Don't even get me started on apostrophe abuse

[Greg Peterson]

The misuse and abuse of the apostrophe is a hideous crime. Certainly something can be done to thwart the repeated improper uses.:eek:

[Jason Beam]

Let's start a pool to bet on how soon we'll see Godwin's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law) turn up. :D

[Tom Veatch]

Let's start a pool to bet on how soon we'll see Godwin's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law) turn up. :D

Goebbels would NEVER have misused an apostrophe:D.

(Do I win the pool??? Huh, huh!)

[Eric Roberge]

How about the comma? Don't forget the misuse of the comma:D

[Garth Keel]

sprinkled like confetti are good!:D

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Ahh the colloquial diversity of the unwashed masses.

[Jim Rimmer]

Ahh the colloquial diversity of the unwashed masses.
Shouldn't there have been a comma after Ahh?

[Matt Meiser]

I, don''''t, know, what, the, big, deal, is?

[David Bridgeman]

"The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" - Frank Zappa

[Greg Peterson]

Yeah, I started the thread, left for a while, came back and posted without proofing. A kind mod would fix that. Then again, maybe not.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Greg,

Don't let the word get out!:rolleyes:

[Greg Peterson]

Depends on what word you are speaking of. Thanks for covering me. That was an Uff da moment.

[Eric Larsen]

Seems to be grammar month this October at the Creek Off Topic forum.

Most apostrophe mistakes don't irk me. Apostrophes can be tricky -- especially it's/its. A lot of very smart people confuse them. And we're not all editors.

Even at the newspaper, we had a large sign on the paste-up wall that read:

It's -- It is
Its -- Belongs to it

One apostrophe mistake, however, is unforgivable -- when you see a sign in front of a house and it reads, "The Johnson's" or "The Larsen's" or "The Zappa's."

(It hurt me just typing the above sentence. My eyes are bleeding.)

If you have one of these signs (with the apostrophe catastrophe), please take it down, burn it, and then scatter the ashes. (Or, add "sign" under your name to make it grammatically correct. e.g. "The Zappa's Sign")

[Paul Atkins]

We just need a simple way to remember the rules. Something like "I before E except after C ---"

[Russ Filtz]

Goebbels would NEVER have misused an apostrophe:D.

(Do I win the pool??? Huh, huh!)

No, you have to mention them by name. The punctuation Nazis that is. I win!!

[James Carmichael]

We just need a simple way to remember the rules. Something like "I before E except after C ---"

I think the problem well beyond a "just say no" strategy.

We need a home for abused punctuation.

[Al Willits]

I think the problem well beyond a "just say no" strategy.

We need a home for abused punctuation.


Or maybe just a hobby to keep some people busy? :)

Al

[Greg Peterson]

Or maybe just a hobby to keep some people busy? :)

Al

We should stage an intervention. Get the guilty parties all in one room, and then have the long suffering punctuation marks confront their tormentors.

The apostrophe has a long history of misuse and abuse. But I'm sure he would be willing to confront the hacks.

The comma has the opposite problem. I think we've forgotten about him.

The exclamation point should just be retire. ALONG WITH THE CAPS LOCK!

The semicolon is best used in the hands of an expert. Proper operator certification should be verified before a keyboard equipped with a semicolon is released into the wild.

And just to be safe, can we finally have a key labeled 'Any'?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Should we form a union? or just schedule a t-con?

[Al Willits]

We should stage an intervention. Get the guilty parties all in one room, and then have the long suffering punctuation marks confront their tormentors.

The apostrophe has a long history of misuse and abuse. But I'm sure he would be willing to confront the hacks.

The comma has the opposite problem. I think we've forgotten about him.

The exclamation point should just be retire. ALONG WITH THE CAPS LOCK!

The semicolon is best used in the hands of an expert. Proper operator certification should be verified before a keyboard equipped with a semicolon is released into the wild.

And just to be safe, can we finally have a key labeled 'Any'?

Maybe add, Hit the enter key once in awhile for ease of reading?


Al....Who thinks if "proper operator certification" was required, his keyboard would be blank..:D

[Jason Beam]

lest ye not forget the lonely period and its brethren the run-on sentence that seems to have at least eleven distinct subjects within a single breath that only an expert scuba diver with the lung capacity of a large mammoth could manage to actually say without pausing for air because that is one of those types of things that happens lots of times they ignore that poor little dot that tells everyone when the next thought is about to begin then there is the capitalization at the start of a given sentence but for some reason this practice seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird i for one have a heck of a time figuring out just what the heck the guy is trying to tell me when there are no pauses in between can you imagine someone talking like this oh there goes another one that gets ignored as well the lowly question mark please start a foundation to combat the extinction of these simple conventions someone take heart and stop the senseless neglect!!!!!!!!1!111!!!111!!!!!!


