The most petty of niggles

[naath]

What is it with English speakers adding 's' in inappropriate places?

TESCO is neither plural (unless you are talking about the 4 stores you had to visit to get bog roll) nor possessive, although Sainbury's is.

Lego is a mass noun, and has no plural. You have lots of lego, or many lego bricks. The official site even gets quite cross about 'Legos'

There is a road I used to live near 'Northfield Avenue' even some satnavs make it 'Northfields' which it IS NOT. (I even had to check the sign; my brother's satnav managed to gass light me)

ARGH the irritation. What is it that drives people to this?

Comments

[naath]

I think it is a possesive use, Sainbury's after all *is* the shop of Lord Sainsbury (in a sense); M&S is the shop of mssrs M and S I guess, although that isn't the official name; Tesco is NOT the store of Misstress Tess (a Kentwellism) though, I believe it in a portmanteau of two names but am not sure.

The Gardies comparison though... that's a shortening (the Gardenia, for those not in Cambridge, if I recall the offician sign correctly) and "cutesifying" which I guess would end with Tessies not Tesco's though.

[rochvelleth]

I would not be surprised if I know people who say something like Tessies - it's really common to hypocoristify (it's totally a word) things like that in Scouseland :)

Sainsbury's is definitely a possessive, that's true. Also, something like Selfridge's.

Actually, for M&S, I wonder how much the appearance that Marks is plural influences the Spencer(s) bit...

I might have to rewrite my vowel-final hypothesis a bit :)