How many visitors? Is it just one, thus "visitor's", or more than one, giving us "visitors'"?
I suppose it's all a moot point, though - I never see anyone parking in this lot, which is outside an oil refinery near where I work.
This is an example of a case where saying something like "visitor parking" (or "...passenger safety" rather than "...passengers [with missing apostrophe] safety) - while perhaps not grammatically correct - would sound fine and eliminate any confusing apostrophe issues.
I read the sign as "Visitors [are] parking." Implying that employees are driving. Anyhoo, I much prefer "Visitor parking" to avoid the whole apostrophe issue, just like I prefer "user manual" to "users manual."
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by. Another example is "driver license" vs. "driver's/drivers' license". My state goes with "driver license", which has always struck my ear as odd, but it makes sense when you think about. It's just hard to say out loud.
ReplyDeleteI once got obsessive and checked the websites of the motor vehicle departments for all fifty states. My informal survey revealed that about half of them go with "driver's" and the other go with "driver".