chelidon

Gah! No! Geez, I do hate that... *reaches for copy of 'Eats, Shoots, and Leaves' for commisery* .... *finds 'The Grouchy Grammarian' instead and smiles*

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At least, technically, that's still considered wrong.

Unlike "He got all A's" or "I have 25 CD's."

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That's not wrong?! I knew that usage was rampant, but I didn't know it was accepted as a version of correct! Oh goodness... Would it be too pompous to stubbornly continue to write "He got all As" and "I have 25 CDs" just on principle?

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I do believe they left out a word. They struck 21 soldier's *what*?

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Oops- 21 solider's *what*?

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At the risk of being insensitive to a tragic event, I would wager that they probably zapped the soldier's brass.

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Of course, you're right. That would be the solider's brass.

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Oddly enough, writing "all A's" and "25 CD's" is actually correct, at least according to Eats Shoots and Leaves. I was rather surprised myself.

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I went and read the article. I'm very sorry I did, too.

"...said Larry Bell, whose mother owned the farm. 'God was showing his strength.' "

Ummmmm.

If someone much stronger than me knocks me down on the playground, he's a bully. I can't even begin to imagine what we have when an entity supposedly omniscient and omnipotent "shows his strength" in that fashion.

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christeos-pir.livejournal.com

Surely soliders'?

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christeos-pir.livejournal.com

I love that "God was looking out for me" stuff people spout. I guess that time you fell and sprained your leg God was looking the other way. Like maybe he misplaced his bifocals and couldn't find them, and all the time they were on top of his macroprosopus.

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When something bad happens to someone else, it's God punishing him.

When something bad happens to me, I'm being tested.

Of course, I live in an area where people will quite literally explain to my boss that God quite literally told them that they were supposed to be studying X (where X = their chosen field of study, even when they've failed in it 18 times).

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Not according to the original article (see above)....

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FWIW, I hated that book. It had its heart in the right place, and its facts fairly wrong.

Of course, I have had to stop reading the Chicago Manual of Style a few times because something they gave as a rule was pissing me off. (I once sent a letter to the folks who edit the AP Stylebook to tell them they'd neglected to specify how to capitalize a phrase my copyeditor and I argued about on a weekly basis. They included it in the next edition of the book.)

There is absolutely no reason for the apostrophes in the examples I gave. There's no vaguery between "He got all As" that requires an apostrophe. Same with several cringeworthy banners I've seen that say "We now sell CD's and DVD's!" No need. Ugh.

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I don't know if it's pompous or not. I do it. I refuse to concede to the kind of grammatical idiocy that says "if everyone's doing it, it must be okay!" There are limits.

I'm OK with ending a sentence with a preposition, since it was based on the preposterous notion that English should follow Latin grammar, not Germanic. But there's zero need for the apostrophes in the examples I gave. There's no ambiguity there. It's not the same as "he dotted all his i's and crossed all his t's," where removing the apostrophes makes the sentence harder to read. All punctuation is structural, and its only function is to make literature more seamless and comprehensible.

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FWIW, I hated that book.

I just have to mention it, as it's worth a good laugh. My favorite birthday present this year was Eats, Shites & Leaves (Crap English and how to use it) by A. Parody. I laughed for hours...

There's no vaguery between "He got all As" that requires an apostrophe. Same with several cringeworthy banners I've seen that say "We now sell CD's and DVD's!" No need. Ugh.

Amen - exactly! Every time I see them (and seriously, it's like I can't turn it off in my brain), I think, "We now sell CD's *what*? liner notes? copyright? huh?" I know I should just be able to let it go, but it bothers me every time.

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Hey - is that a library behind you in that icon of yours? (Er, I mean, the shelf of one?) Neat-o!

And yes, agreed, it's all about functionality. I happen to be of the opinion that apostrophes in those instances are more obfuscating (or at least distracting) than anything, but I imagine there are others who see them as adding to a seamlessness that I do not see...
Whether it's pompous or not, it's at least nice to know that I have company :-)

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Yep, 'tis part of our 'wall of books.' :)

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I just can't keep up -- the books grow faster than the walls... ;>

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We don't quite have enough books for TWO walls of books. But there's another bookshelf in the kitchen (mostly cookbooks) and I have another bunch of books in the office (mostly kids' books, random others, and my Tolkien stuff right here by the computer).

I also tend to get rid of lots of books when I'm done with them; these are only the keepers.

This reminds me, did I ever tell you how much I insanely adore Mythago Wood and how grateful I am that you recommended it?

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I have a hard time getting rid of books, unless they're clearly useless (obsolete technical books, etc). One of my housemates is even more of a book packrat than I am, and he is even more inclined towards the obscure and esoteric (heck, most of my books over the last year have been practical country-living-types) so between the two of us, we've quite a library. Luckily, I still have a little room to build more bookshelves ;>

I'm so glad you liked Mythago Wood, it's one of my favorites as well, so mythically deep. Have you read any of the sequels? I liked Lavondyss, though not as well as he original, but it does have one of my favorite short stories encapsulated in it ("Cuwyn"). I find that Holdstock's writing varies from deep, rich and resonant, to vague and incoherent. I did just get a copy of Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn, published in 1997, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Did I ever recommend John Crowley's Little, Big to you? I think that if you liked Mythago Wood, you'll like it, perhaps a lot.

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whoops -- the short story I mentioned is actually "The Bone Forest," Cuwyn is the lead character in it.

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