Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:04 AM

DFW (13,354 posts)

For those who still don't know that plurals in English are generally not spelled with an apostrophe

Last edited Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:04 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

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48 replies	Author	Time	Post
For those who still don't know that plurals in English are generally not spelled with an apostrophe (Original post)	DFW	Jun 2012	OP
Well, there's certainly no shortage of Grammar Nazis here on DU...	LAGC	Jun 2012	#1
LOL!	DFW	Jun 2012	#4
"Most Democrats know how to read and write English."	kentauros	Jun 2012	#26
To typo is human, as they say......... n/t	DFW	Jun 2012	#31
And the air is humid.	kentauros	Jun 2012	#33
I am a grammar Nazi, but I try to restrain myself. I am a former copy editor.	RebelOne	Jun 2012	#14
And then there's Spelling:	Art_from_Ark	Jun 2012	#2
That's a typo, not a spelling error	Bucky	Jun 2012	#22
Sure it's a typo	Art_from_Ark	Jun 2012	#25
Its pretty easy to remember.	Deep13	Jun 2012	#3
I don't like Grammar Nazi	bigwillq	Jun 2012	#9
NO GRAMMAR FOR YOU!!!!!	MiddleFingerMom	Jun 2012	#12
Nah. "Pedants" sounds like...	Bucky	Jun 2012	#23
How about "Grammar Despot" instead?	kentauros	Jun 2012	#27
So "Grammar Martinet" probably also too obscure...	beac	Jun 2012	#41
I prefer "Grammarnatrix". Mama spank.	nolabear	Jun 2012	#45
Time to whip DU posters into shape.	hay rick	Jun 2012	#47
Now where did I put my sleeveless turtleneck and powerdome?	kentauros	Jun 2012	#48
All those M.A.'s and Ph.D.'s in the English department haven't been minding their p's and q's.	retread	Jun 2012	#5
When I say it's the exception that proves the rule, I use 'prove' in its old meaning of test.	dimbear	Jun 2012	#16
"Parking for Customer's Only". This sign was placed on an outside wall	LeftinOH	Jun 2012	#6
Here's a practical recommendation for you.	Jim Lane	Jun 2012	#8
I own it and everyone who posts here should also read it. n/t	RebelOne	Jun 2012	#15
Every one?	kentauros	Jun 2012	#28
My favorites are	pipi_k	Jun 2012	#7
Though not an apostrophe mistake, this one drives me nuts	DFW	Jun 2012	#10
Yeah, but "Find a heaven for you and my" is just INVITING a dangerous final line.	MiddleFingerMom	Jun 2012	#13
Now if he had sung THAT......	DFW	Jun 2012	#17
Speaking of which...	pipi_k	Jun 2012	#35
I always say, leave songs in Portuguese alone.........	DFW	Jun 2012	#40
Then you'l love the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks	geardaddy	Jun 2012	#24
hahahaha!!!	pipi_k	Jun 2012	#36
LOL	treestar	Jun 2012	#42
There is a town that I pass through...	Wait Wut	Jun 2012	#11
Queen of Hearts: Now, where do you come from? Alice: Well, I'm trying to find my way home...	retread	Jun 2012	#20
Get out of the car and pose with the sign.	Iggo	Jun 2012	#38
Well I like to think I'm one of those you can say, "You know your shit."	lunatica	Jun 2012	#18
Historians know yore shit. nt.	JustABozoOnThisBus	Jun 2012	#19
And a bumper sticker is born! n/t	DFW	Jun 2012	#21
!	Tuesday Afternoon	Jun 2012	#34
Bob T. A. F. explains	ThoughtCriminal	Jun 2012	#29
thanks for this!	Dyedinthewoolliberal	Jun 2012	#37
There, their, they're.....	southerncrone	Jun 2012	#30
Plural's are fun!	UrbScotty	Jun 2012	#32
I hate Kindle	NV Whino	Jun 2012	#39
My last boss hated me.	ChazInAz	Jun 2012	#43
Knowing your shit is not the question - Communicating your shit is	ashling	Jun 2012	#44
I am not a grammar cop	ashling	Jun 2012	#46

Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:10 AM

LAGC (4,540 posts)

1. Well, there's certainly no shortage of Grammar Nazis here on DU...

I kind of like people pointing out my spelling and grammar errors, though.

