When a native English-speaker comes to Kuwait for the first time, there are many unusual things that will catch their eye. Shisha smoking, for instance, or the tradition of the diwaniya. But as a writer, one of the first things I noticed was the unique and distinctly local misuse of English words and grammar.Take, for instance, the penchant for saloons vs salons.In the US, a salon is somewhere you get your hair cut or nails painted.A saloon is a place in the Wild West that sold beer and whiskey, and they often also had gambling and prostitutes. Imagine my first impression upon arriving to Kuwait and finding 'saloons' on every street corner!The misspelling makes sense, however, if you understand basic Arabic. The word 'salon' would likely include a 'waw' and thus could easily be transliterated with an additional, albeit incorrect, O.Another oft-used quirk of English grammar found in Kuwait is the misuse of the apostrophe.It's very commonly - though wrongly - applied at the end of a plural. You see it in official government communiques, in press statements, in emails, in letters to the editor, in the newspapers and online.Apostrophes are used to indicate possession, not plurality.For instance, Kuwait's weather is hot during winters and hotter during summers. Notice the apostrophe S at the end of Kuwait's? This is possession. Meaning that the weather 'belongs' to Kuwait. There is no apostrophe at the end of winters or summers. These are instances of plurals, not possessives. According to Strunk & White's famous Elements of Style, apostrophes are never used to indicate plurals. So one should never write: There are too many car's on the streets. In this sentence, cars is plural, not possessive.There are other uses for apostrophes and places where you shouldn't use one at all. But the main problem here seems to be with adding them to plurals, so let's stick with that.Here's another simple example:Correct: How many CEOs are billionaires?Incorrect: How many CEO's are billionaires?Don't get me wrong. The misuse of apostrophes is a global phenomena. There's even a society in the UK for the 'protection of the apostrophe' and guerrilla grammarians who stealthily correct billboards all across the UK (the home of English!) painting over apostrophes in signs and hoardings.I'm no grammar police and I frequently misspell words or throw a comma where it shouldn't be. But the apostrophe misuse can be devastating. Did she mean students or student's?Another thing I've noticed is that people tend to throw in the apostrophe whenever they have proper nouns or things they think - but aren't sure - may be capitalized.Capitalization is another area of great confusion. Arabic doesn't have capitals and so those whose first language is Arabic are often confused or unsure about which English words are capitalized and why.Suffice it to say, that is a full discussion in itself. In the meantime, I would love to get to the root of the apostrophe case.Why do so many people in Kuwait use it wrong and use it wrongly in exactly the same way?I'm guessing that somewhere in history, a non-native English teacher learned the incorrect way and has through the generations passed that mistake down to other English teachers, who in turn passed it on to their students.No doubt, children in school are still being taught the incorrect usage of the apostrophe and once taught at the fundamental level, it's almost impossible to unlearn.What do you think? Do you know how to correctly use an apostrophe? And what are the most common grammar/spelling/language mistakes you see in Kuwait? Send us an email to local@kuwaittimes.com.By Jamie Etheridgeetheridge@kuwaittimes.com