The Proper Use of the Apostrophe

[Steve Williams]

A instructor once informed me I would be the death of the comma. Guilty as charged.

Here are a few words I find used improperly used on regular basis.

Mute for moot

Renumeration for remuneration

Ensure, insure and assure

now how do you spell D-Y-S-L-E-X-I-C

 

[still-one]

now how do you spell D-Y-S-L-E-X-I-C

Reminder to Jim. Remember to edit before hitting Post Quick Reply.

 

[Diapason]

We'll be terrified to post anything at all shortly!

 

[AZWink]

From Grammarbook.com:

Rule: Use a comma between two long independent clauses when conjunctions such as and, or, but, for, nor connect them.
Example: I have painted the entire house, but she is still working on sanding the floors.

Rule: If the clauses are both short, you may omit the comma.
Example: I painted and he sanded.

Rule: If you have only one clause (one subject and verb pair), you won’t usually need a comma in front of the conjunction.
Example: I have painted the house but still need to sand the floors.
This sentence has two verbs but only one subject, so it has only one clause.

Rule: Use the semicolon if you have two independent clauses connected without a conjunction.
Example: I have painted the house; I still need to sand the floors.

Rule: Also use the semicolon when you already have commas within a sentence for smaller separations, and you need the semicolon to show bigger separations.
Example: We had a reunion with family from Salt Lake City, Utah; Los Angeles, California; and Albany, New York.

Rule: A colon is used to introduce a second sentence that clarifies the first sentence.
Example: We have set this restriction: do your homework before watching television.
Notice that the first word of the second sentence is not capitalized. If, however, you have additional sentences following the sentence with the colon and they explain the sentence prior to the colon, capitalize the first word of all the sentences following the colon.

Rule: Use a colon to introduce a list when no introductory words like namely, for instance, i.e., e.g. precede the list.
Example: I need four paint colors: blue, gray, green, and red.

Thanks, Ron! That clears it up just enough...

 

[spiritofmusic]

My two cents
Amongst music listeners, only audiophiles of a certain age who pay due care and attention in their lives even care about the humble apostrophe.
Your I Pod Mini listening 10-25 yr olds don't give a monkeys about the proper use of the Queen's English
Or is that monkey's
?

 

[Don Hills]

Those of you "waiting with baited breath"... what do you hope to catch?

 

[Steve Williams]

Those of you "waiting with baited breath"... what do you hope to catch?

Where did the saying waiting with baited breath come from?
Bated here is a contraction of abated through loss of the unstressed first vowel (a process called aphesis); it means “reduced, lessened, lowered in force”. So bated breath refers to a state in which you almost stop breathing as a result of some strong emotion, such as terror or awe

 

[Don Hills]

... strong emotion, such as terror or awe

... or, as is commonly used in discussion, to signal antici... pation.

 

[soundArgument]

revert

I often get emails where people promise to "revert" to me, by which they mean they'll get back to me in due course. I appreciate that this usage is now so common that the meaning of the word is actually changing before our very eyes, but as far as I'm concerned this means the person is going to turn back into me by way of some kind of metamorphosis. Revert means to return to a previous state of being or thought or practice. The reality is that we really need a word which means what people think "revert" means, but I don't think there's a suitable alternative.

In investment banks and corporate law firms, this misuse of revert - to mean to respond in due course - is ubiquitous. I was perplexed when I first saw it and checked the dictionary, thinking that the people around me, who were very smart and successful, couldn't be misusing the word. But they were.

And now, to communicate with bankers and lawyers, I misuse revert, too.

 

[Ron Resnick]

In general an apostrophe denotes possessiveness. Please note that there is nothing possessive about garden variety plural names or nouns:

"The Rockport Altair's are good speakers."

"My amplifiers are mono's"

"I have three Air Tight PC-1's."

"My speaker's sound good to me."

The apostrophe is incorrect in each of these cases.

 

[RBFC]

Your preaching to the choir Ron, Its an uphill battle thats never gon’na be won,

Lee

 

[Ron Resnick]

 

[spiritofmusic]

Surely you mean “preachin’ to the choir”?

 

[DaveC]

Your preaching to the choir Ron, Its an uphill battle thats never gon’na be won,

Lee

Its only gettin worse to...

 

[RBFC]

Their never gon'na let us post on they're forum again, even though its our's.

Lee

 

[Steve Williams]

Their never gon'na let us post on they're forum again, even though its our's.

Lee

now that's funny

 

[Argonaut]

Well.......If we are going to wear our goat hair pedantry shorts, I wasn't aware that you were a Site Founder Ron ?

 

[NorthStar]

An apostrophe is a punctuation mark used in contractions to replace missing letters. The contraction "we'll" stands for "we will," with the apostrophe replacing "wi." It can also show possession, as in "Mary's car." The apostrophe indicates the car belongs to Mary.

To correctly pronounce apostrophe, accent the second syllable: "uh-POSS-truh-fee." In addition to being a punctuation mark, apostrophe can also be a literary device in which the speaker of a poem talks to someone who is not there. A famous example of this is Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" in which he addresses the deceased Abraham Lincoln: "O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells."
____

To me, in my use, it's a short cut short of the full time it takes to write and speak.
It can be used to shorten hundreds of things. It can even be used when we feel short of being lazy.
It is what it is for many and not necessarily in that order. ...Queen's temple.

Today's bright sunny day outside. We ducked a tsunami due to geographical circumstances.
The winds were blowin' real hard for a while, just recently not long ago.
Living on an island is like living in paradise, wearing a sailor's hat and carrying an umbrella in the car's door.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Well.......If we are going to wear our goat hair pedantry shorts, I wasn't aware that you were a Site Founder Ron ?

This thread is about the correct use of the apostrophe. It is not a general comment thread.

Steve was very generous and gracious in retaining for me the same title Amir enjoyed.

 

[Ron Resnick]

An apostrophe is a punctuation mark used in contractions to replace missing letters. The contraction "we'll" stands for "we will," with the apostrophe replacing "wi." It can also show possession, as in "Mary's car." The apostrophe indicates the car belongs to Mary.

To correctly pronounce apostrophe, accent the second syllable: "uh-POSS-truh-fee." In addition to being a punctuation mark, apostrophe can also be a literary device in which the speaker of a poem talks to someone who is not there. A famous example of this is Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" in which he addresses the deceased Abraham Lincoln: "O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells."
____

To me, in my use, it's a short cut short of the full time it takes to write and speak.
It can be used to shorten hundreds of things. It can even be used when we feel short of being lazy.
It is what it is for many and not necessarily in that order. ...Queen's temple.

Today's bright sunny day outside. We ducked a tsunami due to geographical circumstances.
The winds were blowin' real hard for a while, just recently not long ago.
Living on an island is like living in paradise, wearing a sailor's hat and carrying an umbrella in the car's door.

Did you read the latest news about Robert De Niro?
• https://theintercept.com/2018/01/23/robert-de-niro-barbuda-hotel-hurricane-irma/

Does Robert De Niro evidence an incorrect use of the apostrophe?

If not, please stay on topic.