My head hurts, now. I'm going to have to lie down for a bit.

[Eric DeSilva]

One apostrophe mistake, however, is unforgivable -- when you see a sign in front of a house and it reads, "The Johnson's" or "The Larsen's" or "The Zappa's."

Couldn't you argue the "House" is implied? I.e., "The Zappa's House"?

[John Shuk]

Language constantly evolves. Once the "abuses" become more widely accepted then it will become the rule and unfortunately you will be wrong.
I've learned that the rule of commas has changed at some point since I learned it in second grade.
Soon the whole thing will become moot as we will communicate telepathically.

[Michael Schapansky]

Language constantly evolves. Once the "abuses" become more widely accepted then it will become the rule and unfortunately you will be wrong.
I've learned that the rule of commas has changed at some point since I learned it in second grade.
Soon the whole thing will become moot as we will communicate telepathically.
You ain't kiddin' !

(whew)

[Bruce Page]

lest ye not forget the lonely period and its brethren the run-on sentence that seems to have at least eleven distinct subjects within a single breath that only an expert scuba diver with the lung capacity of a large mammoth could manage to actually say without pausing for air because that is one of those types of things that happens lots of times they ignore that poor little dot that tells everyone when the next thought is about to begin then there is the capitalization at the start of a given sentence but for some reason this practice seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird i for one have a heck of a time figuring out just what the heck the guy is trying to tell me when there are no pauses in between can you imagine someone talking like this oh there goes another one that gets ignored as well the lowly question mark please start a foundation to combat the extinction of these simple conventions someone take heart and stop the senseless neglect!!!!!!!!1!111!!!111!!!!!!




Whew! I think Jason nailed it.

[Eric Larsen]

Couldn't you argue the "House" is implied? I.e., "The Zappa's House"?

The sign refers to the family that lives in the house, not the house itself. So it's "The Zappas."

It could, however, be "The Zappa's Groove Thang" or some such. In that case, I'd prefer it be spelled out in its entirety.


("Thang" is deliberately misspelled, incidentally. :D And note the excellent use of it's/its! Woo hoo!)

[Dennis McGarry]

The Apostrophe




The apostrophe has three uses:
to form possessives of nouns
to show the omission of letters
to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters
Forming Possessives of Nouns

To see if you need to make a possessive, turn the phrase around and make it an "of the..." phrase. For example:

the boy's hat = the hat of the boy
three days' journey = journey of three days
If the noun after "of" is a building, an object, or a piece of furniture, then no apostrophe is needed!

room of the hotel = hotel room
door of the car = car door
leg of the table = table leg

Once you've determined whether you need to make a possessive, follow these rules to create one.

add 's to the singular form of the word (even if it ends in -s):

the owner's car
James's hat (James' hat is also acceptable. For plural, proper nouns that are possessive, use an apostrophe after the 's': "The Eggles' presentation was good." The Eggles are a husband and wife consultant team.)

add 's to the plural forms that do not end in -s:

the children's game
the geese's honking

add ' to the end of plural nouns that end in -s:

houses' roofs
three friends' letters

add 's to the end of compound words:

my brother-in-law's money

add 's to the last noun to show joint possession of an object:

Todd and Anne's apartment

Showing omission of letters

Apostrophes are used in contractions. A contraction is a word (or set of numbers) in which one or more letters (or numbers) have been omitted. The apostrophe shows this omission. Contractions are common in speaking and in informal writing. To use an apostrophe to create a contraction, place an apostrophe where the omitted letter(s) would go. Here are some examples:

don't = do not
I'm = I am
he'll = he will
who's = who is
shouldn't = should not
didn't = did not
could've= could have (NOT "could of"!)
'60 = 1960



Borrowed from http://http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/

[John Shuk]

Dennis,
Please don't do that any more. I have my hands full with function(x) and domain and range.
If my brain eats too fast it gets a tummy ache.

[Jim Rimmer]

The Apostrophe
Forming Possessives of Nouns


To see if you need to make a possessive, turn the phrase around and make it an "of the..." phrase. For example:

the boy's hat = the hat of the boy
three days' journey = journey of three days
Borrowed from http://http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/

I would have to argue the point on "three days' journey". The use of an apostrophe after days indicates possessive which would mean that the days had the journey instead of the implied meaning that the journey lasted three days. To use in a complete sentence "Tom went on a three days journey." The journey is the possession of Tom, not of the days. The trial rule given indicates the use of "of the" and in the example "the" is dropped. If it had been included, the phrase would not have made sense. (I can only hope I did not make a grammatical or punctuation error in my reply.)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

ditto !

[Eric DeSilva]

The sign refers to the family that lives in the house, not the house itself.