Help's (sp) me improve...

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Response to LAGC (Reply #1)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 07:58 AM

DFW (13,354 posts)

4. LOL!

Actually, it's mostly on Republican sites where I see that. Most Democrats know how to read and write English.

If you want a real laugh, go to the Washington Post site and read the comments (in the comments section below articles and editorials) by the paid professional hate posters from the right (they're not difficult to spot). Most of them never met an apostrophe they didn't like.

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Response to DFW (Reply #4)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 11:49 PM

kentauros (21,803 posts)

26. "Most Democrats know how to read and write English."

Last edited Fri Jun 22, 2012, 11:49 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

However, as I've discovered in recent weeks at DU, some of our members are so very anal about this subject. They have stated (rather emphatically, I might add) that if a person can't spell or use anally-proper grammar, then they will be considered less educated / less intelligent / less than said anal-grammar-master, and unworthy of further discussion between them.

N'ow tha'ts jus't sad'

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Response to kentauros (Reply #26)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 02:23 AM

DFW (13,354 posts)

31. To typo is human, as they say......... n/t

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Response to DFW (Reply #31)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 03:03 AM

kentauros (21,803 posts)

33. And the air is humid.

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Response to LAGC (Reply #1)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:40 PM

RebelOne (26,843 posts)

14. I am a grammar Nazi, but I try to restrain myself. I am a former copy editor.

But those apostrophes in plural nouns drive me crazy.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:11 AM

Art_from_Ark (16,918 posts)

2. And then there's Spelling:

The difference between "I will not support Romney" and "I will now support Romney"

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Response to Art_from_Ark (Reply #2)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 05:33 PM

Bucky (41,536 posts)

22. That's a typo, not a spelling error

Not that I'm trying to be a category nazi...
http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Grammar+Nazi.+OC+And+Four+More+Words_91faa4_3690058.jpg

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Response to Bucky (Reply #22)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 11:25 PM

Art_from_Ark (16,918 posts)

25. Sure it's a typo

But if it's not corrected, then it becomes in essence a spelling error if the intent of the writer is misrepresented by the word as it is written.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 05:58 AM

Deep13 (37,268 posts)

3. Its pretty easy to remember.

I still object to the term "grammar Nazi." The Nazis murdered 20 million people. Those who point out grammatical errors are merely annoying. I propose using the term "grammar pedants" from now on.

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Response to Deep13 (Reply #3)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:21 PM

bigwillq (59,599 posts)

9. I don't like Grammar Nazi

although I do like Soup Nazi.

What is the deal with that?

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Response to bigwillq (Reply #9)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:28 PM

MiddleFingerMom (22,238 posts)

12. NO GRAMMAR FOR YOU!!!!!

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Response to Deep13 (Reply #3)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 05:35 PM

Bucky (41,536 posts)

23. Nah. "Pedants" sounds like...

you're comparing them to Jerry Sandusky.

(And yes, I do know what "pedents" really means, so don't be a definition nazi )

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Response to Deep13 (Reply #3)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 11:56 PM

kentauros (21,803 posts)

27. How about "Grammar Despot" instead?

Same number of syllables, and more people know what a despot is than a pedant

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Response to kentauros (Reply #27)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 12:41 PM

beac (9,340 posts)

41. So "Grammar Martinet" probably also too obscure...

mar·ti·net noun \ˌmär-tə-ˈnet\
Definition of MARTINET
1: a strict disciplinarian
2: a person who stresses a rigid adherence to the details of forms and methods

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Response to kentauros (Reply #27)

Sun Jun 24, 2012, 07:15 PM

nolabear (14,737 posts)

45. I prefer "Grammarnatrix". Mama spank.

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Response to nolabear (Reply #45)

Sun Jun 24, 2012, 07:53 PM

hay rick (3,495 posts)

47. Time to whip DU posters into shape.

Last edited Sun Jun 24, 2012, 07:55 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

Dressing for the occasion would be a bonus.

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Response to hay rick (Reply #47)

Sun Jun 24, 2012, 08:31 PM

kentauros (21,803 posts)

48. Now where did I put my sleeveless turtleneck and powerdome?

Ah, here they are!

