Gratuitous Apostrophe

While Hannah and I are the unapologetic language nerds in the family, all four of us enjoy pointing out errors in spelling and punctuation to one another.  Even the non-human members of House Full of Nerds get in on the copy-editing act (see Vintage Technology Obsessions, Preview of Coming Attractions).  While this can be amusing, it also has its drawbacks - my laziness is only part of the reason I rely too heavily upon the computer versus the typewriter or pen.  I don't place typos in the same category as spelling errors, except of course when I make them.

I also find that there's a slippery slope from smug superiority to "what is this world coming to?" horror.  Hand-lettered signs with misused apostrophes get a snort and a "Well, clearly, they didn't have Mrs. Armstrong for third grade!"  Use the wrong "your" or "their" and I might mutter that I could have sold you the editing services of my elder child when she was in seven.  But occasionally I'll come across something of this magnitude:

I can almost hear Mrs. Armstrong:  "What does Chip own - a 'by'?  Or do you mean Chip is?"  A hand-written sign is one thing, but a decorative apostrophe on a mass-produced product makes me wonder what else on the label is incorrect. (At least the accent over the o in limon is correctly placed.  There's a local fast-food chain whose misplaced accent has caused generations of Spanish students to call it "Taco Vee-AH'" instead of "Taco VEE-a.")  I ran across this product at a big-box store and had to take a picture for my family's amusement.  It was either that or mourn the downfall of western civilization, and I had errands to complete.