Readers Digest in the mens room

Well, it would be Readers' Digest, but you know how they condense everything...

That's where I would place it, but it's missing. Readers Digest is considered the best edited magazine in the U.S. I don't think they would miss an obvious error like that. I suspect it may have to do with it being a proper name perhaps?

Mens room, without the apostrophe is a mistake, pure and simple.

But I don't think that Readers Digest is. I think it's a plural, not a possessive. The same holds true for teachers manual, ironworkers union, etc.

Roberta, I thought for sure you would have a clear, concise answer to this question.

I believe this is the first time I have seen you waver.

All of my A2K gods are falling.

It's a confusing one, adjectives aren't supposed to be plural (e.g. 2-car garage and not 2 cars garage) and a plural adjective is what would explain it not being a possessive.

I ain't down yet, Gus. I found an authority that confirms what I thought.

"The name of many organizations and products contain words that could be considered either possessive or descriptive terms. . . . As a rule, do not use an apostrophe if the term is a regular plural.

"Chemical Workers Union
Investors Trust Company
Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
Consumers Union
American Bankers Association
Government Employees Insurance Company
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs"

From the Gregg Reference Manual, ninth edition, written by William A. Sabin.

I knew you'd come through for me!

GEICO's gonna get ya readers for this.

Hey, ya got any TP over there?

Couldn't let you down, Gus. I remember my rose. :-)

Well....if you visit their site, you will see the title of the magazine is "Reader's Digest".

http://www.rd.com/

So dunno what yer talkin' about there.

As for mens' room. What about the ladies' room? Is this a sexist thread or what!

*gets up in a huff and stalks off*

In a mock kinda way of course.

Well caprice, the apostrophe is there all right on their online edition. Makes me wonder now if I was imagining this about their magazine.

I suspect the men's room issue could be due to painters who letter the doors not necessarily being English majors. BTW, why do you ladies always go in pairs to the restroom? What is that deal? Makes me think you haven't picked up a copy of RD in there and actually looked, so this missing apostrophe might not be a figment of my imagination.

regards

Tycoon, I can only speculate about why women go to the ladies' room in pairs. Because most restrooms are designed by men, there are rarely enough stalls to accommodate the women who need them. So we go in pairs to keep each other company while we're waiting in line. :-)

I don't think Readers' Digest would be proper. Just like how Man's Best Friend, would be sill y if you made it plural: Mens' Best Friend.

Hi Roberta,

Somehow I knew it was our fault. HAHA!

This R.D. business has me puzzled. I remember about two years ago I went to the laundromat and picked up a copy, looked at the title and began wondering about the missing apostrophe. I'm looking for a recent hard copy now along with some vintage issues to see if anything has changed.