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A noun that is formed from a verb and which describes an action. In English it ends in -ing, eg 'the baking of bread' and 'Smoking damages your health'.

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Posted by GrammarBlog on 26th May, 2008

Apostrophe catastrophe, originally uploaded by Clive Murray.

Thanks to Clive Murray for this gem.

Apparently this shop can be found on George Lane in South Woodford, London.

Clive adds, “I cannot tell you the name of the shop as I was too busy vomiting, and only managed to pause just long enough to take this picture.”

We understand.

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3 Comments »

1. Surely that’s valid. They’re just abbreviating the word.

   “G’day bro, my b’day present t’day came in multiple box’s.”

   Comment by Tony — 27th May, 2008 @ 6:28 pm

2. That point did cross my mind and I admire your optimistic view. If I were a better and more forgiving man I
   might give them the benefit of the doubt.

   I’m not.

   We all know it’s a mistake and although Jacques Derrida’s theories on retrospective application of meaning are valid for most artforms, they don’t really apply when discussing an apostrophe on a shop front.

   Comment by Gez — 27th May, 2008 @ 7:17 pm

3. I’m so confused by this kind of thing, because you would think there would be several people involved in the sign creation process.

   Nobody along the way—person who commissioned the sign, person who took the order, person who arranged for it to be printed, person who printed it—EVER NOTICED?

   Sick!

   Comment by Beth — 28th May, 2008 @ 6:39 pm

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