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pattyclarke
Known Participant
June 3, 2009
Answered

Apostrophe use and thoughts on small capitals

  • June 3, 2009
  • 2 replies
  • 3709 views

I received great help here before so I wanted to ask a couple more questions. The restaurant I work for recently put up a small banner-type advertisement in the bar that said: "Dini's Happy Hour's..." and I was a little disappointed to not be a part of the design process, so I made a good-natured jab to the owner that he shouldn't do printed promos without my input. This started the apostrophe conversation amongst the locals at the bar—everybody agreed that the apostrophe in Hour's was incorrect. But one person also felt strongly that Dini's should have been Dinis'. I can't quote her reason (it was happy hour) but something like that Dini's was becoming a plural possessive or ??? The restaurant is named "Dini's Bistro" and one of the owners last name is Dini.

The second part is that I learned in a typography class years ago that it is bad form to do things in all capitals, (hard to read, ugly etc.) but I don't remember learning anything about using small capitals. That's what the sign company did and I didn't really find it offensive, rather it appeared bold enough to stand out and be noticed. So that made me curious about the opinions of using small capitals for a banner type deal.

Thanks in advance,

Patty

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Thomas Phinney

    1) The "one person" was wrong, and "Dini's" is correct. Unless of course the happy hours are being hosted by more than one Dini, even though the bistro is owned by only one. Just because the hours are plural doesn't mean Dini is!

    2) All caps is less readable than mixed-case text, but is usually considered acceptable for a title or the like, as in this case, where it's only three words in question (right?). But as you discovered, caps-and-small-caps can be nice, too.

    Cheers,

    T

    2 replies

    Jacob Bugge
    Community Expert
    Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 3, 2009

    Patty,

    What Thomas said, with the addition that small capitals are often used in page headers, lists of contents, and in other places such as initial words, and they may be used as normal small letters along with capitals; in any case they are mostly used to obtain an enhancement or special appearance.

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    pattyclarkeAuthor
    Known Participant
    June 3, 2009

    Thanks Thomas and Jacob. I get such great help in the Typography forum and I always learn something in the process! It doesn't get much better than that!

    No Thomas, the banner has four lines of text. First line, "Dini's Happy Hour's". The second line is Monday - Friday and then the hours. The third line is Tuesday and then the extended hours. The last line is "Come and enjoy the great deals." The whole sign is done in the large and small capitals. Would this be considered too much text for appropriate use of the small caps?

    (Nice to "see you" again Jacob.)

    I feel so fortunate to be able to come here for such wisdom. It's like having a secret weapon in my limited design arsenal.

    Patty

    Jacob Bugge
    Community Expert
    Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 4, 2009

    Patty,

    No Thomas, the banner has four lines of text. First line, "Dini's Happy Hour's". The second line is Monday - Friday and then the hours. The third line is Tuesday and then the extended hours. The last line is "Come and enjoy the great deals." The whole sign is done in the large and small capitals. Would this be considered too much text for appropriate use of the small caps?

    In my view, certainly not. The whole banner is supposed to stand out, as compared to other items with text, is it not?

    T
    Thomas PhinneyCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    June 3, 2009

    1) The "one person" was wrong, and "Dini's" is correct. Unless of course the happy hours are being hosted by more than one Dini, even though the bistro is owned by only one. Just because the hours are plural doesn't mean Dini is!

    2) All caps is less readable than mixed-case text, but is usually considered acceptable for a title or the like, as in this case, where it's only three words in question (right?). But as you discovered, caps-and-small-caps can be nice, too.

    Cheers,

    T

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