| 单词 | greengrocer's apostrophe |
| 释义 | > as lemmasgreengrocer's apostrophe greengrocer's apostrophe n. (also greengrocers' apostrophe) [ < the genitive of greengrocer n. (or its plural) + apostrophe n.2, with allusion to the apparent frequency of its use among greengrocers (compare quot. 1991)] British an apostrophe used irregularly; spec. one placed before the terminal s of a plural noun (cf. apostrophe n.2 2). ΚΠ 1991 K. Waterhouse English our English 43 Greengrocers, for some reason, are extremely generous with their apostrophes—banana's, tomatoe's (or tom's), orange's etc. Perhaps these come over in crates of fruit, like exotic spiders.] 1992 Oxf. Compan. Eng. Lang. 75/1 The apostrophe of plurality continues in at least five areas:... In the non-standard (‘illiterate’) use often called in BrE the greengrocer's apostrophe, as in apple's 55p per lb and We sell the original shepherds pie's. 1993 Independent (Nexis) 14 Feb. 23 The best greengrocer's apostrophe I've ever seen is ‘asparagu's’. 2000 Scotsman (Electronic ed.) 3 July Linguistic pedants are still engaged in debate about the greengrocers' apostrophe and the vital difference between implication and inference. 2018 Guardian (Electronic ed.) 7 May Arguably more offensive was his flagrant use of the greengrocer's apostrophe (‘ladie's’, ‘chicken's’). < as lemmas |
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