So, here’s my dilemna…
Husband’s family is having a family reunion. In emails that are circulating for the reunion they keep referring to it as a gathering of the Smith’s (not his real last name).
I’ve only been married to him for 4 years. Will I be immediately ostracized if I point out there should be no apostrophe if the word is just plural? Or will they forgive me?
I have to know because they’re all doing it and with each email it’s bugging me more and more.
:: spits on the ground ::
Clear?
If it were my family, you’d be immediately ostracized. Which is exactly why I point out such minor infractions. Then I won’t have to speak to any of 'em for at least three or four years. YMMV.
If you are, you’re in good company. 
Seriously though, I’m glad I’m not the only one who has noticed this mysterious condition I call Internet Dyslexia, where it seems every single person on messageboards with atrocious spelling will claim to have Dyslexia, some unspecified Learning Disorder, or claim that actually English isn’t their first language. Especially when it clearly isn’t true.
Yes, there are people out there with Dyslexia and Learning Disorders. But not that many when compared to the grand sum of Internet Users. And in my experience, people who have “formally” learnt English as a second language are usually better at picking up on things like your/you’re and not using “rediculous” than English speakers.
It is quite common for people to pronounce ridiculous, rediculous. That is why they spell it that way.
Pronounce, maybe. I guess if they’ve never read a friggin’ book that makes sense.
And your point is?
People pronounce laugh “laff”. That doesn’t mean it’s the standard spelling.
I’m wondering if I was the inspiration for this pitting this time. I posted a question in GQ on the same day. I spelled “brakes” correctly each time in the first half of the post, then pooched it in the second half. I don’t know why.
And I can recall correcting the misspellings as I made them in my follow-up post. I don’t generally make that kind of mistake. Sorry.
My daughter-in-law just posted on Facebook that she likes Burbon… Surely that’s justifiable homocide?
Haven’t you heard of carriage breaks?
Ehm… you know, explaining to most people that “‘brake’ is what you use to stop your car, ‘break’ is when your car needs to go to the mechanic” would be a lot faster than trying to get them to read a sentence including the word “malapropism.” Specially given that over 90% of the people I see making that kind of mistakes are foreigners, often under 25 (mind you, 99% of the ones who answer with “who the fuck cares?” appear to be English-as-single-language).
It’s crimsoniculous.
Again, reading != spelling.
But I’m sure you admit that there are circumstances where the comma after the penultimate item in the list is necessary to avoid confusion (e.g., with particularly complex list items), yes? So if there are some circumstances where you would use the comma, why not use it all the time?
Also, how do you deal with something like this:
Does the person have two children, Mary and God, or is the book dedicated to the children **and **Mary **and **God? By your standard, there’s no way of knowing for sure.
I think you are one of those journalistic heathens clinging to outdated standards set when an extra .0000000001 of an inch of space was a rare and precious thing.
ETA:
Reading != spelling, but the more you read, especially at an early age, the better your spelling will be. Same with mainstream grammar–I knew that constructions “looked wrong” or “looked right” way before I learned them in school.
Maybe she was just really drunk.
Exactly my point. Not only do I believe with you, but I believe you are correct with a high rate of accuracy!
-Joe
Maybe it’s a new flavor from Cinnabon?
Heh, heh. I think this is a meta-joke. At least I hope so!
It is. Read the four words right after the bit you bolded.
It is. I notice you didn’t catch “without further adieu” (it’s supposed to be “ado”). Shame, shame.
Does this mean I got half-whooshed, or whoo-ed?