You assume facts not in evidence. I would say that it is much more logical to use a sign to identify the house, which does not move, as opposed to the occupants, who may or may not be there at any given time. The sign assists others who are seeking to find the Larsen's house; it does not help those who seek to find the Larsen family.

I might also opine that "The Larsens" is a poor choice grammatically anyway. The proper structure should be "The Larsen Family."

[Jason Beam]

You assume facts not in evidence. I would say that it is much more logical to use a sign to identify the house, which does not move, as opposed to the occupants, who may or may not be there at any given time. The sign assists others who are seeking to find the Larsen's house; it does not help those who seek to find the Larsen family.

I might also opine that "The Larsens" is a poor choice grammatically anyway. The proper structure should be "The Larsen Family."

I would argue that if you're going to label something, shouldn't it be simply with your name rather than having "The" ahead of it? If I were to stick a label on my car, it would simply say my name instead of The Beam's, for example.

[Clara Koss]

rus filtz is correct... if you dont mention hitler or nazis by name then the conversation continues... if you mention hitler or nazis by name the conversation and or comparison is over:cool:

[Eric Larsen]

rus filtz is correct... if you dont mention hitler or nazis by name then the conversation continues... if you mention hitler or nazis by name the conversation and or comparison is over:cool:


You just mentioned them by name.... :rolleyes:

[Jason Beam]

No soup for you!!!

[Eric DeSilva]

I would argue that if you're going to label something, shouldn't it be simply with your name rather than having "The" ahead of it? If I were to stick a label on my car, it would simply say my name instead of The Beam's, for example.

Well, if your car has a license plate that says "JASON" on it, I'd argue--consistent with my logic--that it is really identifying you, since presumably the license plate exists to be read while the car is on the road (and you are driving). And, I'd agree the "THE JASON" seems, well, a bit much. In my book, it's all about what you are referring too, and my view that yard signs are intended to identify the house, not the family.

We're getting into a bit of a sticky area for me here, since I think all of these signs are... well... dumb. If you, in fact, have a sign in your yard with your name on it, or a vanity plate with your name on it, stop reading here.

OK, now that we've gotten rid of them... For heavens sake, someone tell me... What is the point of labeling the obvious? If people I know are looking for my house, I tell them where it is. It has a number for this purpose. Coupled with google maps, they can easily find it. Besides, by the time they get around to reading a sign in your yard, shouldn't they have figured it out by then? The only worse offense is putting a vanity plate on your car that says what your car is when no one cares or thinks there is any ambiguity. "69 CUDA" or "69 HEMI" I fully understand. "PRIUS" or "MIATA" or "ACURA" I immediately translate into "I HAVE NO LIFE OR IMAGINATION."

[Jason Beam]

Well, if your car has a license plate that says "JASON" on it, I'd argue--consistent with my logic--that it is really identifying you, since presumably the license plate exists to be read while the car is on the road (and you are driving). And, I'd agree the "THE JASON" seems, well, a bit much. In my book, it's all about what you are referring too, and my view that yard signs are intended to identify the house, not the family.

We're getting into a bit of a sticky area for me here, since I think all of these signs are... well... dumb. If you, in fact, have a sign in your yard with your name on it, or a vanity plate with your name on it, stop reading here.

OK, now that we've gotten rid of them... For heavens sake, someone tell me... What is the point of labeling the obvious? If people I know are looking for my house, I tell them where it is. It has a number for this purpose. Coupled with google maps, they can easily find it. Besides, by the time they get around to reading a sign in your yard, shouldn't they have figured it out by then? The only worse offense is putting a vanity plate on your car that says what your car is when no one cares or thinks there is any ambiguity. "69 CUDA" or "69 HEMI" I fully understand. "PRIUS" or "MIATA" or "ACURA" I immediately translate into "I HAVE NO LIFE OR IMAGINATION."

What? You aren't wondering if that H2 blocking 5 parking spaces is actually a Hummer?

I will say one good thing about vanity plates is that they do serve as accurate warning labels, sometimes. :D

PS: I agree on hanging a sign with your name on your house. It doesn't logically make sense to me. Soon as something doesn't logically make sense, I immediately assume it wasn't meant to make sense. They must do it for themselves, not us. Which is weird, because they can't see the sign once they're inside. That boggles my mind a little. :P

[Rick Potter]

Dont' worry:; Be 'happy.

the fantum

[Dennis Peacock]

Hey, the more, the merrier, I always say.!!!!

But it's always' abou' sumpin' that means' nuttin'. :)

[Al Willits]

Well, if your car has a license plate that says "JASON" on it, I'd argue--consistent with my logic--that it is really identifying you, since presumably the license plate exists to be read while the car is on the road (and you are driving). And, I'd agree the "THE JASON" seems, well, a bit much. In my book, it's all about what you are referring too, and my view that yard signs are intended to identify the house, not the family.

