A.W.A.D. - June's Whose What

There's a traffic sign at the end of the street where I live. It reads:

Please drive carefully,
for our childrens sake

It's an official sign of the Department of Transportation. I imagine there are thousands of these reflective blue signs around the state of Washington. These signs may not be necessary now. Children don't play outside anymore. There are more than enough Nintendos and Hanna Montanas and Facebooks these days to keep them busy. But that's not why I mentioned the sign.

We're missing something here. A little squiggly mark.

We may be missing an apostrophe here but, over all, the universe's apostrophe store stays in equilibrium. We don't put them where they belong, and we add them where they don't. Many a grocery store display signs such as:

Apple's $3 per pound

There's even a term for the gratuitous inclusion of these marks: greengrocer's apostrophe.

Sometimes we are not sure whether an apostrophe is needed, so we simply add one, as if considering pillars to support a roof. "Well, let's add one here; it may not be needed, but it's there if necessary, and in any case it's not hurting anything."

This week we feature terms that use apostrophes, terms that do need them. These selections answer: Whose What? And remember, it's not: Who's What?

deadman's hand
PRONUNCIATION:(DED-manz hand)
MEANING:noun: In a game of poker, a hand containing two aces and two eights.

ETYMOLOGY:After Wild Bill Hickok, nickname of James Butler Hickok (1837-1876). Hickock was a legendary figure in the American Wild West who worked variously as an army scout, lawman, and professional gambler. He was shot dead while playing poker, holding a hand that had two aces and two eights.

yeoman's service
PRONUNCIATION:(YO-muhnz SUHR-vis)
MEANING:noun: Efficient, useful, or loyal service.

ETYMOLOGY:From yeoman (servant or assistant), probably a blend of young + man, or from ga (region) + man.

bum's rush
PRONUNCIATION:(bumz rush)
MEANING:noun: A forcible ejection from a place.

ETYMOLOGY:From the allusion to a bum being swiftly kicked out of a place.

devil's advocate
PRONUNCIATION:(DEV-uhlz AD-vuh-kayt)

MEANING:noun: One who argues against something for the sake of argument, for example, to provoke discussion and subject a plan to thorough examination.

ETYMOLOGY:From Latin advocatus diaboli (devil's advocate). The Roman Catholic Church used to have a person appointed as a devil's advocate to argue against elevating someone to sainthood. The person arguing for the proposition was known as God's advocate (Latin advocatus dei).

widow's walk
PRONUNCIATION:(WID-oz wok)

MEANING:noun: A railed platform atop a roof, typically on a coastal house, that was used to look out for returning ships.

ETYMOLOGY:In the 18th and 19th centuries sailors' wives used such platforms to look for signs of their husbands returning home.