Comments on: I’m beginning to hate apostrophes! http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes Global English and language change Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:05:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: WitNit http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-4011 WitNit Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:27:30 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-4011 These apostrophes are the bane of our existence!!! They MUST be stopped immediately. Why would anyone want to even talk about such a stupid thing (this is the last time I will). It makes me sick that people care about such an insignificant and tiny mark. In protest of the mark, I have just pried this key from my keyboard. Unfortunately, I no longer have the quotation marks key as that resided on the place...Arrrrgg!!!!!. Lets get rid of all these extraneous artifacts and relics right away!!! But we should keep the period, exclamation and question marks and maybe the comma. All the others are worthless and are a waste of our time here on the planet. Consider all the time that would be saved if we do this right away!! OK... Im going to go through each and every book I take out at the library and I will be whiting-out all these silly marks. This is important people ----- WAKE UP!! We have a decision to make RIGHT NOW!!!!! Lets hunt down and exterminate all unneeded punctuation and return the world (and this author) to sanity! These apostrophes are the bane of our existence!!! They MUST be stopped immediately. Why would anyone want to even talk about such a stupid thing (this is the last time I will). It makes me sick that people care about such an insignificant and tiny mark. In protest of the mark, I have just pried this key from my keyboard. Unfortunately, I no longer have the quotation marks key as that resided on the place…Arrrrgg!!!!!.

Lets get rid of all these extraneous artifacts and relics right away!!! But we should keep the period, exclamation and question marks and maybe the comma. All the others are worthless and are a waste of our time here on the planet. Consider all the time that would be saved if we do this right away!! OK… Im going to go through each and every book I take out at the library and I will be whiting-out all these silly marks. This is important people —– WAKE UP!! We have a decision to make RIGHT NOW!!!!!

Lets hunt down and exterminate all unneeded punctuation and return the world (and this author) to sanity!

]]> By: ENgLash http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-4010 ENgLash Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:09:30 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-4010 Today's blatant disregard of proper apostrophe usage is an clear indication of our society's disintegrating language quality standard. However, if we choose to simply eradicate the apostrophe, we are also accepting a lower standard of literary competence. Despite the anguish of a plethora of apostrophe catastrophes, let us now consider to rejoice in the dear apostrophe's existence, for it is this elegant punctuation mark which defines our expectation of language quality. Long live the Queen's English, and her high-set defining mark, the apostrophe! Today’s blatant disregard of proper apostrophe usage is an clear indication of our society’s disintegrating language quality standard. However, if we choose to simply eradicate the apostrophe, we are also accepting a lower standard of literary competence. Despite the anguish of a plethora of apostrophe catastrophes, let us now consider to rejoice in the dear apostrophe’s existence, for it is this elegant punctuation mark which defines our expectation of language quality.

Long live the Queen’s English, and her high-set defining mark, the apostrophe!

]]> By: Liselotte Krell http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-544 Liselotte Krell Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:20:01 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-544 A little note from Denmark. We have the kind of opposite problem that people write more and more apostrophes. We say it's bad influence from English. People put them where they shouldn't be, like in "Peter's "which should only be "Peters" in Danish. Interesting... A little note from Denmark. We have the kind of opposite problem that people write more and more apostrophes. We say it’s bad influence from English. People put them where they shouldn’t be, like in “Peter’s “which should only be “Peters” in Danish. Interesting…

]]> By: Trudy Langerak http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-543 Trudy Langerak Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:39:57 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-543 Frank McCourt began his foreword to Lynne Truss's bestseller with "If Lynne Truss were Catholic I'd nominate her for sainthood", and I totally agree with him. I constantly observe that the spoken and written language is empoverishing everywhere. People read less and prefer easier, passive, entertainment such as watching TV . And nobody worries about it, they think you are a hair-splitter if you mention it. I wished it were only a question of commas and apostrophes! The latest one was at Barajas, the airport of Madrid. It was written in big letters at the entrance of well-known fast food snackbar and said "lightly snacks" for "tapas ligeras". After reading it I took my photograph and didn´t enter. Frank McCourt began his foreword to Lynne Truss’s bestseller with “If Lynne Truss were Catholic I’d nominate her for sainthood”, and I totally agree with him.
I constantly observe that the spoken and written language is empoverishing everywhere. People read less and prefer easier, passive, entertainment such as watching TV . And nobody worries about it, they think you are a hair-splitter if you mention it.
I wished it were only a question of commas and apostrophes!
The latest one was at Barajas, the airport of Madrid.
It was written in big letters at the entrance of well-known fast food snackbar and said “lightly snacks” for “tapas ligeras”. After reading it I took my photograph and didn´t enter.

]]> By: Supersonicjim http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-542 Supersonicjim Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:45:21 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-542 It's the ones that are like "Hats Hammers Hole's Piano's Eagle's" I don't understand why they think they need apostrophes because they end in a vowel. It’s the ones that are like
“Hats
Hammers
Hole’s
Piano’s
Eagle’s”
I don’t understand why they think they need apostrophes because they end in a vowel.

