Apostrophes!

7 Feb 2007

Quote by ForestFunsters
I beg to differ - I quoted Screwtape directly by using his spelling of "willful". Had I paraphrased and applied my own correct spelling of 'wilful', I would have used the single indirect quotation mark as you say.

We use single quotation marks for words. Double ones for speech.

7 Feb 2007

Quote by westerross
-nobody's perfect - as someone often reminds me!! :giggle:
.

They have reminded you a myriad times too wink

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Screwtape
I am sure I was not alone to be amused when I saw members beings described as "morron's".

I am not so "mildly irritated" by the misuse of apostrophes as much as I am "mildly irritated" by the fact that morons has been mispelt in the first place and you who are so quick to judge others on their misuse of grammar, fail to notice the incorrect spelling !!!
lol

:lol: :lol:
*Her*

7 Feb 2007

BUT, I have to agree and disagree slightly with you on the usage of apostrophes. Yes I agree with your comments on the correct and incorrect usage of them but we cannot sit and judge and jury to people who cannot really spell that well or use correct abbreviations. This site isn't about reading and writing skills or is it? (correct me if I'm wrong I don't mind icon_ )
By the way, does anyone tell you you have a look of one of the 'Baldwin' brothers?? mmmm"

I don't judge those on this site who cannot spell. I judge those who call others morons while spelling the word incorrectly.
And, yes to your question. smile

Richard

7 Feb 2007

I am not so "mildly irritated" by the misuse of apostrophes as much as I am "mildly irritated" by the fact that morons has been mispelt in the first place and you who are so quick to judge others on their misuse of grammar, fail to notice the incorrect spelling !!!

I noticed the spelling. I didn't think it needed pointing out. Something about not insulting the intelligence of people here.
Richard

7 Feb 2007

I would just like to point out that this punctuation mark:- " - is NOT an apostrophe, it is a direct quotation mark. An apostrophe could be used in the following sentence (with direct quotation marks in the correct place):-

Two things:
1) For the sake of clarity I used the speech mark instead of the quotation mark as the speech mark and apostrophe look the same on screen and in this instance may cause confusion. Writers who write about punctuation often use speech marks for quotations for this very reason.
2) I wrote the post on Word first and I did not notice it corrected 'wilful' to the American spelling.
Richard

7 Feb 2007

From
Talking About Words
There is one very special use of quotation marks, which it is useful to know about: we use quotation marks when we are talking about words. In this special use, all varieties of English normally use only single quotes, and not double quotes (though some Americans use double quotes even here). (This is another advantage of using double quotes for ordinary purposes, since this special use can then be readily distinguished.) Consider the following examples:
Men are physically stronger than women.
`Men' is an irregular plural.
In the first example, we are using the word `men' in the ordinary way, to refer to male human beings. In the second, however, we are doing something very different: we are not talking about any human beings at all, but instead we are talking about the word `men'. Placing quotes around the word we are talking about makes this clear. Of course, you are only likely to need this device when you are writing about language, but then you should certainly use it.

7 Feb 2007

Take the following example for a fictitious person:
John Davies is concerned over tomorrow's forecast for snow in London because...
1) John Davies' car is not easy to drive on slippery roads
or should it be:
2) John Davies's car is not easy to drive on slippery roads.
According to my basic knowledge of English grammar, sentence 1 is correct, but I have received letters from authorities where they have used sentence 2.
My question is thus: does one leave the "s" after the apostrophe if the preceding word is a person's name that ends in "s"?

I am not 100% but I think it's line 2. The way I remember it, and you'll have to check it, is that names from the ancient world and saints' names have no 's' after the apostrophe. Everyone else does. If it isn't that it is something very similar.
Richard

7 Feb 2007

Shag anyone?
:rascal:

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Bloke2005
Shag anyone?
:rascal:

Anyone?

7 Feb 2007

Now, Bloke, we've spoken about this . . . ;)
Richard (backing out now as his attempt at what was supposed to be a bit of fun has clearly backfired. He blames himself).

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Freckledbird
Shag anyone?
:rascal:

Anyone?