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 08:42 AM

retread (2,787 posts)

5. All those M.A.'s and Ph.D.'s in the English department haven't been minding their p's and q's.

Though most of them got all A's in English.

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Response to retread (Reply #5)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 04:48 PM

dimbear (5,133 posts)

16. When I say it's the exception that proves the rule, I use 'prove' in its old meaning of test.

It goes way back.

Now I need to wash the dishes and then do the irony.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 08:56 AM

LeftinOH (4,467 posts)

6. "Parking for Customer's Only". This sign was placed on an outside wall

of a store where I worked back in the 1980s. I promptly went out there and painted over the apostrophe. The business is gone now, but the sign is still there and the words have faded almost completely, but that little blotch of white paint is still doing its job.

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Response to LeftinOH (Reply #6)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:20 PM

Jim Lane (3,831 posts)

8. Here's a practical recommendation for you.

Buy a copy of the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss. At least in the edition I have, it includes a punctuation repair kit. There are several sheets with gum-backed punctuation marks of varying sizes that you can peel out of the kit and stick onto signs where they're needed. (Perhaps your local theater is showing the film Two Weeks Notice and you want to add the missing apostrophe.) For cases like the one you describe, the kit includes other stickers reading "The Panda Says No!" that can be used to cover improper apostrophes and the like.

Her iconic panda is the one that walks into a bar, gobbles down some pretzels, fires a gun twice into the air, and turns around to go out. The startled bartender asks, "Wait, what was that all about?" The panda replies that, according to the encyclopedia, a panda eats shoots and leaves.

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Response to Jim Lane (Reply #8)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:41 PM

RebelOne (26,843 posts)

15. I own it and everyone who posts here should also read it. n/t

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Response to RebelOne (Reply #15)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 11:58 PM

kentauros (21,803 posts)

28. Every one?

Or every only? I can't say I'm a customer, yet I would like to park my only here.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 09:33 AM

pipi_k (16,282 posts)

7. My favorites are

the quotation marks...

"cook" books for sale

"chicken" breasts: $ 1.49/lb

rest rooms for "customers" only

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Response to pipi_k (Reply #7)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:26 PM

DFW (13,354 posts)

10. Though not an apostrophe mistake, this one drives me nuts

.....mainly because I LOVE Mark Knopfler's music, and when I hear this otherwise great song with one of the stupidest grammatical mistakes you can make, and TWICE in the same verse, I feel like shouting back at the CD to tell him to rewrite his text.

From his song "Darling Pretty" from the album "Golden Heart:"

There will come a day, darling pretty
There will come a day when hearts can fly
Love will find a way, my darling pretty
Find a heaven for you and I
Love will find a way, my darling pretty
Find a heaven for you and I

I don't care HOW well it rhymes, I age a month every time I hear him sing "for you and I."

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Response to DFW (Reply #10)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:35 PM

MiddleFingerMom (22,238 posts)

13. Yeah, but "Find a heaven for you and my" is just INVITING a dangerous final line.

Last edited Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:36 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

.
.
.
At least it would if they were MY lyrics.
.
.
.

.
.
.

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Response to MiddleFingerMom (Reply #13)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 04:51 PM

DFW (13,354 posts)

17. Now if he had sung THAT......

I'd say, "BRING IT ON!"

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Response to DFW (Reply #10)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 09:45 AM

pipi_k (16,282 posts)

35. Speaking of which...

Listening to a 60s station the other day, and what comes on but "The Girl From Ipanema"

Kicky tune and lyrics until...

"But each day when she walks to the sea,
She looks straight ahead, not at he..."

Like your example, I don't care how well it rhymes. It makes me cringe.

And why wasn't it written, "She looks straight ahead, not at ME" ?

oh well

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Response to pipi_k (Reply #35)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 11:57 AM

DFW (13,354 posts)

40. I always say, leave songs in Portuguese alone.........

Last edited Sat Jun 23, 2012, 11:58 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

Não?

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Response to pipi_k (Reply #7)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 05:53 PM

geardaddy (14,313 posts)

24. Then you'l love the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks

http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

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Response to geardaddy (Reply #24)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 09:49 AM

pipi_k (16,282 posts)

36. hahahaha!!!

