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Pity the apostrophe...
 

[Closed] Pity the apostrophe.

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[#9547572]

Is it really that hard, or is approximately 80% of the population really that thick?

Answer's [sic erat scriptum] below, if you please.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:23 pm
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'yes


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:28 pm
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It's not that hard - if you apply thought to what you are writing.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:28 pm
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N'o


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:29 pm
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[img] ?oh=2c1a25955d9238681aed252a62fb37a8&oe=5A574521[/img]


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:29 pm
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@trailof - those aren't missing apostrophes 🙄


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:31 pm
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Odd name for an apostrophe...


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:31 pm
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those aren't missing apostrophes

They,re fallen apostrophes. Cast from the light of the Punctuation God's.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:32 pm
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Ok, not an apostrophe, but still funny.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:33 pm
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They,re fallen apostrophes

😆


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:34 pm
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If you haven't already, you should read [url=


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:35 pm
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When I was in school we did apostrophes over and over again - from the age of about five to fifteen. And people still **** it up all the time.

What hope for the world?


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:52 pm
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I blame the parentheses.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:53 pm
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They mustn't have had a solidus education.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:56 pm
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CaptainFlashheart - Member
or is approximately 80% of the population really that thick?

Yip, y'o is write.

Regular nouns are nouns that form their plurals by adding either the letter s or es (guy, guys; letter, letters; actress, actresses; etc.). To show plural possession, simply put an apostrophe after the s. Rule 2b. Do not use an apostrophe + s to make a regular noun plural.

Try explaining any of that to the 80%, or me..

#pointlesspedantry


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 2:56 pm
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 Drac
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Does one check grammar with a dictionary?


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:03 pm
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I feel OP wants to have his cake and eat it.

On the one hand they want to see proper grammar, but on the other they are happy to bastardise the Queen's English using words like 'moar', 'KWALITEE' and 'analwarhammer'.*

So in summary, I'll say 6 pages, one flounce and a child conceived during the thread's lifecycle.

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*I may have made the last one up.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:05 pm
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A post trophy

[img]


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:06 pm
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😆 @Jamie


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:09 pm
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There's a mathematical 50/50 chance of getting "you're" and "your" right. So why do people get "you're" wrong 80%* of the time?!?

Personally, I have trouble with "affect" and "effect". But that doesn't make me feel any more lenient towards people getting "you're" incorrect.

* statistics may not be accurate


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:12 pm
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[i]There's a mathematical 50/50 chance of getting "you're" and "your" right.[/i]

50/50 means there's a mathematical chance of one which is a certainty. You mean a 50:50 chance.

hth 🙂


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:17 pm
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Is it really that hard, or is approximately 80% of the population really that thick?

52%?


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:30 pm
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Judging by what I read in the comments section of local papers, and on Facebook, YouTube and other social media, a sizeable number of people are barely literate and struggle to spell words that most children have sorted by Year Two.

So I think expecting them to handle something as complicated as an apostrophe is probably a bit much.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:40 pm
 Drac
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Fumin'

Does one check grammar with a dictionary?

For correct usage.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:42 pm
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[i]There's a mathematical 50/50 chance of getting "you're" and "your" right.[/i]

50/50 means there's a mathematical chance of one[b],[/b] which is a certainty. You mean a 50:50 chance.

hth

I believe you missed a comma there. hth 😀


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:45 pm
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[img]


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:46 pm
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why do people get "you're" wrong 80%* of the time?!?
...
Personally, I have trouble with "affect" and "effect".

Same.

Your and you're is a pretty simple one though: [i]"you're"[/i] is just a shortening of [i]"you are"[/i].

Affect/effect is a bit trickier though I think. Partly because they have closely related meanings and partly because some of us have accents that makes them sound the same when spoken aloud.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:54 pm
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Does one check grammar with a dictionary?

No, I just ask her carer.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:54 pm
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[i]Affect/effect is a bit trickier though I think.[/i]

This sort of confusion is just an effectation.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 3:57 pm
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Affect/effect - one is a verb and one a noun.

You affect the outcome. (verb)
You had an effect on the outcome. (noun)

There's quite a few of these types of pairs in English.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 4:01 pm
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This sort of confusion is just an effectation.

And an inaffectual one at that.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 4:03 pm
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Partly because they [s]have[/s] of closely related meanings and partly because some of us [s]have[/s] of accents that makes them sound the same when spoken aloud.

[sic]

😀


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 4:12 pm
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Is it really that hard

Its obviously hard enough and thats why a lot of people dont use it properly. I question whether its really needed.
If your good at English or your not, you can still make yourself understood.

You can all read these sentences and make sense of them so do we really need apostophes any more?


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 6:50 pm
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Is it really that hard
Its obviously hard enough and thats why a lot of people dont use it properly. I question whether its really needed.
If your good at English or your not, you can still make yourself understood.

You can all read these sentences and make sense of them so do we really need apostophes any more?

I read those sentences but didn't digest the content. My brain was too busy trying to translate the non-English into English. And also not being able to concentrate due to the sheer fury that your (intentional) lazy grammar/spelling/punctuation instilled in me.

On forums I tend to skip reading posts where the spelling/grammar starts off badly. It really does bother me that much. Like nails on a black board. In fact, that's one of the reasons I stopped going on Bikeradar and would never go anywhere near Pinkbike


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 6:54 pm
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read those sentences but didn't digest the content. My brain was too busy trying to translate the non-English into English.

[s]Self[/s] affected struggle.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 7:00 pm
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mogrim - Member
those aren't missing apostrophes
They,re fallen apostrophes. Cast from the light of the Punctuation God's.

Oh, well done! 😆


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 7:51 pm
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You can all read these sentences and make sense of them so do we really need apostophes any more?

Of course you can, but comprehension is much easier with correct punctuation, and there are situations where lack of punctuation can have significant consequences.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 7:54 pm
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Pity the apostrophe.

Pity the colon. It got the arse end of the deal.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 7:56 pm
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OK, with "your" and "you're", if you got rid of the apostrophe then you either have the new word "youre" or the word "your" now has two meanings and usages. You've introduced unnecessary complexity and confusion.

Something is written once but read many times so if you introduce uncertainty or doubt via bad writing then for the ease of one you've created extra work for many.

It's akin to asking a question on here in text speak and then moaning that no-one is answering.

Maybe George Orwell was right about Newspeak 🙄


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 8:04 pm
 Drac
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OK, with "your" and "you're", if you got rid of the apostrophe then you either have the new word "youre" or the word "your" now has two meanings and usages. You've introduced unnecessary complexity and confusion.

You are.

There we have solved that none issue.


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 8:12 pm
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But people aren't writing "you are" they are writing "your" so you haven't solved anything. And we haven't even got to the possessive apostrophe!


 
Posted : 13/09/2017 8:27 pm
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