Apostrophes are used to show contraction or possesion,

[Cameron Wood]

but not plural.
Some of Bob's words get apostrophes, but others don't.
Also, occasionally for colloquial speech, just sayin'.

[Rob Luter]

It's possession.

[Tom M King]

A lot if people theses days don’t understand what either mean. I still stumble reading fast over people who don’t know, or are too lazy to know the difference between your and you’re.

[Rob Luter]

Agreed. Or there, they're, and their.

And don't get me started about the Oxford Comma....

[Jim Koepke]

Agreed. Or there, they're, and their.

And don't get me started about the Oxford Comma....

Not so sure about the Oxford Comma but Their, there and they're, there is always this:

Their, There, They're.png

Recall the Oxford Comma being taught in grade school without the name. The rules of English were changed and it was removed from curricula by time I was in high school. Just like the double space at the end of sentences when typing.

jtk

[Rich Engelhardt]

U r - is what most type these days.

[Tom M King]

I was taught some things incorrectly when I was in Elementary school. For instance, I was taught that a comma always comes before "and" unless it applied to multiples of something. I still have trouble with that one. It was a very small school in a sparsely populated county.

[Patty Hann]

It's possession.

I thought this was possession

Possession.jpg

[Stan Calow]

I was taught some things incorrectly when I was in Elementary school. For instance, I was taught that a comma always comes before "and" unless it applied to multiples of something. I still have trouble with that one. It was a very small school in a sparsely populated county.

Tom, what you describe is the Oxford comma, how I was taught, and still correct. As is two spaces after a period.

I agree that apostrophes are misused all the time - its '70s, not 70's - but I think the battle for thats been lost.

[Rob Luter]

I thought this was possession

Possession.jpg

Only if there’s pea soup barf.

[Rob Luter]

I was taught some things incorrectly when I was in Elementary school. For instance, I was taught that a comma always comes before "and" unless it applied to multiples of something. I still have trouble with that one. It was a very small school in a sparsely populated county.

Yup. Oxford comma. Old school, like me.

[Bill Howatt]

There are obvious incorrect use of punctuation but the other reality is that languages and their rules change with time so what the rule 5 decades ago may not be what is considered necessary today. My personal rule is to see whether or not the absence of a comma causes confusion or difficult reading.
One space after a period is the common usage today but 2 is OK if that's your style. Our company's style rule was 2 and word-processing instructors that visited had a bit of an issue with it but the customer is always right.

[Patrick McCarthy]

- its '70s, not 70's -

umm, should that be it's? . . . . just sayin' . . . .

[Stephen Tashiro]

As is two spaces after a period.

One of my gripes about online posting is that most forum software automatically removes the second space after periods even if you put it in.

[mike stenson]

It should be easy to see. The crux of the biscuit, is the Apostrophe.

I agree with the abbreviation usage too.