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Apostrophe! Again.
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message 51:
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Doug
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May 16, 2015 06:21AM
I use A quite a lot. A are essential in my writing.
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Oh I hadn't thought of its producing a new word, NE. I'm afraid I'm stuck with it though ...
Newengland wrote: "The trouble comes, of course, with things like the plural of the letter A. Now the apostrophe if forced into service, else you've created another word: As."Of course I could mind my P's & Q's or I could bring up the barman's argument that those are abbreviations (Pints & Quarts). I'm at 6's & 7's about what to do...
just keep ploughing (or is it plowing) along. or pluffing. :)
Why plow when one may chug, down, or quaff?
Just ran into an interesting word and a contraction I haven't seen lately.Whose which is possessive form of who.
It is interesting since we do not know who who is so it would be assumed singular i think,.
Also these who's in three different words,
Who's (Who is
Who's (Who has
Who's (possessive form of Who)
Whos (plural) Apparently like the anonymous Whos in Whoville.
Whos' (possessive plural)
Whose (so is this the possessive singular form ?????)
:)
I myself typically don't make many mistakes with apostrophes. Rather, the mistakes I make are deliberate ones: for example --when on the internet--I almost never bother with them to indicate possession. I never write the word, "it's" with a ['] between the [t] and the [s]. It would slow me down far too much. I just don't consider the internet a formal enough environment to be scrupulous about this.However, when in internet situations where circumstance would demand that I use double-strophe or 'full' quote-mark symbol? In that case my personal policy is reversed. Then is when the single-quote is my friend. The single quote-mark is my go-to punctuation character for *any* situation needing a quote-mark. I hate double-quotes! They look heavy and cumbersome. And (similar to the situation above with possessiveness) typing them slows me down. So, I'll use a single-apostrophe in almost any extremity. In dialog, for word emphasis, for irony, in book or movie titles...and I say, to the devil with anyone who thinks this untoward of me!
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Well not just using the shift but having to halt right before typing a word --find the shift key--implement the quotes with it; type the word--and then halt again after the word to find the shift key again and close the quotes. Yes, it is totally irksome. Here's another example: say I've just speed-typed the word youre. I can do that without looking at my keyboard. But now I have to halt my typing and go back to place the single-apostrophe between [you] and [re]. It is another groaner.
I don't mind this latter operation so much (in comparison to the first item I just explained above) but I *really* do mind inserting single-quotes when it comes to words like, [its] vs [it's]. This word is used so frequently, that it would send me 'round-the-bend to have to pop an apostrophe mark in one, every time I wanted to show a possessive [its] vs a contraction [it's].
My current dodge is to
1) not implement apostrophes for contractions like [it's];
2) not use full quotes at all unless absolutely forced to; and
3) instead of 'slowing down' for [you're] and [they're] I type slang like [yer] and [ye] and [thee] and [thy].
Feliks wrote: "Well not just using the shift but having to halt right before typing a word --find the shift key--implement the quotes with it; type the word--and then halt again after the word to find the shift k..."Are you aware that Word dictionary check spelling has an autocheck feature that when turned on will substitute virtually any combination with a correction of your choice while you type? Ie: Put you're in the correction dictionary and everytime you type youre it will automatically make the substitution for you. If you set it to substitute a period space with a period and two spaces plus capitalize the next letter ,,, well you can see the possibilities. You never have to hit the space bar twice or capitalize beginnings of sentences etc.
Feliks wrote: "Well not just using the shift but having to halt right before typing a word --find the shift key--implement the quotes with it; type the word--and then halt again after the word to find the shift k..."P S
you can ask the dictionary to replace (it s) with (it"s) and problem solved just by typing a space instead of the '.
Eh, well I do most of my typing on webpages and offline...I've seen MS Word's correction ability. Some of it is useful but nothing beats a human review. I'd never leave decision-making about sentence context up to an algorithm. Thanks, though. What I should use MSWord for is to help me with my "teh" problem.
Feliks wrote: "Eh, well I do most of my typing on webpages and offline...I've seen MS Word's correction ability. Some of it is useful but nothing beats a human review. I'd never leave decision-making about senten..."Welcome. I use Word and open source too.
