Apostrophes and Your Last Name on Holiday Cards
We are all looking forward to something fun in our mailboxes this festive season besides election candidate junk mail, right? Of course I am talking about holiday cards!
Every year around this time, we all start to see the influx of holiday greeting cards in our mailboxes from those kind enough to think of us in the upcoming holiday season. Annual photos of kids, growing families, the newest family member - even the occasional newsletter with a heartfelt message. I don’t know about all of you, but I will gladly take a cheerful holiday card this season over the junk mail I’ve encountered these last several months! Save the forest in the future, please!
After a crazy year of not being able to spend as much time out and about with close family and friends, I say bring on the cheer with holiday card giving!
We all could use some of the happiness right about now! I can hear the jing-jingle of the holiday music now with every holiday card envelope I open! It helps to boost my holiday spirits. Heck, I might even put a Christmas tree up this year!
It brings me joy when people think enough of me and my family to send us holiday blessings with a greeting card. It’s like a wonderful little present sealed in an envelope with every card. I save the greetings notes and photo cards for many years!
Picture this. I’m reading these cards, so happy and elated to receive such notes sent to me and then - I SEE IT. That joyful holiday music abruptly stops like an old-school record player needle scathing the surface of the vinyl.
I see the misplaced apostrophe on the last name on the holiday card.
Addressed to
The Tapp’s
Signed
Happy Holidays from the Johnson’s
This is where I instantly feel like Michael Scott from the hit series TV show The Office. You know this meme I’m sure.
Better yet, Homer from The Simpsons (not The Simpson’s) yelling “D’oh!”
I KNOW we are all too familiar with that phrase!
I know many of you are with me on this! It does stop you dead in your tracks. I have found myself asking the silly question of “With love from the Johnson’s WHAT, exactly?” or “Did they forget to add something here?” Alas, I never get answers to such questions.
And this, my friends, is why I am writing this post for you! To serve as a kind reminder that our last names don’t need punctuation-especially for holiday card salutations and signing off!
To put it simply: When you add the letter “s” to a last name, you don’t need to add an apostrophe! By adding an apostrophe to a name, you make it possessive. This is not what anyone wants or intends!
I know you mean well. We all do. You want to be sure your friend’s ENTIRE FAMILY is included in your thoughtful card, and you also want them to know the card is being sent on behalf of you, your kids, and the family pet. I get it. But - there are better, more grammatically appropriate ways to show this intention.
By the way? If you are blessed to have your last name end with the letter S - such as Jones or Meyers? You should add an -es to your name in lieu of any punctuation. It gets more complicated if your last name ends in an S, (thank you, English language!) but there are plenty of resources out there to learn more in depth about your name and proper punctuation/grammar.
I offer holiday cards as a way for my clients to share their photos from their sessions with me during the holiday season. (PS if you still need photos and a holiday card, contact me here!) Sometimes I have to kindly remind the client that they do not need an apostrophe on their last name for return address labels, suggest to remove the punctuation from their signature on the card, or modify the closing signature all together by simply going with “The Johnson Family” instead.
I am far from declaring myself a grammar pro. But it is my hopes that I catch you early enough in this holiday season to share a few tips with you on how to address and sign off on your holiday cards BEFORE you begin addressing them by hand and BEFORE you hit SEND on your screen to place your online card order.
I should also add that my blog topic was triggered from a fellow industry friend (Thank you, Amanda!) who shared a post on Facebook about someone reminding their friends to avoid the apostrophe when doing holiday cards this winter, and I couldn’t pass up the helpful PSA for my fans and readers alike.
And I’m not going to lie, this post brings me back to my high school days of Daily Oral Language with my old Language Arts teacher Ms Johnson on the overhead projector - my classmates will know exactly who I’m talking about. (I’m laughing now!)
Thanks for joining me, see you next time.
Fondly,
