I really love getting Christmas cards this time of year, but every year I'm surprised by the number of people who, well, get their own name wrong when signing their cards.
It's not something I'd point out directly because I wouldn't want to come across as a curmudgeon. But since I have your attention, let's spin through a few punctuation pointers. These tips will also come in handy if you decide to get one of those custom door mats or put your name on your mail box.
A common mistake is to make the family name plural by adding an "s" — with an apostrophe before it. So if your name is Smith, and you're signing your cards on behalf of the whole family, you'd sign it "Love, The Smiths," not "Love, The Smith's."
Names that end in "s" — like Jones — also tend to trip people up. Those need an "es" on the end to make them plural. So the signature on the card would read "Love, The Joneses."
The same is true with names that end in a "z" and sometimes an "x" that sounds like "s," so "Martinezes" or "Marxes."
Sometimes adding the extra syllable that results when adding the "es" can make the name sound a little cumbersome. So the other option, regardless of what letter the name ends with, would be to sign off as "The Jones Family."
If this leaves you with just itching to use an apostrophe somewhere, it is appropriately used in "Season's Greetings." The apostrophe and "s" make the word "season" possessive. Since you're sending greetings for one particular season — not a number of seasons — the apostrophe belongs in this one.
Regardless of how you sign it, I'll read — and enjoy — any piece of seasonal mail you send to my house.
E-mail: sfidel@desnews.com. Twitter: SteveFidel