I'm sorry. The rant you just planned out is for not. I know the apostrophe in the title is misplace. However, if, for some reason, the title did not make your blood boil, this thread may be important.
Why is the apostrophe so misused today? Why is it that people insist on ignorance of this important part of grammar? I've been seeing it more and more. Why? Is it because of the internet? What can we do to help this little punctuation mark? Does it even matter? I have decided to place this in World Events rather then The Tavern as the apostrophe suffers ignorance on a global scale.
FAQ:
I know not the way's of the apostrophe's, will you please teach me?
I would be happy to. (Deliberate misuse of apostrophes in the quote.)
You do know that by trying to protect it you are only halting the evolution of language, right?
If language is evolving into a repulsively nonsensical mass of words and pictograms, I say halt it.
I agree with you, but what can I do about it?
Correct it. Ask store owners to change their signs. lead a protest. Create pointless forum threads. In short, be a general nuisance to the point that people around you find themselves better off using the apostrophe correctly rather then dealing with you, but not to the point you get punched in the face.
So, if you agree that we should try to help the apostrophe I'd love to know. If you think it's a waste of time, that's even better, as I would love to debate this with you.
Sorry, that was not how I meant it... We need grammar rules for the new terms arising from the interweb, that does not fit into the regular rules but cannot just be thrown aside as rubbish, simply because it is used so much. Language is a thing that develops.
Personally, I retain the right to fish up my grammar when I want to, and hate when grammar nazis bashes those who does that. When I misplace a comma, semicolon or apostrophe in a forum post, I don't want to be told off either, unless I ask for help with it. Grammar may be deteriorating in some persons' views, but it can also be seen as a development - whether or not in a good direction, I don't know.
But... My grammar I disrupt will, when fit to do so I find.
We have perfectly good grammar rules, so why would we make new ones?
Sorry, that was not how I meant it... We need grammar rules for the new terms arising from the interweb,
I'm in the "We shouldn't use any internet terms" boat, but I doubt many can agree with that point.
When I misplace a comma, semicolon or apostrophe in a forum post, I don't want to be told off either,
You may have noticed that I rarely correct grammar here, and that is very hard for me.
Because language is not static.
My point is that while it is beneficial to add new grammar to the language, it is pointless to add redundancies. For example, *text* is commonly used to indicate stress. How about boldface type? *This* is also used to indicate stage directions of a sort, which also annoys me, as I think it indicates laziness in one's narrative, but that's a different topic entirely.
You guys are forgetting something: apostrophes aren't just for possessiveness, or contractions, they are used for sounds, or removing of letters.
You see aren't? That's Are Not, when you say it fully. It means that some letters that are supposed to be there aren't there. So, if you see "Rick Roll'd", you can see "Rick Rolled". It makes sense to me.
You can also play Dwarf, since apostrophes have to deal with sounds.
"'Ey! C'mere boy! Where d'you think you're goin'!? If you read books, you can see where these come in, since accents from races play a huge role in apostrophes.
The ultimate point of communication is to convey a thought. If what I'm thinking gets expressed in a way that my audience can understand it, then it's "mission accomplished." Outside the world of academia, there is little place for proper grammar whatsoever. Hell, I still don't know if it women's rights, womens' rights, or womens rights! But all three phrases semantically mean the exact same thing (even if they differ syntactically). Besides, apostrophes are only one very small facet in a world full of horrendous grammar. Some people care enough about it to learn and follow grammatical constructs and for the rest, talking about it is ultimately pointless. I've certainly encountered comma Nazis, and the prepositional phrase Gestapo in my academic career and ultimately it's just annoying. Communication should be evaluated semantically, not syntactically. If I write a treatise on consciousness, I want the substance of the paper to be discussed, not the grammatical issues. Now, I would never submit a paper that didn't follow the appropriate grammatical standards, but that's simply because it's a point of respect and is indicative of good writing. But there is a wide breach between a sentence's meaning and its structure.
Yeah it's over a month old, but mondegreens! Fascinating things! Sometimes they are amusing.
There are other and different errors. I believe that link acknowledges in some spots that misheard words have been used enough to make them "acceptable". There is an entry on apostrophes. It also has a link to an entry on acronyms and apostrophes. I don't even know how I found that page. It popped up a few days ago.
Outside the world of academia, there is little place for proper grammar whatsoever.
I once knew a guy who called poor use of grammar and spelling a bastardization and misappropriation of language. He had the strictest rules on where it could be bent. Poetically. Only.
