General TE tips

[SadieKate]

lawless apostrophe abuse

That's so good I changed my signature line.

"Re'sume's" - that's very unique.

I'm adding you to my compatriot list.

[maillotpois]

Oh my gosh that poster is excellent!! I get super grouchy about apostrophe abuse also. I specifically hate when people use them to pluralize - even for something like RVs, VCRs, etc. Just because it's all caps doesn't mean it's special. Then there's the whole it's/its debacle - and I don't mean the tasty ice cream sandwich made locally in the Bay Area....

Now that's not to say I am not guilty of my fair share of typos. (I never learned how to type correctly, so I type with about 3 fingers and tend to go very fast but sometimes make mistakes. But throwing in gratuitous apostrohpes won't be the sort of mistake I usually make...)

[bikerz]

All grammar grinches need to read the book "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves!" (It's on my stack...)

There was a Stouffers poster in Bart with a misplaced comma in the copy that I had to look at EVERY DAY and it drove me INSANE! Finally it was replaced with one of those ubiquitous Ipod posters instead...

[DrBee]

I like the "incorrect rule #3" - add one whenever you want. That seems to happen waaaaayyyyy too often. I see this a lot when I'm reviewing manuscripts. Drives me nuts!

[Bad JuJu]

I teach English composition to college freshman, and if you think YOU'VE seen apostrophe abuse...in the words of an old popular song, "you ain't seen nothin', yet." Drives me absolutely freakin' nuts.

And hey, bikerz, I love Eats, Shoots, and Leaves!

Anybody shop at Lands' End? They admitted a few years ago that their apostrophe is incorrect, but they say they're keeping it that way to remind them of their fallibility--right, and to avoid having to correct all their corporate letterhead stuff, too.

[SadieKate]

In college, I typed papers for money (yeah, a real typewriter and I learned on a manual). I finally told a Business Management major, a steady customer, that I was going to stop correcting his special version of the word "management" if he didn't figure it out. Amazingly, the next paper was perfectly spelled.

[Lise]

I insistantly misspelled Thucydides in a history paper in college. The instructor got so mad that he circled each instance in red, and wrote the correct spelling in caps across the title page. Don't believe I've had cause to write the name again until today, 27 years later, but you'd best believe I checked the spelling before posting! L.

[Dianyla]

Regarding the re'sume's sign... I don't consider this outright apostrophe abuse. They were trying to type the french e+acute accent letter to produce the word résumés. A lot of word processors have the language options set so that you use the apostrophe key right before or after the desired vowel to be accented.

So, in their quest to be more professional, they ended up looking incompetent.

[Adventure Girl]

Then there's the whole it's/its debacle - and I don't mean the tasty ice cream sandwich made locally in the Bay Area....

My favorite post of the day!!!

[maillotpois]

Then there's the whole it's/its debacle - and I don't mean the tasty ice cream sandwich made locally in the Bay Area....

My favorite post of the day!!!

Thanks! Every time I drive by their factory or whatever it is on South 101 by the SF airport, I'm always fixated on their sign. Mmmm. It's Its. Or are they It's It's? Now that I don't know.

You know, I should really go get one to clarify the issue.

[Veronica]

Thanks! Every time I drive by their factory or whatever it is on South 101 by the SF airport, I'm always fixated on their sign. Mmmm. It's Its. Or are they It's It's? Now that I don't know.

You know, I should really go get one to clarify the issue.

You know whatever they are, I don't like them. I'd rather have a Klondike. Alas, poor Yorick and I are swearing off Klondikes in hopes a few more pounds will disappear to aid the climbing effort. I knew those Klondikes very well.

V.

[Jones]

Maybe you English teachers and grouchy grammar grinches can help me. I was taught that you could go anyway but not anyways. I see and hear people use the word anyways as a conjunction often. It bugs me. Is it correct.
Jones

[SadieKate]

You know, I should really go get one to clarify the issue.

Another good excuse for "the calories don't count when . . . " thread. The calories don't count when it is to solve a grammar question.

Good one, MP.

[maillotpois]

Another good excuse for "the calories don't count when . . . " thread. The calories don't count when it is to solve a grammar question.

Good one, MP.

But thank you for supplying the validation.