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!
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
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!
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????
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
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.
"'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.'"
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.
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.
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.
I'm with you, Drew. It used to not bother me at all, since when posting a message board, we're just BSing. BUT, the longer I've been online, the more it bothers me. It's become apparent that many of these people are just flat out illiterate. And, it's absolutely shocking how many of them there are out there.
Sometimes, this is not the result of ignorance, but the result of muscle memory. Sometimes my fingers will just type "their" when I know I mean "they're," and I go back and re-read what I wrote, and think to myself, "I know better than that. How'd that happen?"
Does it strike anyone else as strange that they they've used Xmas instead of Christmas? And what would Xmas be classed as anyway? Is it a contraction... Or just an americanism?
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.
I've been meaning to pick up "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" for ages now... i must go to the bookstore! I'm pretty particular about spelling and punctuation, and that was exacerbated even more by taking years of typography in my design program... not only do the apostrophes have to be in the correct places, but they also have to be proper typographic apostrophes, and not "typewriter" apostrophes:
Does it strike anyone else as strange that they they've used Xmas instead of Christmas? And what would Xmas be classed as anyway? Is it a contraction... Or just an americanism?
Most likely a contraction, as the abbreviation and usage of the "X" has been around long before America came to be. The "X" in X-mas is actually the Greek letter "chi," and it's a common abbreviation for "Christ." (chi is the first letter of "Christ" in Greek.) So the next time you see "X-Mas" don't say "eks-mas", say "kye-mas."
While I'm not one to sit and grade posts for punctuation and grammar, some sense of order is helpful when trying to understand what someone is asking. My least favorite type of first post is when a newcomer clearly has an important question but cannot seem to find enough words to explain himself.
I wonder how much of this has to do with whether a person is a touch typist or not. I can imagine if I were a hunt-and-pecker I might tend to conserve keystrokes, but as a touch typist, I can let the words fly with relative ease.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ibanez JEM Forum
1.3M posts
69.6K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to Ibanez JEM guitar owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about collections, displays, models, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!