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Adding "S" to the end of random words

Started by webny99, February 08, 2018, 10:44:58 PM

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webny99

backwards, forwards, anyways, anywheres, somewheres, everywheres, etc.

Does anyone else do this? I have a bad habit of doing it both in speech and writing. I don't know what causes it, but it's extremely common in upstate NY despite being (in all cases) grammatically incorrect.

In the latter three examples, I at least remember to omit the "s" when writing. But the former three are totally instinctive.


briantroutman

Perhaps related but not exactly the same thing: I've known multiple people from greater Buffalo who add an S (assumably an apostrophe + S) to the names of businesses that don't legitimately have them.

For example, "I'm going to Kmart"  might become "I'm going to Kmart's" .
Or if you asked where a person bought a new TV, the answer might be "Best Buy's"
I think I've even heard Sears (which already ends in S) referred to as "Sears's"  (like "sear-ziz" )

Scott5114

Quote from: briantroutman on February 08, 2018, 11:07:41 PM
Perhaps related but not exactly the same thing: I've known multiple people from greater Buffalo who add an S (assumably an apostrophe + S) to the names of businesses that don't legitimately have them.

For example, "I'm going to Kmart"  might become "I'm going to Kmart's" .
Or if you asked where a person bought a new TV, the answer might be "Best Buy's"
I think I've even heard Sears (which already ends in S) referred to as "Sears's"  (like "sear-ziz" )

I don't think this is a regionalism. My mom, from Kansas City, often does the same thing.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

jakeroot

I've always associated that style of talking with the NYC metro area. "We's goin' somewheh's feh dinneh tonoight?"

SSOWorld

Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.

LM117

Quote from: briantroutman on February 08, 2018, 11:07:41 PM
Perhaps related but not exactly the same thing: I've known multiple people from greater Buffalo who add an S (assumably an apostrophe + S) to the names of businesses that don't legitimately have them.

For example, "I'm going to Kmart"  might become "I'm going to Kmart's" .
Or if you asked where a person bought a new TV, the answer might be "Best Buy's"
I think I've even heard Sears (which already ends in S) referred to as "Sears's"  (like "sear-ziz" )

I've also heard people call Belk "Belk's".
“I don’t know whether to wind my ass or scratch my watch!” - Jim Cornette

jeffandnicole

There's a few restaurants down my way that I never knew didn't have an S at the end until they said it the correct way in a commercial.

hotdogPi

About one year ago, "Nordstrom's" was in the news. It's Nordstrom.

Also, in Minecraft, sometimes the last word (typed, not spoken) will have a w at the end. This is because w is the key to move forward, and accidentally pressing w before pressing enter will cause this to happen.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

webny99

Quote from: briantroutman on February 08, 2018, 11:07:41 PM
Perhaps related but not exactly the same thing: I've known multiple people from greater Buffalo who add an S (assumably an apostrophe + S) to the names of businesses that don't legitimately have them.

YES! I do this with "Aldi's". I legitimately didnt even realize it was just called "Aldi" until maybe a year ago.
"JCPenney's" is another one that's used almost exclusively.

Quote from: SSOWorld on February 09, 2018, 06:18:12 AM
alls you gotta do is talk like this.
"Alls" falls into the category of me saying it once in a while (for humor, as often as not), but having the sense not to type it  ;-)
Anyways, I just cannot remember that anyway doesn't have an "s"!

ftballfan


renegade

Yeah.  Meijer's, Walmart's, Kroger's, Kmart's, Penney's.  Have heard them all, and more.
Don’t ask me how I know.  Just understand that I do.

corco

The thing with Penney's is that that was actually the name of the store for many years

briantroutman

Quote from: webny99 on February 09, 2018, 07:53:37 AM
"JCPenney's" is another one that's used almost exclusively.

Older people adding an S to JCPenney perhaps should get a bit of a pass because in the mid 20th century up through the early '70s, the stores were in fact branded as "Penneys" –with no apostrophe. (No relation to the Primark "Penneys"  stores in Ireland, by the way.)