Love it! Thanks!

I may have to contribute a few of my own that I find around town.

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Response to geardaddy (Reply #24)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 12:52 PM

treestar (40,494 posts)

42. LOL

Looks like some people think quotes function as italics.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:27 PM

Wait Wut (6,179 posts)

11. There is a town that I pass through...

...when I go to California called "Hope, AZ". They had this old sign welcoming you to Hope. On the other side it said, "Your now beyond Hope."

They replaced the sign a couple of years ago. It still says, "Your now beyond Hope", but now the sign is even more prominent.

The husband and I will be about a mile or so from the sign when the husband just starts giggling. He knows I'm going to go off on a friggin' rant. I tried taking a picture of it once, because my sister didn't believe me. Next time, I guess I'll have to actually get out of the car.

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Response to Wait Wut (Reply #11)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 05:13 PM

retread (2,787 posts)

20. Queen of Hearts: Now, where do you come from? Alice: Well, I'm trying to find my way home...

Queen of Hearts: Your way? All ways here are my ways!

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Response to Wait Wut (Reply #11)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 10:14 AM

Iggo (22,326 posts)

38. Get out of the car and pose with the sign.

That sign's just askin' for it.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 04:52 PM

lunatica (28,852 posts)

18. Well I like to think I'm one of those you can say, "You know your shit."

Last edited Fri Jun 22, 2012, 05:01 PM USA/ET - Edit history (2)

The other one would make me pissy.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 05:03 PM

JustABozoOnThisBus (9,918 posts)

19. Historians know yore shit. nt.

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Response to JustABozoOnThisBus (Reply #19)

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 05:14 PM

DFW (13,354 posts)

21. And a bumper sticker is born! n/t

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Response to JustABozoOnThisBus (Reply #19)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 07:13 AM

Tuesday Afternoon (43,914 posts)

34. !

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 12:28 AM

ThoughtCriminal (9,797 posts)

29. Bob T. A. F. explains

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Response to ThoughtCriminal (Reply #29)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 10:10 AM

Dyedinthewoolliberal (6,463 posts)

37. thanks for this!

It's on my FB page already!

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 12:55 AM

southerncrone (4,521 posts)

30. There, their, they're.....

itll bee all right.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 02:24 AM

UrbScotty (22,202 posts)

32. Plural's are fun!

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Sat Jun 23, 2012, 11:40 AM

NV Whino (14,265 posts)

39. I hate Kindle

I can't edit the mistakes.

I've sent back many a library book having edited mistakes and bad grammar. I've also read a few where someone got there before I did. Makes me smile when I see an edited book.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Sun Jun 24, 2012, 02:06 AM

ChazInAz (353 posts)

43. My last boss hated me.

I have been a high school English teacher, I am an actor....English is one of my tools.
My boss, the last one before I retired, was incapable of using proper grammar or correct spelling. Quite often, he'd ask me the proper spelling of some words whilst toiling over a memo. Being a helpful guy, I'd tell him. That was alright by me...glad to be a resource in the interest of better communications. Apparently some higher-up pointed out to him that it was inappropriate. So the requests stopped, and his memos became virtually unintelligible. Still being a helpful guy, I started correcting his spelling and grammar in red pencil, grading them and sending them back. The memos stopped appearing after a while. I don't know why.
Shortly thereafter, he hired a secretary.
I was just doing my part to create jobs.
Now I'm retired, but I still know my shit!

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Sun Jun 24, 2012, 07:12 PM

ashling (19,222 posts)

44. Knowing your shit is not the question - Communicating your shit is

Last edited Sun Jun 24, 2012, 07:53 PM USA/ET - Edit history (3)

" Grammar, perfectly understood, enables us not only to express our meaning fully and clearly, but so to express it as to enable us to defy the ingenuity of man to give to our words any other meaning than that which we ourselves intend them to express."

~ William Cobbett

I use this quote in my government class. Effective communication is a component of critical thinking.

I have had kids in college who's grammar was so bad as to make their writing incomprehensible. I required one student to visit the campus writing center before I would grade any more of her work.

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Response to DFW (Original post)

Sun Jun 24, 2012, 07:49 PM

ashling (19,222 posts)

46. I am not a grammar cop

but I play one on DU

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