A quick suggestion

Anything about use of this forum : NOT about cycling
Cyril Haearn
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Vorpal wrote:And because we have members form around the world, and some who do not speak English as their first language, I think that we should be forgiving, about how people use the language(s).

Does it really matter if an apostrophe is missing, as long as what someone wrote is understandable?

Nein es ist doch piepsegal vorausgesetzt kann bzw. darf korrekt verwendet werden

No it does not matter at all as long as can & may are used correctly :wink:

I went to a minor public school but I am not quite sure how to use apostrophes :?

Does Vorpal (half American) write any different from the rest of us?
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mjr
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by mjr »

Vorpal wrote:Does it really matter if an apostrophe is missing, as long as what someone wrote is understandable?

N'o.

Also, let's be tolerant of common misphrasings by non-native speakers. Anyone with a smattering of a Germanic foreign language should know what "where will I become a mudflap?" should have been...
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thirdcrank
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by thirdcrank »

O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion....
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Mick F
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by Mick F »

Cycled past a few houses over the years.
For instance, these two! :lol:

Hunters Ride
Smugglers Cottage

Do they really?
Hunters probably ride on their horses, but do smugglers actually cottage?
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mjr
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by mjr »

Mick F wrote:Hunters Ride
Smugglers Cottage

One of the squares at uni was called "Founders Green". Name signs and site maps often had "Is he?" scrawled by it. :-)
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sjs
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by sjs »

Vorpal wrote:
Does it really matter if an apostrophe is missing, as long as what someone wrote is understandable?


Not to almost all of us, I would like to think.
thirdcrank
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by thirdcrank »

... One of the squares at uni was called "Founders Green". Name signs and site maps often had "Is he?" scrawled by it. :-)


I don't get that. :? If the sign had said Founder's Green" its grammar and that of the graffitists (If the word exists) would have been better.
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by mjr »

thirdcrank wrote:
... One of the squares at uni was called "Founders Green". Name signs and site maps often had "Is he?" scrawled by it. :-)


I don't get that. :? If the sign had said Founder's Green" its grammar and that of the graffitists (If the word exists) would have been better.

Its grammar is fine. It's a green to honour the founders (plural) and doesn't belong to them.

The graffiti is poking fun at apo'strophe zealot's.
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slowster
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by slowster »

Vorpal wrote:And because we have members form around the world, and some who do not speak English as their first language, I think that we should be forgiving, about how people use the language(s).

Does it really matter if an apostrophe is missing, as long as what someone wrote is understandable?

I suspect that for those for whom English is not their first language, spelling errors and missing apostrophes in the posts of others may make it significantly harder to read and understand the post, because they may not be sufficiently familar with English a) to realise that there is an error, b) to know what the error is, and c) to know what the misspelt word or the correct grammar should be.

So I would argue that those of us for whom English is our first language should take care to avoid spelling errors and missing apostrophes etc. precisely because the forum has members from ( :wink: ) around the world, and some who do not speak English as their first language.
Last edited by slowster on 23 Oct 2018, 10:34pm, edited 1 time in total.
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horizon
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by horizon »

The problem with your and you're is that in an otherwise well written piece, it trips you up: you stop, check the meaning and move on, albeit very quickly. The frustration comes from believing it to be an important distinction and knowing it to be so easy to put right. In many cases there is no other grammatical or spelling error that I at least can discern.

I have no problem at all with posts that are written with spelling errors, obvious difficulties with grammar, those written by non-native speakers, American English (written by Americans of course) and those written with speed and enthusiasm.

I just want to help put it right. There are only a very few grammatical errors on this forum that genuinely obstruct the flow of reading: this is one and another is the plural and possessive of country and the possessive of countries. I'm interested though in how what appear to be quite small errors can interrupt reading and understanding.
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gaz
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by gaz »

A brief search indicates that the forum does not acknowledge the word "your" :wink: .
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Mick F
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by Mick F »

mjr wrote:
thirdcrank wrote:
... One of the squares at uni was called "Founders Green". Name signs and site maps often had "Is he?" scrawled by it. :-)


I don't get that. :? If the sign had said Founder's Green" its grammar and that of the graffitists (If the word exists) would have been better.

Its grammar is fine. It's a green to honour the founders (plural) and doesn't belong to them.

The graffiti is poking fun at apo'strophe zealot's.
Should have been Founders' Green as the founders are plural.
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Paulatic
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by Paulatic »

Mick F wrote:
mjr wrote:
thirdcrank wrote:
I don't get that. :? If the sign had said Founder's Green" its grammar and that of the graffitists (If the word exists) would have been better.

Its grammar is fine. It's a green to honour the founders (plural) and doesn't belong to them.

The graffiti is poking fun at apo'strophe zealot's.
Should have been Founders' Green as the founders are plural.


Unless it was Bob or Jane Founders who the green had belonged to. :D Then surely its Founders Green.
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mjr
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by mjr »

Mick F wrote:
mjr wrote:
thirdcrank wrote:
I don't get that. :? If the sign had said Founder's Green" its grammar and that of the graffitists (If the word exists) would have been better.

Its grammar is fine. It's a green to honour the founders (plural) and doesn't belong to them.

The graffiti is poking fun at apo'strophe zealot's.
Should have been Founders' Green as the founders are plural.

Nope. It's named after them. It's not theirs.

I think there are some London underground stations with similar apostrophisation (or lack thereof) which are under constant attack by Zealot's.
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Mick F
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Re: A quick suggestion

Post by Mick F »

Paulatic wrote:Unless it was Bob or Jane Founders who the green had belonged to. :D Then surely its Founders Green.
Nope.
If it was Bob Founders, it would be Bob Founders' Green.
Bob and Jane Founders would be a singular entity, so that would be Bob and Jane Founders' Green too.

S apostrophe is usually for plurals, but if the possessive ends in a S, it's S apostrophe too.
Mick F. Cornwall
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