Ricador: I'd be lying to say I didn't, in part. ShintetsuWA: Capitalize after colons, please. And yes, I am well versed in the art of the apostrophe, but the missing letters are not meant to be pronounced, so Rick-Roll'd is really an unpronounceable mess of letters, and ends up being said 'rick-rolled' anyway. Fritz_Rublehem: Correspondence acknowledged. Moe:
Hell, I still don't know if it women's rights, womens' rights, or womens rights!
Oh, yes you do. It's women's rights, because women is already plural. That one is a bit more complex, and I may be wrong.
Besides, apostrophes are only one very small facet in a world full of horrendous grammar.
I know, and I try to be a Nazi about them equally. I just decided to start small.
But on to the more important parts of your post. Grammar does matter in many cases, (none of which I can think of at the moment.) but I don't care about grammar because it's important, I care because... I just do.
Oh, yes you do. It's women's rights, because women is already plural. That one is a bit more complex, and I may be wrong.
So does Moe really know? :P
Anyway, I take a wholistic approach to this, as always. Grammar Nazis are annoying when in action and furthermore some instances can be downright rude/inappropriate (priorities!), but their over-zealous defence of grammar is valued in a world where use of grammar appears to be deteriorating (debatable, as this would be relative to cultural educational standards).
Why? I'll raise this as a question as I don't rightly know- is this one place where a slippery-slope argument might actually be appropriate?
I'm sorry what is the point your making Xzeno? How are apostrophes used incorrectly?
You have to understand that language is flexible, and it bends toward creating what is most efficient. A language will naturally become simpler and simpler.
As long as the function of the apostrophe stays, there is no point in a rant. It shouldn't even matter if everyone put their apostrophes in the start of the sentence
It shouldn't even matter if everyone put their apostrophes in the start of the sentence
It doesn't only insofar as you don't care about things being harder to read. Also how dreadfully inefficient! The rant was there in part to preserve the original function of the apostrophe.
Furthermore preservation of some rules aids in the learning of the language. Consider this next time you substitute your for you're.
Depends on what country he's from. In the UK and US, I think I was right, (I looked it up, but only in one place.) but in some other countries, I can't be sure.
To the rest of your post (and to Drace, a bit.): People believe that language is evolving into a more simplistic/better form, but once rules are done away with, they will simply return in a slightly altered form when the language becomes a confused mess. So the defense of grammar is all together pointless, even if the slippery slop is true. (I believe it is.) But it hurts. It hurts like hell. It hurts to see people disregard the rules of grammar, and even more so to see them say that it's just the evolution of language.
It also bugs me when people say they would use good grammar if they chose to, because they are likely lying, whether they know it or not.
The rant was there in part to preserve the original function of the apostrophe.
Rant? Are you referring to my first post of the topic?
I'd really like to place a good post here, a revolutionising post, but to tell you the truth I've just read through all five pages and am now having trouble staring at a fixed point (all I can see now are complicated words and apostrophes in inappropriate places), let alone writing clever posts, so I thought instead I'd tell you all how I feel.
Although I do think proper grammar on the internet is very important, I don't think that people should be too critical about proper apostrophe usage.
What I do hate though is what I call "internet lingo" (i.e. brb, lol, ttyl, rofl) I think that it makes a person sound completely unintelligent. I hate to read sentences that go something like this: Hai, I jus wantd to say tht i <3'd that youtb vid, it ttly made me rofl and lol, ill ttyl! But anyway, I wouldn't go so far to strive for everyone's perfect apostrophe usage, but I would LOVE to strive for everyone NOT using internet lingo.
I'm just going to throw this out there, (don't get hit!) as I haven't read every post (yet).
To answer the OP:
Why is the apostrophe so misused today? Why is it that people insist on ignorance of this important part of grammar? I've been seeing it more and more. Why? Is it because of the internet? What can we do to help this little punctuation mark? Does it even matter? I have decided to place this in World Events rather then The Tavern as the apostrophe suffers ignorance on a global scale.
-Most people go to school because their friends are there. The learning is just a side effect, if you will. -Most think school work only applies to school. But it doesn't. -If they're online, they most likely aren't in school, so why bother. -Skipping the little stuff (letters, punctuation, etc.) makes for quicker messages. -Quicker messages are so you won't miss/interrupt an incoming message.
However... -'Practice makes perfect'... as they say. -Using proper spelling, grammar and punctuation will help improve your writing skills. (Speed and composition.) -Improved writing skills will be a major benefit in life. (school, work, writing, etc.)