We're getting into a bit of a sticky area for me here, since I think all of these signs are... well... dumb. If you, in fact, have a sign in your yard with your name on it, or a vanity plate with your name on it, stop reading here.

OK, now that we've gotten rid of them... For heavens sake, someone tell me... What is the point of labeling the obvious? If people I know are looking for my house, I tell them where it is. It has a number for this purpose. Coupled with google maps, they can easily find it. Besides, by the time they get around to reading a sign in your yard, shouldn't they have figured it out by then? The only worse offense is putting a vanity plate on your car that says what your car is when no one cares or thinks there is any ambiguity. "69 CUDA" or "69 HEMI" I fully understand. "PRIUS" or "MIATA" or "ACURA" I immediately translate into "I HAVE NO LIFE OR IMAGINATION."


As someone who for over thirty years did repair service, trust me, not all house numbers are obvious, a sign in the front yard would have helped greatly.
Way to many times unfortunately.

But I agree, Miata and plates like that go along with the decal across the windshield proclaiming make of car/truck/whatever.
Personal choice again though, just doesn't make much sense to me, but I'm a old fart.

Al...who wishes he had a 69 Hemi Cuda...:D

ps...fwiw if I can read what you write and get close to what ya mean, I figure ya did good...er...or is it well???

[Aaron Hall]

ROFLMAO
You guys are killing me here! I expected to find a lot of math on this site. Geometry, some calculus, maybe even some trig, but not the rampant and unabashed admonishing of the common, albeit inconsistent and erroneous, usage of the English vernacular.

You have no idea how many times I had to pull out my dictionary to look stuff up while writing that.
:D

[Dennis Peacock]

ROFLMAO
You guys are killing me here! I expected to find a lot of math on this site. Geometry, some calculus, maybe even some trig, but not the rampant and unabashed admonishing of the common, albeit inconsistent and erroneous, usage of the English vernacular.

You have no idea how many times I had to pull out my dictionary to look stuff up while writing that.
:D

Stop it Aaron......you is usin' them big words again and I can't figger out what it is you is sayin'. :p :D

[Belinda Barfield]

Stop it Aaron......you is usin' them big words again and I can't figger out what it is you is sayin'. :p :D

You tell 'em Dennis!

Y'all just ain't right! (meaning right in the head, not right as in correct):D
My peeve is folks who misplace the apostrophe in y'all.:eek:

[Jason Beam]

You tell 'em Dennis!

Y'all just ain't right! (meaning right in the head, not right as in correct):D
My peeve is folks who misplace the apostrophe in y'all.:eek:

Don't ya'll mean "you will" and y'all means "you all"?

That's how I used'ta could say it when I lived in florida.

[Belinda Barfield]

Don't ya'll mean "you will" and y'all means "you all"?

That's how I used'ta could say it when I lived in florida.

Well now Jason, I'm not acquainted with that particular usage of y'all. In Georgia it's "you'll", as in, "You'll go wid me up the road a piece, won'tcha?"

We're veering off on a whole different path now. Your quote should read, "That's how I used'ta could'a said it when I was in Florida."

[Aaron Hall]

Somewhere Jeff Foxworthy is grinning from ear to ear. :D

[Al Willits]

lest ye not forget the lonely period and its brethren the run-on sentence that seems to have at least eleven distinct subjects within a single breath that only an expert scuba diver with the lung capacity of a large mammoth could manage to actually say without pausing for air because that is one of those types of things that happens lots of times they ignore that poor little dot that tells everyone when the next thought is about to begin then there is the capitalization at the start of a given sentence but for some reason this practice seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird i for one have a heck of a time figuring out just what the heck the guy is trying to tell me when there are no pauses in between can you imagine someone talking like this oh there goes another one that gets ignored as well the lowly question mark please start a foundation to combat the extinction of these simple conventions someone take heart and stop the senseless neglect!!!!!!!!1!111!!!111!!!!!!


My head hurts, now. I'm going to have to lie down for a bit.


Can we make this one a sticky.....us poor old folks with bifocals would really appreciate it...:D:D

Al

[Prashun Patel]

Its sad how people have misunderstood the apostrophe and it's usage.

[jerry nazard]

Its sad how people have misunderstood the apostrophe and it's usage.

Its time we develop a usage we can call are own....

:eek:

[Prashun Patel]

Its time we develop a usage we can call are own....


I think your absolutely right in you're above statement.

[jerry nazard]

I think your absolutely right in you're above statement.

Thanks, Shawn! To add a bit of perspective to this conversation, one only need connect to the official NFL website and read some of the user comments. Unbelievable word butchery. "Apostrophes, we don't need no stinking apostrophes". UGGH..... Enough of this. I'm off to butcher some wood!