]]> By: dan http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-541 dan Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:55:39 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-541 The Daily Telegraph has been doing lots of stories about the apostrophe this summer, and their comments pages are full of outrage over various outrageous infractions linked to the apostrophe and other perceived failings in the our (mostly) young people's grammar and spelling. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/6111692/A-troubling-tittle.html" rel="nofollow">Here</a> and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6147319/One-in-the-eye-for-slipshod-signwriters.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Many of them undermine their prescriptive arguments by mis-spelling basic words or getting their own use of the apostrophe wrong (but that's kind of what you expect on the internet, isn't it?) and are very hung up on maintaining what they see as traditional standards of grammar. But grammar changes too, doesn't it? The apostrophe hasn't always been around in English: it's a relatively recent invention. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7724190.stm" rel="nofollow">This link</a> has got more about it The Daily Telegraph has been doing lots of stories about the apostrophe this summer, and their comments pages are full of outrage over various outrageous infractions linked to the apostrophe and other perceived failings in the our (mostly) young people’s grammar and spelling. Here and here. Many of them undermine their prescriptive arguments by mis-spelling basic words or getting their own use of the apostrophe wrong (but that’s kind of what you expect on the internet, isn’t it?) and are very hung up on maintaining what they see as traditional standards of grammar. But grammar changes too, doesn’t it? The apostrophe hasn’t always been around in English: it’s a relatively recent invention. This link has got more about it

]]> By: Kati Sule http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-540 Kati Sule Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:02:02 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-540 In Dutch, apostrophe + s is only used for indicating the plural of certain nouns, i.e. those ending in a vowel (e.g. taxi > taxi's; mango > mango's; baby > baby's). Other words will take and 's' without apostrophe, or 'en' (e.g. egel > egels; hond > honden). Apostrophe + s is not used for the possessive in Dutch, which - I expect - makes the whole apostrophe thing a can of worms for Duch speakers trying to spell English correctly. In Dutch, apostrophe + s is only used for indicating the plural of certain nouns, i.e. those ending in a vowel (e.g. taxi > taxi’s; mango > mango’s; baby > baby’s). Other words will take and ‘s’ without apostrophe, or ‘en’ (e.g. egel > egels; hond > honden). Apostrophe + s is not used for the possessive in Dutch, which – I expect – makes the whole apostrophe thing a can of worms for Duch speakers trying to spell English correctly.

]]> By: Cavan http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-539 Cavan Sun, 30 Aug 2009 08:58:58 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-539 As far as I know apostrophes are used for plurals in Dutch (see Gwyneth Fox's examples above). Maybe someone can confirm this. Those in favour of apostrophes should spare a thought for those whose names contain an apostrophe in this digital age. It's a nightmare waiting for example for officials to retrieve your name from their computers, especially if it was entered in the first place with an accent (`) or (´) and not an ( ' ). As far as I know apostrophes are used for plurals in Dutch (see Gwyneth Fox’s examples above). Maybe someone can confirm this.
Those in favour of apostrophes should spare a thought for those whose names contain an apostrophe in this digital age. It’s a nightmare waiting for example for officials to retrieve your name from their computers, especially if it was entered in the first place with an accent (`) or (´) and not an ( ‘ ).

]]> By: Mal http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-538 Mal Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:46:24 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-538 Well, I'm with Lynne Truss on this one! In her book she states that punctuation is " a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling" - (page 7). The general thrust of the contributions here would suggest that because we don't seem to be able to use the apostrophe correctly, it should be abandoned. So what is next to go - the semi-colon? For those who care about these things I would recommend the style guide produced by the Economist magazine. As for Newton's Laws... the comment about God assumes belief in a deity or several deities. To me it's all just an excuse for not bothering to learn and use the correct punctuation in the first place! Observe the cries of examiners in the UK where students of GCSE English are using SMS text language in their written work. GR8! Well, I’m with Lynne Truss on this one! In her book she states that punctuation is ” a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling” – (page 7).

The general thrust of the contributions here would suggest that because we don’t seem to be able to use the apostrophe correctly, it should be abandoned. So what is next to go – the semi-colon? For those who care about these things I would recommend the style guide produced by the Economist magazine.

As for Newton’s Laws… the comment about God assumes belief in a deity or several deities.

To me it’s all just an excuse for not bothering to learn and use the correct punctuation in the first place! Observe the cries of examiners in the UK where students of GCSE English are using SMS text language in their written work. GR8!

]]> By: scobie61 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/apostrophes/comment-page-1#comment-537 scobie61 Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:51:42 +0000 http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/?p=415#comment-537 I'm afraid, that like the bowler hat and the cravat, the apostrophe is heading for extinction. . . . I’m afraid, that like the bowler hat and the cravat, the apostrophe is heading for extinction. . . .

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