Rogue apostrophes

[maflynn]

If you had to deal with this crap all day in your job from professional people you would worry about it because you can't escape it--especially when some of the worst offenders can barely string a sentence together and are above you in the food chain.

No I wouldn't, and its such a petty thing and if it bothers you so much, turn the computer off, step outside and view what is really important, i.e., life beyond the computer screen

 

[JBGoode]

No I wouldn't, and its such a petty thing and if it bothers you so much, turn the computer off, step outside and view what is really important, i.e., life beyond the computer screen

Ummmm...... I don't know what you do, but I have to work to support myself so unfortunately I have to sit in front of a computer screen for 40+ hours a week and deal with 'professionals' with atrocious grammar and spelling skills. I have a right to vent about the idiocy I deal with and you have the right to ignore it.

 

[maflynn]

Ummmm...... I don't know what you do, but I have to work to support myself so unfortunately I have to sit in front of a computer screen for 40+ hours a week and deal with 'professionals' with atrocious grammar and spelling skills. I have a right to vent about the idiocy I deal with and you have the right to ignore it.

I too have to stare at a computer for 40 hours a week, and yet I choose to have a balance in my life where I'm not bothered by how other people choose to write. Like I said, life is to short to sweat the small stuff and apostrophes are at the essence small.

 

[Gutwrench]

No I wouldn't, and its such a petty thing and if it bothers you so much, turn the computer off, step outside and view what is really important, i.e., life beyond the computer screen

Just like one could choose to move onto another thread if the topic disagrees with them?

Unless, of course, it’s one of those things that’s really important.

 

[maflynn]

Just like one could choose to move onto another thread if the topic disagrees with them?

Unless, of course, it’s one of those things that’s really important.

I prefer the dialog, and thus continue with the debate , I'm not worked up nor am I bothered by it

 

[Gutwrench]

I prefer the dialogue...

Exactly, as you should.

Ummmm...... I don't know what you do, but I have to work to support myself so unfortunately I have to sit in front of a computer screen for 40+ hours a week and deal with 'professionals' with atrocious grammar and spelling skills. I have a right to vent about the idiocy I deal with and you have the right to ignore it.

I agree and point well made. You’re not being a grammar or spelling nazi. It’s a lighthearted thread on a pet peeve. There’s no call for being shamed. It’s an entertaining thread.

I notice these types of mistakes largely because it makes me pause to question if the it’s actually a writing error or my reading error.

Howeve, my office emails might be written in English but many of them read like a Greek. So I roll with the punches.

 

[IronWaffle]

One of my most frequented Reddit areas.

This one from r/Unnecessaryapostrophe

There are so many things upsettingly wrong about that I don’t know where to begin.

Criminal. If I saw that on the street I might dial 911.

 

[Lioness~]

Care less about grammar and corectedness, if tone is pleasant.
Find it more funny if things are written in unexpected ways.

But I have respect for the grammar police. Language is meant to be protected so it can hold the meaning, intention, depth and understanding of what is conveyed and said. I like well thought through communication however more then the precise grammar though.

 

[maflynn]

Language is meant to be protected

Language is not static, its constantly evolving, and I think people who focus so much on the minor pieces of grammar may very well miss the larger picture.

 

[appleofmyibook]

I hate them. I shudder when I see them. Based on years of reading internet posts I'm convinced that a full 50% of the population (if not more) has no clue on how to correctly use one. The valedictorian of my high school class recently posted "Happy Thanksgiving from the Smith's" on his Facebook. I almost cried.

Why god?

Seriously though does this bother anyone else? This stuff is taught in 2nd grade and I'm amazed that so many adults are guilty of apostrophe abuse. Don't even get me started on there, their, and they're. I die a little inside every time I see those words used incorrectly.

Why do you think this is?

I love you. People where I work make these mistakes all the time. When they want to address account managers they write ‘Hi Am’s’. It kills me. I want to vomit, scream and up-end every single desk in the place all at once.

 

[Lioness~]

Language is not static, its constantly evolving, and I think people who focus so much on the minor pieces of grammar may very well miss the larger picture.

I didn't say anywhere that protection means being static. I think those who protect the language have a feel for its evolvement.
New words and new understanding for communication is integrated all the time in language evolvement.
I meant the protection that various countries have of their language btw. May not be the same as the self proclaimed grammar polices

 

[arkitect]

Language is not static, its constantly evolving, and I think people who focus so much on the minor pieces of grammar may very well miss the larger picture.

We'll just have to agree to differ I think.

But to me it is akin to hearing someone play the piano, as example, and hit a discordant key every couple bars. Sure, I can still tell it is Beethoven Op.111, but… arrghh. After a while I start wondering about their competence.

It hurts a deep nerve. Like a short sharp stab in the guts. Yes, I get over it, but I hate it all the same.

