# how would one nicely broach the subject of poorly used punctuation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-nicely-broach-the-subject-of-poorly-used-punctuation/108917 "2002-05-13T23:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-nicely-broach-the-subject-of-poorly-used-punctuation/108917/1 "2002-05-13T23:20:12Z")
on another message board there is a woman who consistently misuses apostrophes. it’s very obvious that these aren’t typos; she just doesn’t understand how apostrophes are used: > [@](#): > > Hiya Ladie’s, > > I would love to hear storie’s, about your blended family, and all that. > [@](#): > > Little pic’s under your Nic’s???.. > > HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY LADIE’S!!! > [@](#): > > sweety, > ((((((HUGS))))))) I want you to know that you, and your family are in my thought’s, and prayers. You need to take care of your thing’s, then come back to us. > > Lot’s of love, she also puts an apostrophe in does (doe’s). i don’t want to berate or embarrass her, but i do feel that somebody should tell her. how can i broach the subject nicely? ---
**Author:** ![LolaBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LolaBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaBaby)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-nicely-broach-the-subject-of-poorly-used-punctuation/108917/2 "2002-05-13T23:27:39Z")
E-mail? Is there private messages on that board? I’ve seen that way too many times. Sometimes I bring it up, if the person posting is also an asshole poster. However, I don’t make any mention if the person is pretty much a cool person…I can’t explain it. Live and let live unless you piss the fuck out of me, I guess. I totally understand why you’d want to say something, though…I kind of wonder how people can constantly communicate on a message board, read everyday, see the correct spelling of words and the correct usage of apostrophes, etc., and \*yet[i/] **still** continue to misspell and commit other grammatical crimes. It totally baffles me, but then I think about dyslexia, and other things, and I pretty much decide to say nothing. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-nicely-broach-the-subject-of-poorly-used-punctuation/108917/3 "2002-05-13T23:30:09Z")
This is more of an **IMHO** thread. I’ll move it for you. * * * **Cajun Man** - SDMB Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-nicely-broach-the-subject-of-poorly-used-punctuation/108917/4 "2002-05-13T23:30:17Z")
I really don’t mean this as a criticism, but I find the idea of you responding to: > [@](#): > > sweety, > ((((((HUGS))))))) I want you to know that you, and your family are in my thought’s, and prayers. You need to take care of your thing’s, then come back to us. > > Lot’s of love, with: > [@](#): > > Um, it’s “thoughts” not “thought’s”. And “thing’s” rather than “things”. Also, “Lot’s” is typically just written as “Lots”. You mispelled “sweetie”, and you put one too many right parentheses around your “HUGS”. I’ll send an explanation for how to use commas via email. to be completely hilarious. There is no possible way for you to correct this woman’s grammar and punctuation without looking like a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![LolaBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LolaBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaBaby)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-nicely-broach-the-subject-of-poorly-used-punctuation/108917/5 "2002-05-13T23:30:27Z")
Argh…bad coding…another reason why I usually say nothing to the person. I like editing typos I make all the time on other boards since we have the option. Here, I am anal enough to proofread most of my posts. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-nicely-broach-the-subject-of-poorly-used-punctuation/108917/6 "2002-05-14T14:38:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LolaBaby \* > …I kind of wonder how people can constantly communicate on a message board, read everyday, see the correct spelling of words and the correct usage of apostrophes, etc., and _yet_ **still** continue to misspell and commit other grammatical crimes. The problem, here, I believe is that message boards are so prevalent and so many people with bad writing skills (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) post to them that you can’t really use other people’s posts as guidelines for writing. Though I consider my self well-educated with reasonable writing skills, I still post with errors. Worse yet, the superfluous apostrophe is becoming more ubiqutous (wow, my tongue hurts :p). I see them in newspaper advertisments all of the time. I think the internet is just another tool for the dumbing down of America. And the type of people who make such careless mistakes are the least likely to infer a rule from other people’s postings. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-one-nicely-broach-the-subject-of-poorly-used-punctuation/108917/7 "2002-05-14T15:45:36Z")
Good, this thread isn’t about me. One e-mail will not correct their inability to punctuate, so in essence you would be telling the poster that they need to go back to school. Your post will not be sufficient motivation to make them do that. I’d just bear with it until whenever they ask if their punctuation bothers people (it happens sometimes), and then let them know while they’re open to criticism.