Photo by Irene

It’s time to learn the rules for capital’s and apostrophe’s.

Photo by Mike

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• The capitalization is all over the place
• “Bulb’s” and “flower’s” should not have apostrophes

Saw this one at Disney World in the “Swiss Family Treehouse.”

Photo by Mark Jaquith

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• Should be “SHIP’S LOG”

Color-by-number tiger girl is really freaking me out.

Photo by Kenn Nesbitt, via e-mail

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “Kid’s” should be “Kids”

Unnecessary apostrophes such as these are so crude. They might as well say “FRESH SALAD>1″

Photo by Eric Ode, via e-mail

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• “PASTA’S” should be “PASTAS”
• “SALAD’S” should be “SALADS”
• “HOME MADE” is typically one word

Are they selling a hotel?

Photo by Ellena Kirk, via e-mail

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• “SUITES” should be “SUITS” They’re probably talking about furniture, so that’s right!
• “MATTRESS’S” should be “MATTRESSES”

This sign could use some pier review.

Photo by Alan Jones, via e-mail

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• “VIOLATER’S” should be “VIOLATORS”
• “BAND” should be “BANNED”

My honor student fries can punctuate the pants off of your fries.

Photo by Noob Saibot, via e-mail

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• the second “fries” should be “fries’”

New rule: only fancy words get inappropriate apostrophes.

Photo by Marissa, via e-mail

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “LATTE’S” and “MOCHA’S” don’t need an apostrophe

Silly sign. Beehives are communes! No individual bee possesses anything.

Photo by Wendy Bumgardner, via e-mail

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• “BEE’S” does not need an apostrophe in either case

“Hm, if only I had some way to easily look up the proper spelling of ‘laundry.’ Oh well.”

Photo by shelley courvetter, via e-mail

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• “Landry” should be “Laundry”
• “THANK’S” does not need an apostrophe

Of course he’s white… but you don’t say it!

Photo by Shayne Kaye, via Flickr

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• “WHITE” appears to describe the kid, rather than the shoe
• The correction on “KID’S,” adding the apostrophe, is good

Everyone should have their own Benedict.

Photo by Dylan O'Connell, via e-mail

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• “Egg’s” and “Pancake’s” do not need an apostrophe
• Latte and Scrambled don’t need a period
• “CHocoLate” should have consistent capitalization
• “Crossants” should be “Croissants”
• “SURVEILANCE” should be “SURVEILLANCE”

This one is really common. Of the signs I’ve surveyed, fewer than one in four has the correct apostrophe.

Photo by Mark Jaquith

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• “OWNERS EXPENSE” should be “OWNER’S EXPENSE”

My favorite part is the hidden algebra problem.

Photo by Rick Prokosch, via e-mail

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “ROUTE’S” does not require an apostrophe

I’ve come up with a word for the unfair segregation of the letter “s” with an apostrophe: apostropartheid. Who will be their Nelson Mandela?

Photo by Timothy Valentine, via e-mail

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• “Condo’s” does not need an apostrophe

They even put the Wordsplosion logo behind their mistake! How thoughtful.

Photo by webchicken @ Flickr

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “KID’S Eat Free!” should be “KIDS Eat Free!”

Ah, Dolors, the SI unit of sadness. You must be this crying to adopt the puppy.

Photo by Dylan O'Connell, via e-mail

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• The word “dolor’s” does not need an apostrophe
• The word “dolor’s” should be “dollars”
• Also, it is redundant to say “dollars” after already providing the dollar sign ($)

I looked at that sign about six times before I realized it didn’t say “Pizza.”

Photo by Jeffrey Bealle @ Flickr

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “DELIVERY’S” should be “DELIVERIES”

I’m skeptical.

Photo by Stephen Yeargin @ Flickr, via e-mail

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “IT’S” does not require an apostrophe

The worst one is “Headquarter’s” because “Headquarter” isn’t a noun. It only exists as “Headquarters.” What’s with those 5s? Has this sign been up since trees cost $2? I’d hate to have been tree shopping the day after they raised their price by 1150%.

Photo by jefferson lunsford via e-mail

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• None of the words on the billboard requires an apostrophe
• the 5s on the billboard appear to be from a different font (and the wrong size)

Point’s for consistency. Don’t miss the bonus semi-colon.

Photo by Tom Lowe via e-mail

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• After “PHONE” there should be a colon (:) not a semicolon (;)
• All the words that end in an “S” have an incorrect apostrophe (there should be no apostrophe anywhere on the van)

Alternate reading: the store is actually named “@.”  The TV spots would, of course, have to use the “where you at?” catchphrase.  Response: “@’s where I’m at!”

Photo by smith @ Flickr

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “SHOP’S” should be “SHOPS”

I decided to promote Wordsplosion on Facebook and got some instant unintentional help.  Also: geography fail.

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• The sentence should start with a capital letter
• “its was” should be “It was”
• Both instances of “further” should be “farther” (as she is talking about physical distance)
• “egypt” should be capitalized
• “africa” should be capitalized
• “thats” should be “that’s”
• Egypt is a country within Africa, and is one of the easternmost countries in that continent (thus being farther away from North America than most other African countries)
• too many exclamation points

I sense your urgency!

Photo by drcorneilus @ Flickr

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• “ROSE FROM THE DEATH” should be “ROSE FROM THE DEAD”
• “HES COMING” should be “HE’S COMING”
• There should be a space after “SHORT,”
• “REPENT!!!” and “croos!!” should only have one exclamation point
• “He die for you in a croos” should be “He died for you on a cross”
• “Mount of olive church” should be “Mount of Olive Church”

If I were a marble engraver, I would engrave mistakes without saying anything. It’s not like my logo would be on it.  And if they cared, I’d get to charge them again.

Photo by sylvar @ Flickr

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “IT’S FUTURE” should be “ITS FUTURE” (no apostrophe)

Superscript, he can handle.  Everything else, not so much.

Photo by Editor B @ Flickr

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• “You has” should have “You have”
• “a secret person who like’s you” should be “a secret person who likes you” (or better: “a secret admirer”)
• “Find” has no reason to be capitalized in the middle of a sentence
• “who I’m am” should be “who I am”
• There should be no comma between “Your” and “lover”

Sorry Thank. I didn’t “realize” it was your “door.”

Photo by Paull Young @ Flickr

Wait, I don’t see the problem with this! »« Ah, I get it now!

• “Close” should not be quoted
• There should be no comma after “Close”
• “Thank’s” should be “Thanks”
• “Door” should not be capitalized