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His Royal Hiney
Picture of Rey HRH
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by m1009:
I’ve been out of school for many years now, but I remember being taught to do two spaces after the period at the end of a sentence. Nobody ever called me out on that, until I started having to work with a much younger colleague on reports and such. She kept pointing out I had an extra space, and I finally got irritated and told her that’s how I had been taught. She had to Google it before she believed me. Of course, they had changed the rules since I’ve been out of school. Now I have to hit review each email to make sure I don’t have any extra spaces. Roll Eyes Also, the apostrophe thing irks me. Everytime I want to make something possessive, it wants me to put the apostrophe before the ‘s’. At my age, I’m over being that anal about it, and I’ve seen worse mistakes from the bosses in their emails.


It's not that they changed the rules; they just programmed the spacing now after the period.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 19583 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of m1009
posted Hide Post
Rey HRH, I’m just set in my ways, and I didn’t google if anything changed, but my colleague was such an irritant about it as we have to collaborate on reports and emails. So much that she said she had to look it up cause she was not taught about the extra space. Her school taught one space after the period so she hadn’t believed me. I’ve got over 30 years on her, so she’s a whippersnapper, lol.
 
Posts: 1124 | Registered: September 27, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
On the wrong side of
the Mobius strip
Picture of Patrick-SP2022
posted Hide Post
Interestingly enough MS Word gives you the option to check for one space or two spaces between sentences.





 
Posts: 4123 | Location: Texas | Registered: April 16, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by m1009:
Also, the apostrophe thing irks me. Everytime I want to make something possessive, it wants me to put the apostrophe before the ‘S’.


The apostrophe typically does come before the S when used to denote possession. The only time that it doesn't is when the base word already ends in S or has had an S added to make it plural, in which case the apostrophe comes after the existing S with no additional possessive S added.

For example:

That is Steve's car.
That is James' car.
That is the Smiths' car.

All of my browsers and word processors properly recognize all three of those types of instances as correct.

Whereas if I try to type:

That is Steves' car

It gets properly flagged as incorrect, and wants me to use the correct "Steve's" with the apostrophe before the S.
 
Posts: 32429 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
thin skin can't win
Picture of Georgeair
posted Hide Post


From our neighborhood....



You only have integrity once. - imprezaguy02

 
Posts: 12350 | Location: Madison, MS | Registered: December 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
posted Hide Post
Yep, that's exactly the type of thing I mentioned in my initial post. The use of apostrophes to denote pluralization is rampant these days.

But interestingly enough, whoever designed that menu is not even consistent with their incorrect apostrophe pluralization, since the final instance of "Ribs" is lacking an apostrophe...
 
Posts: 32429 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:

The apostrophe typically does come before the S when used to denote possession. The only time that it doesn't is when the base word already ends in S or has had an S added to make it plural, in which case the apostrophe comes after the existing S with no additional possessive S added.
Adding to your comments, two examples:

  • This is my dog's food. (I have one dog.)

  • This is my dogs' food. (I have two or more dogs, and this is their food.)



    הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
  •  
    Posts: 30545 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Little ray
    of sunshine
    Picture of jhe888
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by ensigmatic:
    quote:
    Originally posted by RogueJSK:
    There are apparently quite a few people out there on the interwebs who are under the impression that words are made plural by adding 's.
    There are corner cases where an apostrophe is used to properly form the plural, though.


    What are they?




    The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
     
    Posts: 53118 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Fighting the good fight
    Picture of RogueJSK
    posted Hide Post
    Some style guides consider it grammatically acceptable when pluralizing single letter and single numbers. Therefore, sentences like the following could be acceptable:

    Binary is a numerical language that uses only 1's and 0's.

    Mind your p's and q's.

    Don't forget to dot your i's and cross your t's.


    In addition, it's sometimes considered grammatically correct when pluralizing an abbreviation that uses periods. For example, this sentence could be considered grammatically correct:

    At the medical conference, I met a large number of Ph.D.'s and M.D.'s.


    But those niche cases just further muddy the waters for the average person. It's easier to simply say: Never use an apostrophe to form a plural.
     
