Spotted this abuse on a package of Ostrom Farms mushrooms. I’m not quite sure why they decided to use an apostrophe in the description text but not just above on the label.
Enoki Mushroom’s
Follow Apostrophe Abuse
Spotted this abuse on a package of Ostrom Farms mushrooms. I’m not quite sure why they decided to use an apostrophe in the description text but not just above on the label.
#1 by Anonymous on October 20, 2007 - 11:43 pm
Is that wrong? I think they left off an implied “The” as in “The mushroom’s flavor”
#2 by Anonymous on October 21, 2007 - 12:28 am
anonymous: That would make the rest of the text incorrect; you’d have to replace “make them” with “makes it”.
#3 by Anonymous on October 21, 2007 - 12:34 am
shouldn’t it be: mushrooms’ texture? The texture belongs to all of the mushrooms.
#4 by Arden Michelle on October 22, 2007 - 12:31 am
That’s what I was thinking, it seems like apostophe misplacement rather than outright abuse. I think it should have been mushrooms’.
#5 by Anonymous on October 24, 2007 - 3:57 am
I agree with the last two posts–the apostrophe is just misplaced. And since it’s the products name (and for the sake of consistency), the ‘m’ in mushrooms’ should be capitalized.
#6 by Anonymous on October 24, 2007 - 3:59 am
ohmigod! I just posted with an apostrophe error. Uh…I was just testing everyone. LOL
#7 by Anonymous on October 26, 2007 - 8:06 pm
Actually, there is nothing wrong at all with this sentence. And the fact that it isn’t in the above text is also accurate. As it was said; the texture belongs to the mushrooms and in the above text, “Enoki Mushrooms” is the name of them, and therefor doesn’t need an apostrophe.
#8 by P. Dant on October 26, 2007 - 8:38 pm
No one has said that the “Enoki Mushrooms” at the top needs an apostrophe. It doesn’t.
But in the descriptive text, “Enoki Mushroom’s” is singular (one mushroom, or one type of mushroom), while “makes them” is plural. It should be Enoki Mushrooms’.
Alternatively, you could write “The Enoki Mushroom’s [flavor and texture] makes it..”
#9 by Beth on October 26, 2007 - 11:53 pm
I think this one’s actually fine.
#10 by Anonymous on April 18, 2008 - 1:24 am
As an English teacher (and generally assumed grammar expert), I have two points:
1. It should be Mushrooms’.
2. It should be “crisp, crunchy.”