The Death of the Apostrophe

[Apep 645]

Has anyone else noticed that the apostrophe appears to be dying out, at least when it comes to the possessive? And it’s not just the apostrophe, but the “s”, too.

 

It started with “baby momma”, it has spread to everything. “My mother boyfriend” or “my girlfriend son” and other aberrations now crop up in my Facebook feed with some regularity. While it was annoying, it is starting to grow on me. It is stripped down and functional, depending merely on the algebra of word order. Plus, while we lose some precision with the loss of that sibilance, we gain a wonderful opportunity for humor. “Mother girlfriend”? Lesbians or incest?

 

Anyone given it much thought?

[Fudge Nuggets 19224]

Taking grammar cues from Facebook seems dumb.

[Kennythetiger 9461]

What Fudge said.  I've even noticed that my iphone auto-corrects "e-mail" to "email".  Death of the hyphen too?

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4977]

I've noticed autocorrect trying to leave the apostrophe off of some words a lot lately. Especially y'all. It either wants to correct it to tall, or add an apostrophe after the A. And for some reason it has decided don't doesn't need one about half the time.

[alincoln 2385]

6 hours ago, Apep said:

 

Has anyone else noticed that the apostrophe appears to be dying out, at least when it comes to the possessive? And it’s not just the apostrophe, but the “s”, too.

 

It started with “baby momma”, it has spread to everything. “My mother boyfriend” or “my girlfriend son” and other aberrations now crop up in my Facebook feed with some regularity. While it was annoying, it is starting to grow on me. It is stripped down and functional, depending merely on the algebra of word order. Plus, while we lose some precision with the loss of that sibilance, we gain a wonderful opportunity for humor. “Mother girlfriend”? Lesbians or incest?

 

Anyone given it much thought?

 

Stop associating with the lower classes

[Native Horn 3515]

I mean youve got a point.

[G650 14277]

wat

[miguelito 11312]

I don't know, I still see lots of people add apostrophes when it is unnecessary.

[DoobieWah 1460]

1 minute ago, miguelito said:

I dont know, I still see lot's of people add apostrophe's when it is unnecessary.

FIFY

[The University 851]

*its'

[clapclapclap 9000]

Have you noticed a mini-pause for periods?

[conVINCEd 21469]

It seems that abbreviating things is the new norm.  I need an abbreviation guide to read the bourbon thread.

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

I'm more concerned about the misplacement of the apostrophe, for example:

ya'll instead of y'all.

 

 

 

 

 

[Brisketexan 105337]

The apostrophe fled from the land of the possessive, like a war refugee.  But it seems to have found a new home in the land of the plural, where people gleefully use it to make words plural, even though that's not at all what it does.

I think we can blame their mother's, father's, and teacher's for their grammatical shift.

[Bat Guano 359]

Language changes. If losing the possessive  's  works, that is, it's functional and doesn't confuse people too badly, it'll stick. Seems like it's on its way.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Apep said:

 

Has anyone else noticed that the apostrophe appears to be dying out, at least when it comes to the possessive? And it’s not just the apostrophe, but the “s”, too.

 

It started with “baby momma”, it has spread to everything. “My mother boyfriend” or “my girlfriend son” and other aberrations now crop up in my Facebook feed with some regularity. While it was annoying, it is starting to grow on me. It is stripped down and functional, depending merely on the algebra of word order. Plus, while we lose some precision with the loss of that sibilance, we gain a wonderful opportunity for humor. “Mother girlfriend”? Lesbians or incest?

 

Anyone given it much thought?

 

Oh I see plenty of apostrophe use. Really misuse. The above talk is poor uneducated idiot vernacular. 

[Bateshorn 9940]

I write formally every day and it's not going anywhere. On social media and texting?  Sure.  It's a generally unnecessary punctuation for e-slang.

Having said that, I'm a notorious abuser of apostrophe's online. 

 

Also, the thinly veiled racism of this post is noted.