(Edit: I see corco beat me to it.)

In a similar vein, many other brands that have a root in an actual person's name have had an S appended to them, assumably to mollify this tendency. So the Wegman family grocery chain trades as "Wegmans" , the company founded by Aaron Montgomery Ward eventually advertised as "Wards" , the pharmacy chain founded by Charles Walgreen is "Walgreens" , and so on.

One of the odder manifestations of unnecessarily adding apostrophe + S was in many American auto advertisements up through roughly the '50s where the call to action was something like "...visit your local Chevrolet dealer's today for a test drive" . I don't think they were referring to multiple dealers and used an apostrophe in error. I can only imagine that the implication is that a word is omitted but understood, like "...your local Chevrolet dealer's [showroom]..."  In a similar manner to how a person might say "I'm going to over to Bob's"  and the assumption is that you're going to Bob's [house].

webny99

The examples in the OP don't even involve apostrophes. Is there anyone else who does this by habit to the extent that I do?

US71

Quote from: renegade on February 09, 2018, 02:26:41 PM
Yeah.  Meijer's, Walmart's, Kroger's, Kmart's, Penney's.  Have heard them all, and more.

Kresge's (for SS Kresge Stores)



Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

HazMatt

Basically anything that sounds like a person's name.  So it's still Walmart or Food Lion, but then there's Kroger's, Belk's, Woolworth's (when that was a thing), Harris Teeter's, Aldi's.  There's a new one called Lidl that I add the 'S' to instinctively.

Quote from: webny99 on February 08, 2018, 10:44:58 PM
backwards, forwards, anyways, anywheres, somewheres, everywheres, etc.

I use these all the time, but I don't really know why and I alternate seemingly randomly between these and the 'correct' version.

empirestate

Quote from: webny99 on February 09, 2018, 07:29:05 PM
The examples in the OP don't even involve apostrophes. Is there anyone else who does this by habit to the extent that I do?


Sometimes I do it, but it's conscious. I often knowingly or semi-knowingly adopt the speech patterns of those around me, and I've definitely heard the superfluous S coming from Upstate, though I agree it's probably not regional. There are a lot of examples that seem to come from people's false assumption about word structure, or to complete an apparrent pattern; for example:

Barnes and Nobles (either to match Noble with Barnes, or a false possessive)
Checkings account (to match savings)
Parks and recs (I hear this out of my town hall a lot; of course it doesn't happen unless abbreviating)

And of course, "purple mountains majesty"–which isn't adding an S, just misplacing it. :-D
Parks and

Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

US71

Carson Pirie Scott (& Company) was often referred to as Carson's, which later became their official name.

Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

jasonh300

Quote from: briantroutman on February 08, 2018, 11:07:41 PM
Perhaps related but not exactly the same thing: I've known multiple people from greater Buffalo who add an S (assumably an apostrophe + S) to the names of businesses that don't legitimately have them.

For example, "I'm going to Kmart"  might become "I'm going to Kmart's" .
Or if you asked where a person bought a new TV, the answer might be "Best Buy's"
I think I've even heard Sears (which already ends in S) referred to as "Sears's"  (like "sear-ziz" )

Very common in New Orleans to "possessivize" words.  Never heard any one say Sears's but we had a department store called D.H. Holmes, and it was pretty standard to call it Holmes's.  Woolworth's was an odd exception because it wasn't unusual to hear "Woolsworth".

You don't go to the doctor, you go to the doctor's.  You didn't go to St. Luke Catholic School, you went to St. Luke's, as if it belonged specifically to him. 

These apply to situations where it's a name, and could actually be used in the possessive form.  But I've heard Walmart's and KMart's too, and that makes me cringe. 

Going back to the OP, the one that stood out is "backwards".  In US English, you can put a shirt on "backwards".  But a piece of software written for Windows 10 may be "backward compatible" to Windows 3.1.  One is an adverb and the other is an adjective, and it's really two different words.  From what I understand, in British English, it's the opposite (or backwards) from this.



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