The Apocryphal Apostrophe

"The Holiday’s will be here before you know it... "

"(Venue) To Host An Array of Artist’s... "

"... back to it’s roots, back to the 50’s and 60’s, and playing the game as it was originally played… "

What do all these sentences have in common? Besides some questionable capitalization, they share misplaced apostrophes. In the first two, both apostrophes should be deleted, as "Holidays" and "Artists" are plural, not possessive. In the the third sentence, "it's" should be "its" because it's not a contraction, and no apostrophes are needed for "50s and 60s" because again, they are plural, not possessive.

These examples came from press releases and an e-newsletter we received, but we see this mistake everywhere: websites, signage, advertising, etc. Is it so common you shouldn't worry about it in your communications? Only if common is good enough. If you'd rather show that you care about setting a standard of excellence and a commitment to detail, but don't have the time or staff to worry about apostrophes, consider letting a professional like N2D Media Group handle your communications.

Confused about apostrophes? Here's a great guide from one of our favorite sites, The Oatmeal.