I wonder why the 'caps lock' key is considered so important that it resides in such a prominent location on the keyboard. Who really uses it that much, anyway?It'd be a great idea to remove it and put it someplace else less intrusive on the KB such as over near 'Print Screen', would it not?
Feliks wrote: "I wonder why the 'caps lock' key is considered so important that it resides in such a prominent location on the keyboard. Who really uses it that much, anyway?It'd be a great idea to remove it an..."
If you use Firefox, have you checked out the key next to the right hand control key? I finally did after years and found much to entertain me.
Feliks wrote: "I wonder why the 'caps lock' key is considered so important that it resides in such a prominent location on the keyboard. Who really uses it that much, anyway?It'd be a great idea to remove it an..."
Ever see a Dvorak Keyboard? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboar...
The original QWERTY layout is supposed to have been designed in such a way as to maximize typing speed while minimizing the frequency of key lock-ups (back when each key had to power a lever that struck the typewriter ribbon in front of the paper on the platen.
Stephen wrote: "Feliks wrote: "I wonder why the 'caps lock' key is considered so important that it resides in such a prominent location on the keyboard. Who really uses it that much, anyway?It'd be a great idea ..."
That was super interesting. No newer dvorak. I only knew about typwriter key layout history from very old teachers in the mid fifties. I know a few things through them. I used to set type by hand and the type drawers had a certain layout.
If you wiki "apostrophe" you will be amazed. It's got more history than you can imagine.
Doug wrote: "... used to set type by hand and the type drawers had a certain layout. " I think that THAT standard was even older. If I'm recalling it correctly, Ben Franklin mentions sorting type for his brother at some point in his autobiography.
Stephen wrote: "Doug wrote: "... used to set type by hand and the type drawers had a certain layout. " I think that THAT standard was even older. If I'm recalling it correctly, Ben Franklin mentions sorting type..."
The worst thing that can happen in typesetting is when someone bumps the table or draawer and all the type jumble out of position then have to be stood back up in form. That is called sorting and also has to be done when breaking down frames.
Doug wrote: "Stephen wrote: "Doug wrote: "... used to set type by hand and the type drawers had a certain layout. " I think that THAT standard was even older. If I'm recalling it correctly, Ben Franklin menti..."
You do not have to look at the type to do it as long as the letters are the same because there is a locking groove so that you can do it by feel. This could have where Ben learned to read.
Backing off from any and all aggravation associated with apostrophes, I would like to take this opportunity to hail and salute my two *very* favorite punctuation characters:the semi-colon;
and the ellipsis...
What say ye?
their efficacy is their beauty; they are firm rather than weak (run-of-the-mill commas--such marks never have the force they need, and crave)
Ruth wrote: "Hate semicolons. Ugly as sin." How can you hate a punctuation mark that's always flirting with you ;-)
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Good point. Me, I feel the messiest punctuation is probably..well, I have to go back to the full-quote marks I guess. It is the butt of most of my disgust.
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I know an editor who dislikes semicolons. I feel as though they've gone out of fashion--if there's such a thing as fashion in punctuation.
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Since I am very prone to multiple-clause sentences in my writing, I rely on them often. Love 'em! What often 'looks wrong' to me is the over-use of commas. Commas are poorly understood by many and reverted to in many instances where they should be omitted. It often 'sounds to the ear' as if a comma needs insertion but it is often not so.
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About TV's, DVD's, HDMI's and other plurals of all-capital abbreviations. The argument in favour of using the apostrophe is to avoid possible confusion with a TVs or a DVDs or an HDMIs, whatever they might be.
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Rules is rules is rules and they almost always work. Commas help you read faster and avoids confusion. What I use them for a lot in poetry is to slow the reader down for a thought. Poetry without commas is okay when it is basic and the lines are short. The nice thing about poetry is the ain't rules ain't rules rules except...
Mark wrote: "Melinda wrote: "The TVs vs TV's controversy is big. Both ways are accepted, but I favor TVs for plurals because it differentiates between these: "TV's fate is yet to be determined"
and "TV's getti..."
What is snob the abbreviation for? Son of a bitch?
Geoffrey wrote: "Mark wrote: "Melinda wrote: "The TVs vs TV's controversy is big. Both ways are accepted, but I favor TVs for plurals because it differentiates between these: "TV's fate is yet to be determined"
an..."
My own research leads to french meaning sort of like "got no male organ".
