Korean Job Discussion Forums

[silvertoes]

There are a fair few people on these forums who don't seem to know how and when to use apostrophes correctly. I wouldn't mind so much if the bulk of people using Dave's weren't English teachers. I guess it must bother me a bit - since I always notice it - but I'm not Lynne Truss or anything. You?

[charlieDD]

You're seeing how people use them on a forum, where one is relaxed and types out sentences as he / she would speak. I use apostrophes, semi-colons, colons, dashes, etc. a lot when I am typing on forums, in informal emails, and such. Do I know how to use them properly when I need to? Of course. I think the same is true of most of those who post here and "abuse" the apostrophe in the course.

[Qinella]

Yeah this topic has been broached before. It is an annoying thing, but I don't point it out not for fear of appearing pedantic, but more because no one cares. It's not like the person who typed it is going to thank me for taking the time to point out their error.

The funny thing is how when topics like this arise around here, there are always people who make the excuse that they are not typing an essay, or they are relaxed when typing. That's dumb. I mean.. either you know how to write and have good habits instilled in you, or you do not. Improper capitalization or ellipses usage are Internetisms, and could fall under the lazy writing category, but misusage of apostrophes indicates poor writing skillz.

[VanIslander]

Dave's posters' guide to apostrophes.

http://www.write101.com/sample.htm
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_apost.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe

Since one needs to be university educated to teach in this country one should be free to be pedantic even if pyrrhic.
(Opps. Forgot to dumb down - Pyrrhic once again.)

[daskalos]

I didn't vote because my answer wasn't listed. "It adds to my accumulating sense that the world and everything in it is doomed, but I learned years ago that there's no use fighting it, because people who don't care about it don't care about it and never will."

That said, here's what I know about people who know how to use apostrophes and ellipses and whatnot correctly, but who don't; they don't give a sh!t about they're audience. Further, they generally seem to think that what they're "writing" is so important that those of us reading them will go to the extra trouble to make sense out of whatever it is they may be trying to say.

Sloppy punctuation is just another way of saying, "I have no regard for you whatsoever."

Further, those of us who raise our voices in any sort of appeal for even a glancing nod in the direction of standard usage are decried as pedants or elitists.

Do I proofread posts on Dave's less carefully than I do, say, a cover letter? Certainly. Do I make typos and misspellings? You bet. But if it's something I want to say at all, I try to say it in a way that people will understand without having to work their way through my sloppiness.

At any rate, what we would probably find if the gross offenders all got with the program and wrote intelligibly is that what they were trying to say wasn't worth saying in the first place.

The obvious conclusion is that this sort of problem is actually an indication of a poorly educated, disorganized mind, and protestations that the informality of the forum allow for such sloppiness are just a smoke screen for people who have nothing to say to hide behind.

[RACETRAITOR]

[Adventurer]

It is a common problem. Why do you think it is so common? Did this problem emerge before the internet was in our lives. I didn't know this was a problem until I was aware of the internet.

[Boodleheimer]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Your and you're; they're and their are different words. Of course people slip up when typing, but consistent misuse is not an accident.

[gang ah jee]

Ever notice that people are much more likely to misuse apostrophes when pluralising foreign words or acronyms, particularly when they finish on a vowel?

[ajuma]

Yeah, it's a fine line between a typo and an actual error. I usually let grammar/spelling mistakes go (with a notable recent exception! (see the "resourse" thread in the Job Discussion forum! ))

Sometimes the apostrophe errors bother me, like when someone says "lets go to a party" instead of "let's go to a party", but this is one I usually put down to lazy writing. However when people make the your/you're mistake, I DO want to jump on them...but I usually restrain myself!

[gang ah jee]

[billybrobby]

[daskalos]

[daskalos]