Shoppers have been left confused about what's been dubbed an "unlikely issue" on a high street store's sign, butsome admitted they had never noticed before. If you're a fan of books and you've been out shoppingrecently, the chances are that you've popped into Waterstones.

Whether you're browsing popular BookTok books, looking at the bestsellers list, or looking for a classic since you went to see Wuthering Heights at the cinema and absolutely loved it, they have it all. However, some eagle-eyed book fans have noticed that there seems to be an inconsistency with the signageoutside some of the stores, and people can't wrap their heads around what's going on.

Emma, who posts book content on her TikTok page @emmaslibraryx, asked: "Has anyone ever noticed that Waterstones is spelt differently? I'm confused?"

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She then shared examples of stores that are spelt 'Waterstones' and then stores that are spelt differently, reading 'Waterstone's'.

Emma shared that she was used to having a Waterstones near her that was spelt without the apostrophe, but she noted that she "keeps seeing people's TikToks" of Waterstones being spelt Waterstone's instead, and she wanted to know why there's a difference.

However, in the comments of @brewsandreviews video where she addressed the same thing, people said that these must be "old signs" because "at some point, they removed the apostrophe" and opted for 'Waterstones,' which is common across high streets now.

One woman pointed out: "It used to, but they removed it, so the older signs still have it, but newer ones don’t".

"The app doesn’t have it just checked," a second commented, meaning that if there are any signs with apostrophes left, they're old branding.

Somebody else said: "I've just had to check an old Bookstagram tag where I was outside our local Waterstones and it has for ours".

A fourth person shared: "I feel like there wasn't, but it makes sense that there is, probably some rich dude called Waterstone founded the store".

In fact, it's been quite some time since the company decided to drop the apostrophe from the name, as it was decided in 2012, and they did so to make the name more "versatile" for "online use".

However, at the time, they were criticised for the move. Someone fumed on X: "Waterstone's, don't drop the apostrophe. McDonald's & Sainsbury's manage! You claim to play an educational role, not lead in dumbing down!"

More recently, people have said that they "can't get used to the apostrophe not being there".

Someone pointed it out on X, penning: "I’ve become viscerally and uncomfortably aware that there’s seemingly no cohesiveness on whether Waterstones go by Waterstones or Waterstone’s. Exhibit A: their website and app.

"Exhibit B: This picture of the Cheltenham branch they shared just now. And many more examples of this!"

Waterstones responded to the distressed person, sharing: "We’re definitely Waterstones without the apostrophe but some shops still have their old punctuation".

So, there you have it! It's not spelt incorrectly, and if you happen to see a Waterstone's in the wild, it's just "old punctuation".