Apostrophe abuse!

[hexa-db]

Ok, I know it's not that important and there are far more important things in the world but I have to say it.

Please don't use apostrophes in plurals! It's wrong and it hurts!

Apologies in advance for this. I know English isn't everyone's first language and I'm not attacking anyone, but apostrophes in plurals really get to me!


Guide to apostrophe use (from The Apostrophe Protection Society homepage)

The rules concerning the use of Apostrophes in written English are very simple:
1. They are used to denote a missing letter or letters, for example:
I can't instead of I cannot
I don't instead of I do not
it's instead of it is
2. They are used to denote possession, for example:
the dog's bone
the company's logo
Jones's bakery (but Joneses' bakery if owned by more than one Jones)

... but please note that the possessive form of it does not take an apostrophe any more than ours, yours or hers do.
the bone is in its mouth
... however, if there are two or more dogs, companies or Joneses in our example, the apostrophe comes after the 's':
the dogs' bones
the companies' logos
Joneses' bakeries
3. Apostrophes are NEVER ever used to denote plurals! Common examples of such abuse (all seen in real life!) are:
Banana's for sale which of course should read Bananas for sale
Menu's printed to order which should read Menus printed to order
MOT's at this garage which should read MOTs at this garage
1000's of bargains here! which should read 1000s of bargains here!
New CD's just in! which should read New CDs just in!
Buy your Xmas tree's here! which should read Buy your Xmas trees here!

Note: Special care must be taken over the use of your and you're as they sound the same but are used quite differently:
your is possessive as in this is your pen
you're is short for you are as in you're coming over to my house

[jay ratkowski]

There's nothing more important than being able to communicate in a somewhat respectable manner.

[caprile]

You're comment's are welcome!

Kidding aside, I couldn't agree more. Even if I don't command english very well, it really irritates me to see native speakers writing like that! Thanks!

[JJEMMER777]

Hex.....are you bored today....or do all the LITTLE things in life get to you? Seems to me that in a world full of BIG problems.....you could find something a little more substantial to whine about Does it really hurt????

[hexa-db]

Originally Posted by JJEMMER777

Hex.....are you bored today....or do all the LITTLE things in life get to you? Seems to me that in a world full of BIG problems.....you could find something a little more substantial to whine about

Heheheh
I know it's a bit stupid, but you know how it is when something really small just grates on your nerves?
I think I made it even worse by reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

[JJEMMER777]

Originally Posted by hexa-db

Heheheh
I know it's a bit stupid, but you know how it is when something really small just grates on your nerves?
I think I made it even worse by reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

U-R funny (oops...bad English

[rgr]

You forgot that if "it" is possessive, it is "its" which is the exception to the rule

Sorry, had to say something....

Roger

[bpd111]

What about comma neglect? You know,,, when you use a comma for some sort of spacing,,,if we're gonna call a spade a spade,,,

Two commas should NEVER appear next to each other,,,ever,,,right?

[hexa-db]

Originally Posted by rgr

You forgot that if "it" is possessive, it is "its" which is the exception to the rule

Sorry, had to say something....

Roger

There is a bit about that in there

but please note that the possessive form of it does not take an apostrophe any more than ours, yours or hers do.

It's probably not the best explanation there is but I just grabbed it quickly

[rgr]

You're correct, I was reaching It's kinda funny, apparently I didn't read it very well. While my punctuation skills are fine, my speed reading is quite lacking.

Roger

[moro]

I fairly regularly see people use an apostrophe for past tense as well. For example: "We demo'ed the software this morning."

WTF.

[Algiman]

Originally Posted by moro

"We demo'ed the software this morning."

WTF.

That is another contraction, eg using the apostrophe to replace missing letters (demoNSTRATed). Nothing to do with it being past tense.

[Hobophobic]

"'Once upon a time somebody say to me,'
this is the dog talkin' now,
'What is your conceptual continuity?'
'Well I told 'em right then,' Fido said,
'it should be easy to see,
the crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe.'"

[Drew]

Agreed, although the form I'd be more wont to use would be "demo'd" if I was using it in a semi-casual writing environment (as contractions, and especially non-standard contractions, should only be used with EXTREME caution in formal writing).

My somewhat, erm, erratic typing notwithstanding, I'm somewhat of a grammar nazi myself, although it's more internet slang (ur) or blatantly bad spellings of easy words (tripple rectifier, distortion peddle) that kill me.

-D

[Ferrous Lepidoptera]

Bare with me, while I rant a bit. All this wining about poor spelling, it's really a mute point, and I could care less about this. Sure, alot of people could of used a spell checker, but what fun is that? Why should we tow the line, when for all intensive purposes, people still no what your talking about? Afterall, it's only a web sight. I await you're reply with baited breath.

(That was fun.)