Apparently it doesn't do that to everyone. *shrug*

 

[MileHighPilot]

I hate them. I shudder when I see them. Based on years of reading internet posts I'm convinced that a full 50% of the population (if not more) has no clue on how to correctly use one. The valedictorian of my high school class recently posted "Happy Thanksgiving from the Smith's" on his Facebook. I almost cried.

Why god?

Seriously though does this bother anyone else? This stuff is taught in 2nd grade and I'm amazed that so many adults are guilty of apostrophe abuse. Don't even get me started on there, their, and they're. I die a little inside every time I see those words used incorrectly.

Why do you think this is?

among other jobs i am an adjunct professor and i see it all the time and it makes me want to immediately stop reading the student's paper

Perusing the contents of a reputable watch site recently, I came across a watch, on their Patek Philippe page, which offered for sale a model described as a "Ladies' Novelist".

Now, the watch in question, is, of course, the model that is known as a Ladies' Nautilus.

I am not impressed: If a company expects me (or any other purchaser) to part with a sum of money in excess of £20,000, or €20,000, or $20,000, then the least I can reasonably expect is that they get the name of the watch they are attempting to sell right.

If they are careless about such matters, it signals to me that they will be careless about other - perhaps more important - matters as well.

which watch site was this

 

[maflynn]

I didn't say anywhere that protection means being static.

But the inference is there, the very act of protecting a language means not permitting any variance to how its being used.

I think those who protect the language have a feel for its evolvement.

So are you saying those who protect the language are the only ones qualified to permit its change? I may be uneducated with the ins and outs of language, but the changing nature occurs through everyday use. The ivory towers of higher education have less impact on how language evolves then the common man altering the language in his day to day tasks.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

among other jobs i am an adjunct professor and i see it all the time and it makes me want to immediately stop reading the student's paper

Agreed.

Suffice to say, when I was an academic, a poorly written paper would not have induced warm feelings in me.

which watch site was this

Crown & Caliber, believe it or not.

 

[Baldilocks]

Some of the brightest people I know are terrible writers. Some of the most dull, often sit in front of a computer and proclaim to be grammar Nazis.

 

[arkitect]

Some of the brightest people I know are terrible writers. Some of the most dull, often sit in front of a computer and proclaim to be grammar Nazis.

No need to try and be insulting.

Just understand that some people react differently. I don't wag a finger at you for your tolerance of incorrect usage.
So how about not trundling out the old Nazi trope?

Thanks.

 

[mollyc]

Lawsuits happen because of poor grammar, and sometimes those who write incorrectly can lose millions of dollars. Admittedly, this is about a comma, not an apostrophe. But to say that grammar is trivial only underscores its importance in certain matters.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/oxford-comma-maine.html

 

[rafark]

some years ago I used to triple check everything I wrote on the internet. It was definitely because I felt insecure, until I realized it's not worth it, unless in a formal context, why bother? We're supposed to have fun/distract ourselves from the outer world. As long as the message is understood, the language is achieving its goal.

 

[Baldilocks]

No need to try and be insulting.

Just understand that some people react differently. I don't wag a finger at you for your tolerance of incorrect usage.
So how about not trundling out the old Nazi trope?

Thanks.

I was only making truthful observations. I didn't mention any names.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Some of the brightest people I know are terrible writers. Some of the most dull, often sit in front of a computer and proclaim to be grammar Nazis.

Doesn't matter.

And no need to be so free with crass insults.

If they - the bright ones who are poor communicators in writing - fail to communicate what they wish to say in a clear - and commonly agreed - and commonly understood, written format (which, after all, is what grammar is all about, the rules of language), - then, irrespective of how bright they are, professionally, they are lacking and limited.

Being a terrible writer in a professional environment is nothing to be proud of and you need to be able to communicate your needs, goals, analyses, and ideas clearly.

More to the point, whatever about the private context (and I'll admit, I dislike grammatical and spelling mistakes even there), if a professional body or colleague writes poorly, this makes me doubt their competence, their professional pride, or their attention to detail and guarantees that I will assume that they are careless and sloppy.

 

[Gutwrench]

among other jobs i am an adjunct professor and i see it all the time and it makes me want to immediately stop reading the student's paper

Agreed.

The ivory towers of higher education have less impact on how language evolves then the common man altering the language in his day to day tasks.

Apparently there’s a motion on redefining the usage of ‘then’ and ‘than’ too.
Do I hear a second?

It’s refreshing to read a thread pointing out spelling and grammar is important particularly in the workplace. We are becoming a nation* of imbecilic sounding college graduates...ones who can’t spell either. So I give two thumbs up to the op and a resounding boo to those who feel expecting reasonable language precision is merely pedantic.

*It’s not limited to the US, but it’s where I live and work and notice it.

Have we literally broken the English language?
Martha Gill

It's happened. Literally the most misused word in the language has officially changed definition. Now as well as meaning "in a literal manner or sense; exactly: 'the driver took it literally when asked to go straight over the traffic circle'", various dictionaries have added its other more recent usage. As Google puts it, "literally" can be used "to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling".

