The Proper Use of the Apostrophe

[Joe Whip]

Somewhere the Sisters of St. Joseph are loving this thread. Brings back memories!

 

[Ron Resnick]

Not the way I learned to use them on abbreviations, nor the way my bazillion of reports and papers were written (that were all proofed by some tech editor, usually several, along the way). I have always been required to add an apostrophe after various acronyms and abbreviations and am unlikely to change, sorry (old dogs).

p136 of my old Harbrace College Handbook (8th printing, 1977): "Use the apostrophe and s to form the plural of lower-case letters and abbreviations... When needed...use to form the plural of abbreviations, symbols..." It goes on to say either is acceptable for abbreviations and provides examples. This reference would say CD's or CDs is valid.

If the worst thing about me is my grammar I'll die content.

And I thought the cable debates were bad...

I give that college handbook an "F." It is incorrect.

 

[DonH50]

Funny, the company where I did most of my reports had a Catholic school tech editor. She was a terror on grammar but I learned a lot.

 

[NorthStar]

That's a good thread Ron.
The apostasy's synthesis is a reality of all language's classes and forms.
A good punctuation is a sign of a good education.

"L'apothéose est l'ultime découverte de la sagesse." :b
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How many apostrophes did I use all together in the four above lines?
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Bonus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_(punctuation)

Please note; the 'apostrophe' in the English language has significant interpretations depending of the phrase's composition in its sentencing.
{This is not a test, this doesn't require adjustment, this is not the absolute, this is only an experiment.}
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Question: Is it possible to make the wrong decision from a wrongful judgement based solely on punctuation alone?
Like for example; if someone's native tongue is not the English language (England), can it be there a possibility to wrong interpretation leading to wrong judgement?
How do we interpret accurately the true sense of the words written with their chosen punctuation!
What standards are there in the universal language? Can words be misinterpreted? Are words a tool to communicate freedom?

The English language is one of the world's universal spoken languages.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

This is all important; communication. It's the base of decision's making/deals in the whole world.
The clearer the language is the more transparent the right word's meaning. ...Punctuation included.

Can some words be more honest than others? ...Eg.; Love in the infinity.
Can some words be emotionally impacting? ...Eg.; Flying saucers from space.

:b I'm making a small effort to be light, humorous, politely restricted, constrained, chained, au-dela-du-réel.

Punctuation and word's meaning, interpretation, correctness, 'syphilisation' (civilized).

Apostrophy ' ...conventional wisdom, coma sense, interjection, interpretation, punctuation, linguistics, English grammar.
French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, ...all world's languages.

"In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics."
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Facebook, Twitter, audio forums, audio blogs, news channels, ...all social communication systems of exchanges; are they always perfectly interpreted? We live in an era where words have never been so much used than they are now. And it will continue @ an even faster paste tomorrow.
And not only that; punctuation plays a major role in word's attachments. But are we speaking new languages now in social medias?
We deconstruct what we've learned @ school and make our own. Eg.; Do you drive? ? Do u ride?

* Right on?% Has Tom Brady find his jersey yet!$

 

[robbyd]

Then there is the possessive for people whose last names end in "s".

It was James Levine's Boston Symphony.

Now it is Andris Nelsons' Boston Symphony.

Larry

It would be Andris Nelsons's...

 

[Bruce B]

Here is an example of the most egregious and annoying misuse of the English language - using an adjective as a noun. This one is particularly distasteful and highlights Americans' tendencies toward lazy expression.

After 28 years of practicing Anesthesia, I have gotten lazy after my retirement. Yes, my "bad".

 

[miniguy]

After 28 years of practicing Anesthesia, I have gotten lazy after my retirement. Yes, my "bad".

Considering your age, you're probably a respected member of the AK community, so you're excused; however, there is no leeway for the "yungens."

 

[Steve williams]

AK as in "alta Kucker"

 

[RayDunzl]

Let's recap!

 

[cjfrbw]

I could take somebody insulting my hearing, my equipment, my setup, my taste, but the apostrophe slur was too much.

 

[elescher]

http://time.com/2993508/emoji-rules-tweets/. Things are not what they used to be.:b

 

[miniguy]

AK as in "alta Kucker"

Yes, Steve. Though I spell it alter kocker. Which is what I've been for some time.

