, and I was happy to oblige. While I've written about this in the past, it's always good to have another reminder.

So. Here's a quick recap on apostrophes: They're used to show omission (as in contractions like can't or don't), clarification (do's as opposed to dos in do's and don'ts) and possession. However, apostrophes are never used to make a word plural, especially names.

If I were sending out holiday cards this year, I would avoid these three errors. By the way, I'm using my last name as an example, but this is in no way a slam on anyone who shares the name! :)

• Happy holidays from the Wilcox's! Remember, apostrophes make something possessive, not plural. This would only be correct if I followed it with something that belongs to us, like our mailbox or our plant or our home — and that would be weird. Instead, I would make Wilcox plural by adding an es (it follows the same rule as fox or box) and write it like this: Happy holidays from the Wilcoxes! If you're unsure about how to make your family name plural, check out Grammar Girl's fabulous article.
• Merry Christmas from the Wilcox Family! While this is better — and I would recommend writing your last name and family if you can't figure out the right way to make your name plural — there's no need to capitalize the word family. Reserve capitalization for proper nouns and the first word in a sentence. It distracts people from your message instead of adding emphasis.
• Come to a holiday party at the Wilcox's home! If I lived alone and often referred to myself by my last name, this might be correct. But since I'm married, I need to make my last name plural and possessive. The correct way to do this is to add an es and then an s' to the end, so that it looks like this: Come to a holiday party at the Wilcoxes' home! I realize that this looks REALLY weird, so I would probably just go the Wilcox home route and avoid all the plurals and possessives, but this would be the correct way to write it.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions, even if they're specifics about how to make your name plural/possessive, just leave a comment or send me an email! I'm happy to give you some advice.

Writing Wednesday: Apostrophe misuse

If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen this picture, but I thought it was worth sharing again for a quick reminder on apostrophes. I took this picture at a local grocery store the other day, and I wished the sign was written in pencil so I could erase those extra apostrophes forever.

Just follow this mantra: When in doubt, leave it out. Apostrophes should only be used to show possession or omission, never to make a word plural.

Have you seen any glaring punctuation or grammar errors lately? I'd love to hear about them!

Writing Wednesday: NoBODY knows apostrophes

Hopefully you are not too offended by bare legs from an underwear ad! I got this flyer in the mail from Victoria's Secret and was appalled that they used an apostrophe to make the word body plural — so appalled, in fact, that I immediately posted a picture to Instagram.

Yes, I am aware that they're playing off the name of their bra. Yes, I know that they're trying to catch your attention by using the word body. But there are so many different ways they could have gone with this ad, none of which required them to write the word bodies (which would have been correct).

Moral of the story: Don't use an apostrophe to make any words plural (with the exception of "do's and don'ts"). It instantly lowers the credibility of your blog — or, in this case, a pricey print ad.

Have you seen any advertising mishaps lately? Do plurals trip you up?

Writing Wednesday: Apostrophes (and how to use them correctly)

Source

My friend Holly recently posted this on her Facebook wall, and I thought it was too good not to share. I do agree with her comments, though: "Unfortunately, Apostrophe Man is only good with apostrophes. He needs to team up with Comma Girl and Period Boy."

But we'll talk about commas and periods later. Today's Writing Wednesday is about apostrophes. I won't go into a ton of detail, because I'll be the first to admit that grammar explanations can be dry (and I find grammar fascinating). However, there are a few common mistakes people make with commas that I'll quickly explain.

First, here are the three main purposes of an apostrophe, which may help you know better when to use one:

• Apostrophes show possession. For example: Lindsay's car is silver. The women's club meets every Tuesday. Meet for a party at the Wilcoxes' home.
• Apostrophes show omission. Whenever you remove a letter or a number, you generally need to replace it with a comma. This is obvious in contractions like aren't or shouldn't (where the apostrophe replaces the letter "o"), but it is also why shortened dates or time periods (like the '80s) are correctly written with an apostrophe at the beginning. Writing "80's" is incorrect.
• Apostrophes are occasionally used for clarification. Notice that I said occasionally. One great example of using apostrophes for clarification is writing the phrase "do's and don'ts." An apostrophe is necessary for the word "do's" because without it, it looks like the word dos.

There are a lot of other questions I think about all the time (because writing and editing is my day job as well as my passion), such as whether certain phrases should be possessive or not (Veterans Day is written without an s', which drives me bananas). But these are the basic rules to follow.

Below are two examples of when you should never use apostrophes.

• Don't use an apostrophe to make a word plural. While there are many ways to make a word plural (s, es, x, geese, mice, octopi), an apostrophe is never one of them. Keep the Apostrophe Man comic in mind and don't add apostrophes to words that don't need them. Also, since Christmas card season is nearly upon us, remember that signing your letter "From The Smith's" is not correct, either.
• Don't use an apostrophe in the pronoun its. I know this one is a hard one for a lot of people to remember, but before you add another pen stroke or hit that key on your computer, think Does this word, if it was broken apart, mean "it is?" If it doesn't, it's a pronoun and it doesn't need an apostrophe.

Those are the basics! Did I forget any big apostrophe mishaps? Do you have any apostrophe pet peeves to share?