Edited September 20, 2018 by Bateshorn

[Guest Lobo]

And then there's the semicolon, barely working to make ends meet.  Having to hustle the occasional bibliography just to make rent.  But then the internet comes along and he gets to separate  email addresses and gets involved in the winky face game.  

-Prof. Gulman, Dept. of English  

[woohorn 1131]

Also, the thinly veiled racism of this post is noted.

Do Obamaphones charge by the character?

[Shoxthemonkey 1983]

1 hour ago, clapclapclap said:

Have you noticed a mini-pause for periods?

The wife went through mini-pause several year's back but she's in full blown- pause now. It suck's but no period's.

[jimmyjazz 46131]

41 minutes ago, Bat Guano said:

Language changes. If losing the possessive  's  works, that is, it's functional and doesn't confuse people too badly, it'll stick. Seems like it's on its way.

I started to push back on this, but in reality, you have a point.  The rules governing the use of an apostrophe when it comes to plural, possessive, or contraction are in fact arbitrary.  Yes, we're comfortable with where that arbitrary line has been drawn, but that doesn't mean it couldn't shift.

Of course, I hate the idea, and get off my lawn.

[bernorange 8363]

9 hours ago, Apep said:

Has anyone else noticed that the apostrophe appears to be dying out,...

That's like, your opinion, man.

[deadshank 24653]

[Bat Guano 359]

14 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I started to push back on this, but in reality, you have a point.  The rules governing the use of an apostrophe when it comes to plural, possessive, or contraction are in fact arbitrary.  Yes, we're comfortable with where that arbitrary line has been drawn, but that doesn't mean it couldn't shift.

Of course, I hate the idea, and get off my lawn.

Yeah, I have a prescriptivist tendency too, but there's nothing anyone can do about it. That is, any one person can't change the usage habits of millions; it just doesn't work. Argue all you want about how grammatical or otherwise a particular construction is, it don't make a shit; if people use it that way, over time it will become standard. I was shocked and appalled recently when someone told me that using 'literally' to mean, basically, the opposite of what it really means, i.e. figuratively - the example he gave was something like, 'it was so hot that my face literally melted,'  has become an accepted alternate usage. It's literally wrong, but the meaning of the word is changing. Might as well try to hold back the tide.

[jimmyjazz 46131]

My response to that would be that so much of the English language is derivative (Latin, German, etc.) that when we flip the meaning of words we literally break the tie to their roots, and that's unacceptably confusing.  Red should never become blue.  "Literal" should never veer from "litteralis" (of letters).

[NameAlreadyInUse 5125]

Never fear, this guy is on the case!

Banksy of Punctuation

For the record, I fucking love this guy.

[Apep 645]

7 hours ago, Bateshorn said:

I write formally every day and it's not going anywhere. On social media and texting?  Sure.  It's a generally unnecessary punctuation for e-slang.

Having said that, I'm a notorious abuser of apostrophe's online. 

 

Also, the thinly veiled racism of this post is noted.

Sometimes, when you hear a dog whistle, it says more about you than about the other person. If you associate anything in my OP with one particular race, you either need to be exposed to a more diverse selection of the lower class and ignorant or stop associating being lower class and ignorant with one race.

[Longhorn Al 440]

AISD has the following labels on the bathroom doors at Burger Stadium:

Men's

Women'

 

[Longhorn Al 440]

1 hour ago, Apep said:

Sometimes, when you hear a dog whistle, it says more about you than about the other person. If you associate anything in my OP with one particular race, you either need to be exposed to a more diverse selection of the lower class and ignorant or stop associating being lower class and ignorant with one race.

I think it's just slang from hop hop culture.  That is not solely one race.  That culture is made up of every race.

What drives me crazy are the people who type like a text on every format.  Facebook posts with all the vowels missing.  Ex: "nd" = and.  Hate that with a passion.

[Apep 645]

I don't know if it is a part of hip hop culture. The most frequent users I see are lower class whites, mostly rednecks with little or no familiarity with hip hop.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4977]

It's not like there is any real need to abbreviate texts even. We have evolved past having to press a number three times for one letter.

[Updawg 2286]

I think it's uphauling

[Longhorn Al 440]

7 hours ago, Apep said:

I don't know if it is a part of hip hop culture. The most frequent users I see are lower class whites, mostly rednecks with little or no familiarity with hip hop.

Then it's a phenomenon that knows no bounds.  Because I typically see it on twitter with kids that only listen to hip hop.  Black/White/Asian, whatever.

[DaysOff 7975]

.

[El Diablo 4232]

Perhaps we're all moving towards Chomsky's universal grammar. 

[You don't know me 1161]

On 9/20/2018 at 1:09 AM, Apep said:

 

Has anyone else noticed that the apostrophe appears to be dying out, at least when it comes to the possessive? And it’s not just the apostrophe, but the “s”, too.

 

It started with “baby momma”, it has spread to everything. “My mother boyfriend” or “my girlfriend son” and other aberrations now crop up in my Facebook feed with some regularity. While it was annoying, it is starting to grow on me. It is stripped down and functional, depending merely on the algebra of word order. Plus, while we lose some precision with the loss of that sibilance, we gain a wonderful opportunity for humor. “Mother girlfriend”? Lesbians or incest?

 

Anyone given it much thought?

 

I'm personally a fan of multiple contractions. 

Couldn't've

Wouldn't've

The more the merrier.

If you're thinking that couldn't've's not a word, you can go fuck yourself.

[Macanudo 13012]

It is time to revisit the Oxford Comma?

[MrPhlegm 3413]

*its'

[MrPhlegm 3413]

Have you noticed a mini-pause for periods?

Again? Bitch, you gonna bleed to death.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4977]

On 9/21/2018 at 8:33 AM, You don't know me said:

I'm personally a fan of multiple contractions. 

Couldn't've

Wouldn't've

The more the merrier.

If you're thinking that couldn't've's not a word, you can go fuck yourself.

My favorite is y'all'd've.

[KaiserSoze 998]

It is time to revisit the Oxford Comma?

Nope

[futureman 22546]

only a handful of the most brilliant minds on the planet can fully grasp the scope of lie/lay.  

[futureman 22546]

in fact I’d venture a guess that the word “lay” is misused more than any other single word.  “I’m gonna go lay down” ... “I laid down on the floor” ... “I’m laying in bed with your mother” ... all incorrect.  

I think when news anchors make grammatical mistakes they should be fined.  or at least the person typing for the teleprompter.  

[achooloco 1086]

On 9/20/2018 at 11:29 AM, Bat Guano said:

Yeah, I have a prescriptivist tendency too, but there's nothing anyone can do about it. That is, any one person can't change the usage habits of millions; it just doesn't work. Argue all you want about how grammatical or otherwise a particular construction is, it don't make a shit; if people use it that way, over time it will become standard. I was shocked and appalled recently when someone told me that using 'literally' to mean, basically, the opposite of what it really means, i.e. figuratively - the example he gave was something like, 'it was so hot that my face literally melted,'  has become an accepted alternate usage. It's literally wrong, but the meaning of the word is changing. Might as well try to hold back the tide.

fuck those people, they're wrong. you'll never convince me otherwise. if they use "literally" incorrectly I just consider them uneducated/ignorant and move on to other topics of conversation they may be more adept at handling, like walking and chewing gum at the same time.

as for apostrophes, they don't use them in swedish so i've found myself leaving them out in english sometimes. it makes sense in my head when i proofread but i can see how others would be confused and think i meant the word to be plural instead of possessive.

[FondrenRoad 4378]

Textspeak will end up killing us all. Still, if you turn in a paper without proper grammar, you are going to get a lower grade. 

[Bat Guano 359]

On 9/29/2018 at 1:05 AM, futureman said:

in fact I’d venture a guess that the word “lay” is misused more than any other single word.  “I’m gonna go lay down” ... “I laid down on the floor” ... “I’m laying in bed with your mother” ... all incorrect.  

I think when news anchors make grammatical mistakes they should be fined.  or at least the person typing for the teleprompter.  

 

[futureman 22546]

yeah and lay down sally too