 

[NorthStar]

I could take somebody insulting my hearing, my equipment, my setup, my taste, but the apostrophe slur was too much.

When I was growing up with my two brothers and two sisters, my Mom used to say occasionally; "Toi mon apostrophe-là!" ...Meaning "wise up!"

It was a learning culture language my Mom got from her own Mom. It's very true. ...Geraldine was her Mom's name, and Parise is my Mom's name.
The link below (in French) is the origin of that expression using "apostrophe" to address a person's character. It goes even further...
• http://www.persee.fr/doc/igram_0222-9838_2003_num_96_1_2642

•• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe_(figure_of_speech)

 

[amirm]

Yeeaahh . . . I think "CD's" is a major apostrophe violation.

It actually isn't Ron. The general rule is that you should use an apostrophe if it avoids confusion. In the olden days before people knew what CDs were, putting an "s" in there as I just did may have made them think it is always called "CDs" so "CD's" was OK to use. Using the general (current) rule of less is more, it is highly recommended that no apostrophe be used. However if such use can create confusion, apostrophe is required yet again. Imagine if a "CDs" process was used to create CDs. See how confusing that is? In this case one would add an apostrophe for plural of CD as to distinguish it from the process called "CDs."

Mind you I am not remotely smart enough or have mastery of English to know all of this . I wrote a technical book in 1990s and asked my publisher (Prentice Hall) how to check my grammar and he recommended Chicago Manual of Style. This is a 100+ year book (gone through countless revisions) that is the bible for writers. I augmented it with Science and Technical Writing. By using these two I was able to get answers to just about every question of this type. The idea is to stick to one established style so that you can defend your writing. Not that there is only one answer for all the gray areas.

Whats the connection to audio anyways???

 

[Steve williams]

My brother’s friend’s dogs (this refers to the dogs belonging to the friend of one brother).
My brother’s friends’ dogs (the dogs belonging to the friends of one brother).
My brothers’ friend’s dogs (the dogs belonging to the friend of more than one brother).
My brothers’ friends’ dogs (the dogs belonging to the friends of more than one brother).

It’s only the positioning of the apostrophes here that clarifies what you’re saying; the wording is otherwise exactly the same.

 

[NorthStar]

'em http://www.dailywritingtips.com/for...postrophes-in-contractions-in-FRONT-of-a-word

 

[GaryProtein]

I hate vertical apostrophes and quotation marks.

An apostrophe, like a comma, always has the tail to the left. So-called "smart quotes" are the way to go with quotation marks. It has ALWAYS been that way in typesetting. Vertical quotes and apostrophes only came into being with OLD mechanical typewriters that saved on the number of keys by having them all be vertical.

 

[Ron Resnick]

It actually isn't Ron.

The general rule is that you should use an apostrophe if it avoids confusion. In the olden days before people knew what CDs were, putting an "s" in there as I just did may have made them think it is always called "CDs" so "CD's" was OK to use. Using the general (current) rule of less is more, it is highly recommended that no apostrophe be used. However if such use can create confusion, apostrophe is required yet again. Imagine if a "CDs" process was used to create CDs. See how confusing that is? In this case one would add an apostrophe for plural of CD as to distinguish it from the process called "CDs."

Mind you I am not remotely smart enough or have mastery of English to know all of this . I wrote a technical book in 1990s and asked my publisher (Prentice Hall) how to check my grammar and he recommended Chicago Manual of Style. This is a 100+ year book (gone through countless revisions) that is the bible for writers. I augmented it with Science and Technical Writing. By using these two I was able to get answers to just about every question of this type. The idea is to stick to one established style so that you can defend your writing. Not that there is only one answer for all the gray areas.

Whats the connection to audio anyways???

I do not think any general rule encourages misuse. I do not see how the confusing misuse of an apostrophe avoids confusion.

We can agree to disagree on this one, Amir.

I grew weary of seeing many plural but non-possessive nouns and acronyms (CD's, 1980's, etc.) get apostrophe-ized incorrectly.

 

[spiritofmusic]

You can certainly argue that CDs of the 1980s: 1980s' CDs or 1980s CDs, but not 1980's CD's

 

[audioguy]

I can tell there are some folks on here with a case of the apostrophe OCD's and/or OCDs.