What this blog needs more than anything is a good editor (insert loud applause here!).
Too often, my fingers get ahead of my brain as I try to get something posted, and I don't spot an error (or don't know it's an error!), and mistakes of grammar or usage or spelling make it online. Former Birmingham Post-Herald political reporter Ivan Swift (and is that a great name for a reporter or what? I'm Ivan Swift at The United Nations for CNN!) emailed from his home in Washington to comment on the post in which I said Richard Arrington's reborn political organization is called "The New Jefferson County Citizen's Coalition".
His comment was about the incorrect apostrophe, which he laid at Arrington's feet. I sheepishly emailed back to confess it was not the former Mayor's error, but my own, which I quickly corrected. Swift wrote back somewhat graciously, allowing that I am not alone:
"That apostrophe is abused all over the South. Years ago, in Ardmore, on the Tennessee line, Jones Drug Store's sign said "Jone's." When it modernized, they got the apostrophe out of there. Couple of days ago, in a doctor's office, a sign said "patient's without appointments ...."Thanks Ivan. Ain't language great. (-:
Commas are what give me absolute fits! My English instructor is going to teach a mini-class on comma usage before the end of the term. That's really the only thing I have trouble with...oh and whether or not something is spelled with a le or an el.
ReplyDeleteDespite those two issues I have an A+ in English class.
hi tim -- we moved back to our farm in northwest madison county 15 years ago. go to washington to see kids and grandkids (and great-grandkid) a couple of times a year. or, for special occasions -- one of my grandkids who writes for Governing magazine got married in richmond last weekend.loretta -- a comma just says pause and take a breath. look at what you wrote and if you were speaking the line, put a comma in where you need to take a breath. better still, see if a period works better. shorter sentences, more comprehensibility.
ReplyDeleteLoretta, get Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style." You'll be glad you did.
ReplyDeleteSon of a gun!
ReplyDeleteNow there's a name I've not heard in quite some time!
I used to correspond with Ivan periodically, but lost his address!
I recollect also reading his name in a story about some longtime friends with diverse political interests.
Hello Ivan!
(Think "Pam")
I'll have pick up correspondence with you again!
More the point of your blog entry however - I was taught the apostrophe was used to indicate possession, may be used to indicate a contraction, and only appeared after the letter 's' if the article ended with 's', or if the cases were plural or plural possessive.
Example:
• Ivan's (belongs to, or concerns Ivan - singular possessive)
• Mr. Evans' baseball (belongs to, or concerns Mr. Evans - singular possessive, ends with 's')
• The people's choice (of or belonging to the people, plural possessive)
• The jacks' handles (plural possessive - referring to many items, of or pertaining to jacks)
• He's moving toward (contraction of "he is" moving toward)
Here endeth the leçon.