To apostrophise or not to apostrophise.
''You never realised how contentious you would be,'' Mr Oglethwaite said to the stroke his pen had just made. "You mark my words," he continued to apostrophise, "the grocers will have a field day."
Proofreaders Group is a Facebook site for those of us who strive for clarity, accuracy, and consistency when checking the writing of others or of our own, so that the writing itself is clear, accurate, and consistent. This is not to be confused with copy editing. We are neither the creators nor the arbiters of rules of grammatical style but rather the upholders of these rules. It matters, however, whether we are working with English in England or in the United States of America, whether we are concerned with scientific or non-scientific topics, whether we are considering formal or informal writing.
The matter at hand today is the name of the group itself - Proofreaders Group. Notice the absence of an article, whether definite or indefinite. Fine! I congratulate the originator of this name. It avoids the problem of where to place a possessive apostrophe, as one is not necessary. In fact, whatever a person wants to name a group, a book, a shop, however it is written, is legitimate. If I choose to open a shop selling lamps and call it 'vegeTables', it's my own business, literally.
Incidentally, what is the collective noun for a group of proofreaders? I suggest a 'stet'.