    Posts: 32429 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Thank you
    Very little
    Picture of HRK
    posted Hide Post
    when speaking BBQ, the term Ribs is used as a noun Big Grin



     
    Posts: 23244 | Location: Florida | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Little ray
    of sunshine
    Picture of jhe888
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by RogueJSK:
    Some style guides consider it grammatically acceptable when pluralizing single letter and single numbers. Therefore, sentences like the following could be acceptable:

    Binary is a numerical language that uses only 1's and 0's.

    Mind your p's and q's.

    Don't forget to dot your i's and cross your t's.


    In addition, it's sometimes considered grammatically correct when pluralizing an abbreviation that uses periods. For example, this sentence could be considered grammatically correct:

    At the medical conference, I met a large number of Ph.D.'s and M.D.'s.


    But many of those look odd to me, and just further muddy the waters for the average person. It's easier to simply say: Never use an apostrophe to form a plural.


    Most of the style guides I know of do not do it that way, but I do not mean to argue that there are those that do.

    I would agree that they look odd. The only one that does not look odd can be single letters, especially when the result is also a word. For example: Don't forget to dot your is. But I would suggest doing this: Don't forget to dot your "i"s. Seeting it off with quotes is acceptable because you are referring to the letter as a letter. Allowing the apostrophe just leads to confusion of the rule, which is that plurals are not formed by using apostrophes and an "s."

    This message has been edited. Last edited by: jhe888,




    The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
     
    Posts: 53118 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Freethinker
    Picture of sigfreund
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by RogueJSK:
    Some style guides consider it grammatically acceptable when pluralizing single letter and single numbers.

    Yes. As I recall at one time it was considered acceptable to add an apostrophe to any abbreviation such as, “Our company has five NCO’s,” but I stopped doing that long ago because it looks like the thing I’m complaining about.

    Now, however, we are getting into some obscure stuff that even this member of the Grammar Gestapo doesn’t expect the average person to know. Possessive pronouns and apostrophes are a little confusing as well because their rules are the opposite of the rules for other words, so I am a bit more forgiving about them, but I would stop my complaints entirely if I would not see examples like “My two dog’s are both beagle’s.”




    6.4/93.6

    “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
    — Plato
     
    Posts: 47365 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Savor the limelight
    posted Hide Post
    I blame the 70’s or maybe the ’80s.
     
    Posts: 10823 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Little ray
    of sunshine
    Picture of jhe888
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by trapper189:
    I blame the 70’s or maybe the ’80s.


    The latter is correct. I had a job for a while where this was stuff we were supposed to worry about.




    The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
     
    Posts: 53118 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Member
    posted Hide Post
    Consider me apologetic if I have ruined your Sig Forum experiance





    Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.



    Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
     
    Posts: 54501 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Do the next
    right thing
    Picture of bobtheelf
    posted Hide Post
    It's not people getting it wrong that bothers me as much as people who don't care to try to get it right - even to the extent that they come across as proud of how it doesn't matter to try to get it right.
     
    Posts: 3657 | Location: Nashville | Registered: July 23, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    goodheart
    Picture of sjtill
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Never use an apostrophe to form a plural.


    Most often used, perhaps, with peoples' names: the Smiths, the Robertsons.

    What bothers me more is people who think they are using correct grammar by saying "I" instead of "me" as the object.
    For example: Just between you and I; it belongs to her and I


    _________________________
    “ What all the wise men promised has not happened, and what all the damned fools said would happen has come to pass.”— Lord Melbourne
     
    Posts: 18017 | Location: One hop from Paradise | Registered: July 27, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Freethinker
    Picture of sigfreund
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by sjtill:
    people who think they are using correct grammar by saying "I" instead of "me" as the object.

    I often get a whiff of pretentiousness when I see that mistake. I sometimes get the impression that they not only believe they are using correct grammar, but that they are demonstrating their superior knowledge of grammar to everyone else.




    6.4/93.6

    “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
    — Plato
     
    Posts: 47365 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Peace through
    superior firepower
    Picture of parabellum
    posted Hide Post
     
    Posts: 107258 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Dances With
    Tornados
    posted Hide Post
    I think I still have an ancient copy of Strunk & White The Elements Of Style.

    I haven’t touched it in 30 or 35 years.

    Anyone remember this?
    .
     
    Posts: 11812 | Registered: October 26, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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