Comments on: Apostrophe

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:39:52 +0000

I've never liked Status Quo all that much. Grammar is important though.

By: poohugh

poohugh — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:09:23 +0000

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
I was starting to think of these Designers as a young, exciting band of creative rule breakers, who don’t care for convention or the status quo.
Now they are no more, only a few memories in the comments seciton of a blog i’ve never looked at before.

poohugh’s last blog post..poohugh: Commenting on apostrophe usage, join the fun! http://is.gd/8h31

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:30:49 +0000

It’s done. See the update (and the masthead).

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:54:57 +0000

Cat - got to love the bluntness of editors. (You have read the upset surrounding Giles Coren haven't you?) The form of the title stays at least. Awkward or not, it's there, it never did the New York Review of Books any harm and it's a deliberate nod to that. Awkward is often more memorable, but we can agree to disagree on that. As for the apostrophe, it's only possessive plural if I intended it to be. There's really no "end of the story" there. It always comes down to what the writer intended to communicate. It's grammatically correct with either apostrophe placement and with no apostrophe. My original intention when I wrote the title was the no apostrophe version. When it changes to be possessive I'm pretty certain I'll keep it singular because it's a review for individual designers and, up until now, by and from one.

By: Cat

Cat — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:22:30 +0000

It should read, Designers’. It doesn’t matter if the designers are internal (those reviewing) or external (those who will be reading the reviews), it’s a possessive plural and that’s simply the end of the story.

The title is awkward and not memorable. Admit defeat. Try again. “Book review” will always be a better choice than “review of books.” It’s almost like ordering a cone of ice cream instead of an ice cream cone.

– Cat, the former newspaper editor.

By: Editor

Editor — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:08:36 +0000

John – Designers Review Books? Makes a statement at least. Or an imperative!

By: Editor

Editor — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:06:47 +0000

Antonio - I'll leave you to argue with Ale about his serifs on Buffet Script. I like them and I'm sure they won't be a problem with "Designer's".

By: John Thompson

John Thompson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:05:05 +0000

As an art director with an English lit degree, I have to say it’s very exciting to see all these designers debating points of punctuation. Of course if you just removed the “of,” you’d be left with a perfectly good–albeit quirky–sentence, and the matter would be settled.

By: Editor

Editor — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:54:42 +0000

Yes, I think you’re right. That’s what I interpreted that last point to mean. Who would have thought the apostrophe post would have been the most heavily read so far? I love it!

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:50:50 +0000

7. The Attributive Proper Noun Case. Meaning: The review of books is affiliated somehow with an entity whose name is Designers.
I agree that this meaning could be acceptably punctuated without an apostrophe, but I wonder what the proper noun Designers is. If a book were titled ‘The Rutgers Review of New Jersey Restaurants’, I agree that an apostrophe after Rutgers or after New Jersey is unnecessary. But how are designers like Rutgers or New Jersey? Why would the word ‘designers’ be capitalized if it were not in the title of a book? What and where is the entity Designers?