I spent a few hours recently, reading an interesting book by Lynne Truss called "Eats Shoots and Leaves - A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation."
Now.
I have, from time immemorial (or at least since I was about 8), misused and abused the long suffering comma, semi-colon AND the apostrophe.
(That, and I can't spell, but that's a blog for another day.)
I think I do the most damage to the apostrophe, but I don't mean too!
But if the truth must be told, it boils down to one simple fact.
I just. don't. get it.
I DO try, I really DO!
I like to think that this is evidenced by the fact that I read books about punctuation but it just doesn't sink in!
Make no mistake, though, I can contract words with the best of them.
I've got 'DON'T' 'WON'T' and 'SHOULDN'T' down pat.
Even the awkward 'SHOULDN'T'VE' I can do (not without some effort though, I don't mind telling you!)
It's the darn possesive/multi-tasking apostrophes that get me.
"The kittens' ran with the scissors." Is that right? (and what are kittens doing running amok with scissors, anyway!?)
Is it "Mrs. Jankowskis's husbands all do it." or "Mrs. Jankowskis' husbands all do it."? (There are several of them, apparently, doing something! Gracious!)
So, in light of all of this, I'm issuing an all inclusive apology here and now to those of you whom I may offend with my poor punctuation.
Oh, and a really big apology to the sadly used apostrophe for each and every time I forget about it, mangle it in some way and generally disrespect it.
I really am very sorry.
Here, try this game out...let me know how well you do!
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17 comments:
Apparently, I'm a 100% stickler (in fact, I even got a little flutter of excitement, to see that it was a game based on apostrophes! oo! oo! Let me at it!).
However, I still can't spell to save my lif.
My biggest pet peeve with bloggers is their failure to use paragraphs. It drives me nuts!!!! I hate reading on big long blah thing...it makes it seem so uninteresing.
Darling, I hate to break it to you, but, as your editor, I must point out that those kittens just don't need any punctuation at all. ;P
I scored 92%. My weakness is the comma. For me, I’m always afraid that I will over use him. I think it stems from the fact that most people just don’t use the little guy enough. If I put one every place I wanted to, I might not get through a whole sentence with one.
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BTW I’m a horrid speller too. Without spell check, I would have thrown myself in front of a bus years ago.
Well, I think we can look back and blame some Junior High teacher for our lack of knowledge on when to use the ' and when to use the , and when not to.
I scores a whopping 92% but that is only because of some professional technical writing courses I have taken over my life.
My biggest problem is when I do not have to be "proper" then I am lazy and don't....
92%. I'm beset by comma abusers at work. "Hey Grant, your data, are not correct, when can you call, let's discuss." That's an actual message I received.
I used to care but now it seems to take too much effort. Punctuation be d*mned!!
Apology accepted!
Although my peeve with blogging is that like Linny said, some people don't use paragraphs. I always try to make sure that I use paragraphs with everything, even my email letters.
i like to pride myself on fairly good use of both the comma and the apostrophe... although as you can see, capitalization doesn't really rank too high with me ;-P
The question of what Mrs. Jankowski's husbands DO, will forever remain a mystery, however, let it be noted that I imagined a polygamist situtation, Ian....
Yes, it's a great book, many thanks to Ms. Kimber for lending it to me!
It's a pity I couldn't have put it to good use!
Hello Tai, thanks for stopping by. I'm sure you noticed that I was a soul mate in terms of apostrophe abuse. Thank goodness there are no grammar police out there?
83 percent stickler. Commas confuse me sometimes.
And of course, I love ANYTHING to do with pandas. ;-)
58%...man that sucks. I got the commas, it was the damn apostraphes...i guess im a little rusty. but with the world of blogging, emails, and im's....nobody punctuates anymore anyways. i am satisfied with my 58%!
92% stickler here. *Loved* that test. I really got kind of excited about taking it. I'm a comma-holic. I add way too many, but it was actually the apostrophe that I messed up on. (One question!)
I could take a quiz like that forever! (I mean I could take a really long one, not the same one again and again.) I love it! Thanks for posting it!
I'm a total punctuation geek. Apostrophes are my pet peeve and quotation marks are my sister's. In fact, when I was writing my SAT book, I added a grammar/puctuation appendix and had to fight to keep it shorter than the book itself!
You took my thoughts right out of my head! I have been mulling a post about punctuation around in my head for days. I over use " - ' ! and ;) a lot! My fourth grader just had a lesson on possesive and non-possesive 's and I had to sit down right next to him and re-learn the rules. Good thing I wasn't the one getting tested on it. I am sure I would've gotten an F!!
Great post, and interesting blog :)
Hugs or is it Hug's?!?!
SW
I, too, am a 100% stickler. But, then, I'm a writer and editor, so I better be. :G:
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