The Grammarnatrix takes her column to the front page of the Feb. 16 Concord Monitor where the irony was not lost in the headline, “Witnesses: We didn’t see anything.” The Grammarnatrix chuckled, as the very definition of witness is anyone who has seen or heard anything! Did other Insider readers chuckle, titter or nod at the amusement of the word choice?
Of course, another definition of witness is one who is called on to testify in court, and this is probably the intended meaning. But even if called on in court, one would have to have seen something to report, right?
Although irony (a contrast between intended and actual meaning) is fun to read and the Grammarnatrix chuckled at its (likely un-intended) use, irony is probably more appropriate in a less-serious headline than an article on Beatrice Munyenyezi and the Rwanda genocide. Intended or not, if you missed the irony the first time, the Grammarnatrix is glad to have brought it to you a second time.
In a recent Insider issue the Grammarmatrix saw an apostrophe where she thought it didn’t belong. It was in the phrase “. . . New Hampshire winter farmers’ markets. . .” The Grammarmatrix stopped cold and circled the phrase because she had never seen the phrase farmers markets used with an apostrophe – either before or after the “s.” This of course propelled her into grammar research.
Now, if we were dealing with singular words we wouldn’t be having this discussion; it would be clear. For example, in the phrase red apple, red describes apple so is an adjective. In the phrase Red’s motorcycle, Red owns the motorcycle so it is possessive.
It seems as if the same logic should follow with plural phrases. The farmers use the markets, sell in the markets, but don’t own the markets. It seems only natural to conclude that farmers, in the above context, is an adjective, not a possessive term, and should not use an apostrophe.
However, while grammar has many rules that are black and white, there are also many that are dictated by style. Did you know that many editors make style-guide documents which tell how they want their writers to handle certain writing and grammar issues that come up? I perused the Concord Monitor and found other references to farmers’ markets which used the apostrophe. Perhaps Ben and Felice have a style guide specifically outlining how to apostrophize farmers markets.
Who knows? There are many grammar issues that bring out the debates in the best of Grammarmatrixes. While the Grammarmatrix prefers the “no apostrophe look,” she supposes the bottom line is that the editor is boss!
