Is it possible that Baby is used in the singular form in department stores while Boys, Girls or Mens, are plural because most families have one baby to buy for while they could easily have more than one girl or boy in their families?
Hmm, could be part of it.
But what about in cases like, "Here comes baby!" and "Along came baby." Why isn't it "a baby" or "the baby"?
I also wondered if the department store sections could have originally been possessives, as in this is the men's section, this is the women's section, etc.
If so, either baby's might have just looked funny, or the thought might have been that it can't be the baby's section since babies don't shop.
-Jeff
TheWordsmith said:
Hmm, could be part of it.
But what about in cases like, "Here comes baby!" and "Along came baby." Why isn't it "a baby" or "the baby"?
I always think of that as "Along came Baby," not "Along came baby," the difference being between proper noun and general noun, referring to a specific (and possibly as-yet-unnamed) infant.
I think it's just convention. Most departments in a department store are meant to be understood as plural possessive - the housewares' department, the electronics' department. And it's children's, not child's. Baby is the exception, probably because of the way we talk about baby things. We have baby clothes, and baby bottles, baby swings and baby carriages. So of course we're going to have a baby department as well.