Did we, as genuinely hundreds of people are tweeting, just break the English language? Or did we, as totally tens of bloggers are writing, prove that the English language is a beautiful, organic creature that is forever slipping out of our control? Well, no: to be precise, we have done something mildly annoying.

"Literally", you see, in its development from knock-kneed, single-purpose utterance, to swan-like dual-purpose term, has reached that awkward stage. It is neither one nor the other, and it can't do anything right. So to use it at all is to encounter one of several pitfalls:

1. Mucking about with its meaning isn't clever or inventive any more
"Literally" has been playfully abused since the time of Walter Scott. In Chronicles of the Canongate, for example, he writes: "The house was literally electrified; and it was only from witnessing the effects of her genius that he could guess to what a pitch theatrical excellence could be carried." This was 1827, before the popularisation of the electric light: the house was figuratively electrified.

In 1837, a piece in The Mother's Magazine by Abigail and Samuel Whittelsey contained the phrase, "They both literally slept in Jesus", and in 1894 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, that Sherlock's room "was literally ankle-deep with congratulatory telegrams" (we can probably also take this as figurative).

The point is that even if it was fun and surprising to force a "literally" where another word should go back in the 1800s, it's getting a bit old now. But not quite old enough to change the word's meaning completely and clean it of all the irritatingly playful associations.

Plus, since then the word has picked up way too much baggage to make it usefully nifty. "Literally" has been mainstream shorthand for "talking like a teenage girl" for a decade – you're not going to get rid of that reference without violent verbal acrobatics. Literally, I'm afraid, is, like, totally eighteen-hundred and late.

2. To use it is to teeter on the edge of a conversational wormhole

You might be near a pedant, and they will say something like "Don't you mean 'figuratively?'" (no, no one says "figuratively" – it is pretentious) or go into "Yes, your foot is LITERALLY coming off. I LITERALLY believe you" paroxysms until smothered. These are the same people who use the word as a definitive intelligence measure – see the snobbery over Jamie Redknapp last year – which in my mind is as much of an error as using a specific piece of knowledge as a mark of cleverness ("X% of Americans don't know where Armenia is! So stupid…").

3. There isn't much to be done

Given all of this, even when someone does use the word correctly, ("he's literally the prime minister"), it is often such a surprise to the listener that the conversation halts anyway – prompting something like "er, yes. You're right. He literally is" to emphasise just how much they have acknowledged your traditional use of language.

So there really is not much we can do with the word "literally", other than avoid it completely. At the moment it is irredeemable. It is a moot word. We just have to leave it up in its bedroom for a while until it grows up a bit.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/13/literally-broken-english-language-definition

 

[Allyance]

Interesting thread. I do not profess to be a grammar expert, but there is one major error just about everyone makes and it is getting worse. It is the incorrect use of the words "bring" and "take". "Bring" means from you to me; "Bring me the book, please." "Take" means move an object from it's current location to somewhere else: "please take this book back to the library." The common error is using "Bring" in place of "Take"; "Bring your kids to school" when it should be "Take your kids to school." Newscasters, actors, almost everyone on TV makes this error. Authors and copy writers should know better, but they don't. It just doesn't matter anymore.

 

[Lioness~]

But the inference is there, the very act of protecting a language means not permitting any variance to how its being used.


So are you saying those who protect the language are the only ones qualified to permit its change? I may be uneducated with the ins and outs of language, but the changing nature occurs through everyday use. The ivory towers of higher education have less impact on how language evolves then the common man altering the language in his day to day tasks.

Can only speak for the Swedish language here...and we actually have a law called The Language Law.
You get sent to jail if you don't follow it - just kidding

You are most definitely allowed and even inspired to use the language in your own way.
It's a difference between language care and language policing.
But the protection of Swedish in our country is a fact. I support it fully.
We need those highly educated people. In every specific field, languages and law etc.
Lawyers are very specific in their use of language. I love it, even though as friends they can be both annoying and unbelievable inspiring.
Languages and law goes closely hand in hand. Misinterpretation can be devastating, in terms of law. As @mollyc for instance wrote in her message above.

Here you can read about the Language Council of Sweden– the official language cultivation body of Sweden. http://www.sprakochfolkminnen.se/om-oss/kontakt/sprakradet/in-english.html

 

[Gutwrench]

Interesting thread. I do not profess to be a grammar expert, but there is one major error just about everyone makes and it is getting worse. It is the incorrect use of the words "bring" and "take". "Bring" means from you to me; "Bring me the book, please." "Take" means move an object from it's current location to somewhere else: "please take this book back to the library." The common error is using "Bring" in place of "Take"; "Bring your kids to school" when it should be "Take your kids to school." Newscasters, actors, almost everyone on TV makes this error. Authors and copy writers should know better, but they don't. It just doesn't matter anymore.

May I add, “could you borrow me your dictionary?” Lol