That took you about 5 minutes wink

Anyway... sorry, this thread has me giggling. I think a face-to-face 'grammar duel' would be better between Mr Screwtape and Mrs Freckledbird - invite him to your next Tupperware party (no ulterior motive... honest... much...) confused

:twisted:
Did someone mention the Baldwin Brothers? :inlove:

7 Feb 2007

Did someone mention the Baldwin Brothers

One of my more surreal experiences came about twelve years ago in America when I felt it impolite to refuse my aunt's invite to her Quaker church. At the end of the service, as we started to shuffle out, some guy started vaulting chairs and pushing people out the way. He was glaring at me with what I took to be a crazed expression and I started to get nervous. I wondered if, perhaps, he knew I didn't believe in God and was going to try to save me or something. He grabbed me by the shoulders and ejaculated (if that's the word I want): "You look just like Nicholas Cage!"
Nothing in my experience to that point equipped me for that moment. I smiled, thanked him and backed out slowly.
Richard

7 Feb 2007

Oooooooooooo not duelling with Screwtape, honestly.
You and your bloody ulterior motives - tart! rolleyes

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Screwtape
He grabbed me by the shoulders and ejaculated...

OK, you have my interest and are now speaking my language - how can I be of service? lol

7 Feb 2007

OK, you have my interest and are now speaking my language - how can I be of service?

Bloke, really now, this man is not for turning. ;)
Richard

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Screwtape
Bloke, really now, this man is not for turning. ;)
Richard

Then stay face down... I don't care :twisted: FB - can you please help me out here? lol

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Bloke2005
Bloke, really now, this man is not for turning. ;)
Richard

Then stay face down... I don't care :twisted: FB - can you please help me out here? lol

:shock: ermmmmmm, I doubt that very much! :lol:

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Missy
Have you been going through the Punctuation cupboard by any chance?? MikeNorth's s'posed to be in charge of that, and never normally leaves the door open ........ quite the opposite in fact, he often forgets to issue newbies with a Punctuation Pack, and the poor buggers end up in a right mess, with sentences 29 lines long and not even a comma in sight - by the time people have read their post/ad/profile, they're too out of breath to even think of shagging em

I'm late as usual, but this has been a thread to gladden my heart. :thumbup:
Punctuation packs at the ready Missy - not many brackets though (neither square nor curved), I seem to have used most of them up myself. redface

7 Feb 2007

Then stay face down... I don't care icon_ FB - can you please help me out here? icon_

I have never been so . . . actually I was going to say 'appalled' but I think I am going to say 'intrigued' instead.
Richard

7 Feb 2007

Quote by MikeNorth
not many brackets though (neither square nor curved), I seem to have used most of them up myself.

:rotflmao: :rotflmao:
MrNorth - you're just the best :inlove:
:rotflmao:

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Missy
MrNorth - you're just the best :inlove:

I think I'm in (if that's all right with all you chaps) love! lol

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Screwtape
Then stay face down... I don't care icon_ FB - can you please help me out here? icon_

I have never been so . . . actually I was going to say 'appalled' but I think I am going to say 'intrigued' instead.
Richard
Sounds interesting! Can I watch :twisted:

7 Feb 2007

Quote by Screwtape
OK, you have my interest and are now speaking my language - how can I be of service?

Bloke, really now, this man is not for turning. ;)
Richard

Screwtape wrote:
Quote:
Then stay face down... I don't care icon_ FB - can you please help me out here? icon_
I have never been so . . . actually I was going to say 'appalled' but I think I am going to say 'intrigued' instead.
Richard

:shock: Blimey, that was quick.
As I am here now......forgive me pedants, for I have sinned. I've just seen one of my posts with an errant apostrophe! redface

In my defence, I think I was tired at the time. Furthermore, I am truly repentant.

8 Feb 2007

The following is the opinion of the author and in no way reflects the views of anyone else unless otherwise stated. The following comments are not directed at any individual living, dead or somewhere in between, but are meant as a point of reference only.
Here we go again rolleyes

Sorry screwtape, not aimed at you personally, but this is a subject that used to come up ad nausium in the pre takeover days and quite frankly gets on my tits.
Punctuation / spelling / grammar:
Ok do I care?
No, not one bit.
Why?
Because life really is too short.
What’s important?
That the person, or persons typing get their message across in the exact manner / tone in which it is meant and that the information being shared is understood by the recipient. (I’ll come back to this)
I will apologise here and now to the purists among us, all I can say is that I really do begrudge you the time, and effort. Personally I have little of both so please humour me.
Ok to the point. Like it or loathe it, we live in a multi cultural / racial society. Not everyone has had the benefit of a private school education, and some have not had the benefit of any education what so ever, be it through their own fault, or someone else’s. add to that the myriad of medical conditions that help to confuse and confound the would be student in his / her endeavours and just maybe you might begin to form a glimmer of tolerance.
I give you my own situation as a case in point:- English is not my first language, I was subjected to a mediocre education at best and at the age of 47 was recently diagnosed with dyslexia. I was always told, and eventually believed that I was just thick dunno

