Apostrophe crimes

Talk about anything but keep it polite and reasonably clean.
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by DRT »

Doggett wrote:Damn...I had hoped not to appear in this thread! :wink:
Join the queue :roll:
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
PopulusTremula
Warre’s Traditional LBV
Posts: 330
Joined: 17:45 Mon 23 May 2011

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by PopulusTremula »

Here jdaw started a thread with a flagrant typo in the subject header. Oh, the indignity.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23613
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

PopulusTremula wrote:Here jdaw started a thread with a flagrant typo in the subject header. Oh, the indignity.
Oh, the indignity! Sackcloth and ashes.
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by DRT »

Will the existence of the four-dot elipsis at the end of the opening title scroll of the new Star Wars film cause a disturbance in The Force?
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23613
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

Act Quietly!

Image
LGTrotter
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3707
Joined: 17:45 Fri 19 Oct 2012
Location: Somerset, UK

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by LGTrotter »

jdaw1 wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:No doubt correction will be administered.
This is not that type of website. (And pore.)
Thank you. I would correct the original but that would ruin the explanation.
PhilW
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3503
Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
Location: Near Cambridge, UK

Re: Thursday 19th May 2016, 66@50

Post by PhilW »

Revert does not mean reply, respond or follow-up; it means to return to previous condition or state.
Some people seem to have recently started using it incorrectly to mean reply, respond or follow-up; this seems to have been initially by people for whom English is not their first language and some in the the American business community. Sadly, it seems to have been picked up and used by some in UK business communications as well - but no, we should not encourage it.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23613
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Thursday 19th May 2016, 66@50

Post by jdaw1 »

{Sackcloth-and-ashes}

May I move these into the AC thread?
PhilW
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3503
Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
Location: Near Cambridge, UK

Re: Thursday 19th May 2016, 66@50

Post by PhilW »

jdaw1 wrote:{Sackcloth-and-ashes}

May I move these into the AC thread?
Yes; I'd intended to post there in the first place.
User avatar
flash_uk
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4082
Joined: 20:02 Thu 13 Feb 2014
Location: London

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by flash_uk »

Dear oh dear: Tesco blunder.
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4174
Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Glenn E. »

In an advertising email, Puget Sound PMI wrote:What differenciates You from the Competition?
I can spell.
Glenn Elliott
PhilW
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3503
Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
Location: Near Cambridge, UK

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by PhilW »

Glenn E. wrote:
In an advertising email, Puget Sound PMI wrote:What differenciates You from the Competition?
I can spell.
Lol. You also appear to be able to use capital letters correctly; you're probably over-qualified.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23613
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

PhilW
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3503
Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
Location: Near Cambridge, UK

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by PhilW »

PopulusTremula
Warre’s Traditional LBV
Posts: 330
Joined: 17:45 Mon 23 May 2011

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by PopulusTremula »

By Jove, that is a humdinger!
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23613
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

[url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=98773#p98773]Here[/url] AHB wrote:I already have buyer's who'd like to buy the bottles!
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by DRT »

AHB seems to be on a roll...
[url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7654&start=2350]Here[/url] AHB wrote:Oh dear, Scotland need 21 of the last over to beat Afghanistan on the opening day of the world T20 cup
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23613
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

DRT wrote:AHB seems to be on a roll...
If AHB were to criticise DRT for using three dots (“...”) rather than an ellipsis character (“…”), I would support that. But, at least today, I’m not going to be that fussy. Well, not yet today.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23613
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

Choose.
• On 7 November 1974 another dozen were sold at £62.
• On 7 November 1974 another dozen was sold at £62.
(Re TH50.)
User avatar
Doggett
Morgan 1991
Posts: 1188
Joined: 17:40 Sun 20 Sep 2015
Location: Weymouth
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Doggett »

jdaw1 wrote:Choose.
• On 7 November 1974 another dozen were sold at £62.
• On 7 November 1974 another dozen was sold at £62.
(Re TH50.)
I have no idea of the correct rule (or what TH50 is), but I suspect either is okay. Having said that, my preference is for 'were'.
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by DRT »

Doggett wrote:I have no idea of the correct rule (or what TH50 is)
TH = Tuke Holdsworth, and the answer is "was". "a dozen" might be thought of as plural, but "another dozen" is a singular unit.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
User avatar
Doggett
Morgan 1991
Posts: 1188
Joined: 17:40 Sun 20 Sep 2015
Location: Weymouth
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Doggett »

DRT wrote:
Doggett wrote:I have no idea of the correct rule (or what TH50 is)
TH = Tuke Holdsworth, and the answer is "was". "a dozen" might be thought of as plural, but "another dozen" is a singular unit.
Back to skool for me...on both counts...the shame!
PhilW
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3503
Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
Location: Near Cambridge, UK

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by PhilW »

DRT wrote: "a dozen" might be thought of as plural, but "another dozen" is a singular unit.
Hmm. I agree that it comes down to whether the dozen is treated as a singular unit or a plural group of items, but that depends on context. I don't know whether there is any specific rule in this regard, but it seems to me that where the number of dozen is stated it can be singular, but where the item is stated (explicitly or implicitly) it would always be plural even if only one dozen; argument by example with implicit/explicit item in brackets:

• One dozen (of items) was placed in the fridge.
• Another dozen (of items) was placed on the side.
• Two dozen (of items) were placed in the pantry.
vs
• A dozen (items) were cooked for breakfast.
• Another dozen (items) were cooked for lunch.
• Two dozen (items) were cooked for dinner.

"Was" would definitely sound wrong to me in the first two lines of the second set.

In JDAW's particular case, either option could work since it is ambiguously singular or plural; I would suggest that is depends upon the preceding line to provide sufficient context:
• On 7 November 1974 another dozen (bottles) were sold at £62.
• On 7 November 1974 another dozen (of D66) was sold at £62.
User avatar
flash_uk
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4082
Joined: 20:02 Thu 13 Feb 2014
Location: London

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by flash_uk »

I don't think it does come down to whether dozen is treated as a singular or plural unit. I think it is always "were", because the items in question are bottles, not dozen, or dozens.
One bottle was sold.
One dozen bottles were sold.
One dozen were sold.
User avatar
Doggett
Morgan 1991
Posts: 1188
Joined: 17:40 Sun 20 Sep 2015
Location: Weymouth
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Doggett »

flash_uk wrote:I think it is always "were"
English tuition put on hold for now :)
Post Reply