The apostrophe
It’s easy to give it its due.
So why don’t we? All we have to do is remember that one sentence above and know how to apply it.
Why don’t we? Because we desert what we once knew, what we were correctly taught, and follow the ignorant till we too become ignorant models for others to copy.
We are reaching a point where everything is lowered to the standards of those on the outside, knocking to come in. Am I a snob? No. I believe there should be an open door, but on entering you should receive kindly instruction and retain it confidently. I’m speaking of the door into literacy.
Internet-linked computers have given public literacy to millions whose English composition would never before have been seen publicly in print. Those millions have assumed that Microsoft spell-checker is all the tutoring they need. The risk is that schoolteachers don’t teach orthography and punctuation any more, or teach it wrong; or that we think the majority must be right.
The “rules” of political correctness are further examples of how we copy one another’s poor usage. You might say that a person makes up their mind, but to me that will always be incorrect. As I’m male I will say that a person makes up his mind. A woman could say her instead of his and a balance would be maintained that way.
I note the increased use of partner as if husband or wife were taboo words like nigger. Partner is no good in many contexts because it might mean business partner. Though they never married, in common speech I refer to my son’s wife alias my daughter-in-law. They’ve been together ten years and have two children of their own, my grandchildren. They are married in every sense but the legal one, which doesn’t concern me, since I am not an official.
2 comments:
I have been trying to get a handle on this, more or less, without looking it up, someone ran off with me grammer book.
It is, it's, I have no problem with. But, its, that is, to me, a lot of its, not possessive, though now I see, or hear, it must be possessive? I have constantly been putting its' little apostophe with it to make sure we know I am not collecting lots of its.
I learned a long time ago to dissuade others from using me as a model for things that are mental or emotional, physically my body is correct in its (?) language, but the rest of my physical reality may not be so, so even that is out.
I don't think it is snobbish to be trying to be right, in anything, as long as you know most of us aren't very right, and don't forget it, I try to practise what I preach.
I have thought seriously about trying to write some things and do it well, rather than haphazardly as is my wont. As I am trying to seriously return to art practise, I have to apply that somewhat to art as well.
I am seeing somewhat that 'his/er' for his or her is catching on, still it is too much it seems. Somehow this problem seems to be unnecessary, as if the human race should be above this distinction even as it thoroughly enjoys this distinction. What that might mean as to a mode of speech, I don't know, not yet anyway, still looking at it as I go.
As to the marriage/not marriage thing, I think it is 'marriage' as official that is the problem, not the other. It is one of these backwards or reversed sense things like good and evil being turned around to suit some controlling officialdom that shouldn't even be in charge of anything so real.
Hello Vincent, sorry for the wordiness, just playing with my knew server, new server, gnu server, and getting off on it, it's got its merits.
Jim, wonderful: it's got its merits! I never thought I'd see the day when you got this one right!
Yes, this politically correct thing of he she, his her, I refuse to say "they" or "their" when speaking of one person. If stuck I would say he, him, his; on the ground that I am male and a woman is free to use she, her, her as default.
It is part of being old-fashioned, and I'll admit to you here that I tend to think the English language and people's behaviour in my formative years was correct, and what happens now is often very suspect!
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