Now before we all jump to the defence of the great British education system, lets just bear a few points in mind
“The CBI said 42% of the employers it surveyed were unhappy with reading, writing and numeracy skills.” (source: )
ALMOST half of children are leaving primary school without the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic (source:
I could go on :roll:
I take my hat off to the bravery of people who are well aware of the fact that for whatever reason their written / language / social / conversational skills may not be quite as honed as others, but who decide to contribute to online forums / discussions regardless, it takes a certain kind of ‘guts’ to open yourself up to ridicule and then be able to swallow it without recourse to pettiness.
To return to the over / misuse of punctuation, phraseology, and emoticons:
One of the big problems with this media , i.e. forums, live chat, instant messaging etc. is that it is oh so easy for the reader to misconstrue the emotion / intent / mood of the poster. Therefore you will find that some people, especially those who perhaps have a little more / longer experience of the whole medium tend to sometimes use (what some would call) inappropriate punctuation to try and convey the intended emotion behind the post, normally so as to avoid misunderstanding and / or conflict. Alternatively of course it could also be used to signal displeasure / anger etc
For instance:
I’m sorry, but I really do not care for the tone of your last post. It seems that we have a problem with the subject and I must protest at your insinuations.
Sounds reasonable? I thought so.
I’m sorry, but I really do not care for the ‘tone’ of your last post. :taz: It seems that we have a “problem” duel

with the subject and I “must” protest at your insinuations. :jagsatwork:
Hmmm, cruising for a bruising methinks? Alternatively……
I’m sorry, :dunno: but I really do not care for the tone of your last post. :cry: It seems that we have a problem with the subject silly

hwoar: and I must protest at your insinuations. :inlove: :giggle:
So you see, although it may seem like some of us have absolutely no understanding of the literary concepts of this great language of ours, maybe some of us just feel that we are actually NOT the guardians appointed to keep it alive as there are far higher, more qualified, and much better placed individuals who can be trusted to do that for us in fact, it's what we pay them for :shock:
This is after all ’just another forum’ where we are allowed to express our opinions and hope in some small way to be understood :lol2:
Oh and BWM, when you have finished with tune’s ‘little’ quark, I have a lepton that will really put you in a spin :giggle:
And if you thought this was bad, you should have seen it without the benefit of a spell checker lol

8 Feb 2007

Quote by Freckledbird

-nobody's perfect - as someone often reminds me!! :giggle:
.

They have reminded you a myriad times too wink

I am sorry but that is the incorrect use of the word myriad (as I have pointed our to you before Mrs FB smackbottom

)
Myriad, as you know, can be used as an adjective or a noun.
As an adjective one would say "....reminded you myriad times..." as in reminded you many times.
As a noun one would say " .....reminded you a myriad of times..."
In neither usage would one say ".....a myriad times..."
HTH
:giggle:
bolt

.

8 Feb 2007

I'm still not sure about this, so far:
Freckledbird & jaymar say you never write: s's
and Screwtape says it depends whether they are names from the ancient world and saints' names but I would have to check.
Screwtape can you check for me please?
Now I agree that - Davies's - doesn't look right because of the double s, but how about - Dreyfus's - that doesn't look right either but when you say the name you do pronounce the extra 's', does this effect the rule?
And lastly John Davies is currently snowed in mad

8 Feb 2007

There is a difference between mistakes, errors, trying yet not knowing and just being bloody lazy.

8 Feb 2007

Quote by Liaisons
I'm still not sure about this, so far:
Freckledbird & jaymar say you never write: s's
and Screwtape says it depends whether they are names from the ancient world and saints' names but I would have to check.
Screwtape can you check for me please?
Now I agree that - Davies's - doesn't look right because of the double s, but how about - Dreyfus's - that doesn't look right either but when you say the name you do pronounce the extra 's', does this effect the rule?
And lastly John Davies is currently snowed in

The correct froms are; 'Davies owns' and 'Dreyfus owns'.
Owns being the 3rd person present singular to denote ownership.
I just can not stand linguistic contractions.
rolleyes

I'll be of now.

8 Feb 2007

Quote by Freckledbird
Shag anyone?
:rascal:

Anyone?

:laughabove: these are desperate times! :lol: