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BS in "BS 7666" stands for British Standard and not anything else. If the standard restricts street names to those certain characters, may be it really is BS.
by devsda 2y ago
BS in "BS 7666" stands for British Standard and not anything else.
If the standard restricts street names to those certain characters, may be it really is BS.
- colloydi 2y agoThe '666' portion doesn't inspire confidence either. We love apostrophes so much we have them on our supermarkets. If they're not there we add them. e.g. I'm going to Sainbury's e.g. I'm going to Tesco's ...despite the fact that it's real name is plain old Tesco.
- swores 2y agoThat's because you're not going to Tesco the registered company, you're going to (one of) Tesco's (shops). It's just traditional and logical grammar, not misnaming.
- colloydi 2y agoThank you, I'll remember that next time I pay a visit to Sainbury's's!
- swores 2y agoI agree it's not consistent, but who ever accused English of being that?! My point isn't that all business names are treated that way, just that the ones that are the reason is grammatical tradition not (for the most part) people who incorrectly think the shop is called "Tesco's" or whatever.
- colloydi 2y agoI agree swores. Your comment did say 'traditional' and my comment was facetious. There's been an historical transition from small chains owned by individuals (e.g. the Victorian Mr John Sainsbury) to big brands (e.g. Superdrug), hasn't there. The possessive apostrophe was appropriate for the former but surely less so nowadays. I would guess "Sainsbury's" was a rebrand intended to reflect tradition.
- swores 2y agoBleh, I might've realised you were kidding had I gone to Starbucks's this morning
- arrowsmith 2y agoThis is not true. We don't apply this "rule" to any other establishment, e.g. people don't say "I'm going to Burger King's" or "I'm going to Costa's". There's nothing to analyze: "Tesco's" is just wrong. It's not the name of the business.
- Affric 2y agolol… I am glad for you that you haven’t heard those yet.
- iainmerrick 2y agopeople don't say "I'm going to Burger King's" or "I'm going to Costa's" Oh yes they do! There's nothing to analyze: "Tesco's" is just wrong. It’s kind of funny that there are prescriptivists on both sides here, all convinced that they’re right.
- TylerE 2y agoIn 40 years I have no seen such usage in print
- iainmerrick 2y agoPeople say it.
- b112 2y agoYou may not be wrong that people do say it, I'm sure people say pretty much anything, across this vast planet. Yet people use double negatives, when meaning the negative too. Doesn't make it right.
- iainmerrick 2y agoI think language is defined by real-world usage, not by the logical structure that we theorise underpins it. If so, double negatives actually are right, or at least they can be, if they successfully communicate meaning.
- bitwize 2y agoUp in the northeastern USA there was a discount retail (department store) chain called Caldor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldor My mom used to buy small appliances and Christmas gifts there -- and she always called it Caldor's. Clothes, she usually bought at Marshalls -- which hasn't had an apostrophe since 1974.
- jasonm23 2y agoFun fact, Lotus (Tesco's Thailand stores) have an erroneous apostrophe: "Lotus's" ... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Lotus%27sRangsiteveningEdit.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Lotus%27...
- Digit-Al 2y agoI say Sainsbury's because the name is exactly that. I don't say Tesco's because the name, as you say, is Tesco. I would guess those who say Tesco's (and maybe Asda's) are just getting confused because of Sainsbury's.
- b112 2y agoSounds like this Sainsbury person is responsible for spreading an apostrophe infection to Tesco.
- iainmerrick 2y agoMarks and Spencer are studiously looking the other way, innocent expressions on their faces.