formulae vs. formula??

[Todd Bardoni]

The apostrophe is just SO stupid! The only rational argument I hear in the apostrophe's defense is that it helps to clarify the meaning of the message to the reader. However, this is such a bogus argument. We don't use the apostrophe in spoken English and the receiver still gets the message...so why would the receiver not understand it just because its written?

 

[tails]

The apostrophe is just SO stupid! The only rational argument I hear in the apostrophe's defense is that it helps to clarify the meaning of the message to the reader.

I see an apostrophe in that sentance... lol. We need to to clarrify to the reader because they are not hearing the words come out of your mouth. You can tell what people are talking about by what they say before and after it, and how they say it. Different ways of saying thing can lead to the use of the apostrophe or not. tone does a lot to the english language

Also, we dont use question marks when talking to people. we dont use commas, we dont use full stops. so why put them in text? well a question mark defines a question, if you read a book and they ask a question but dont have a question mark in it then would u suspect it was a statement or a question?

 

[Todd Bardoni]

The apostrophe is just SO stupid! The only rational argument I hear in the apostrophe's defense is that it helps to clarify the meaning of the message to the reader.

I see an apostrophe in that sentance... lol. We need to to clarrify to the reader because they are not hearing the words come out of your mouth. You can tell what people are talking about by what they say before and after it, and how they say it. Different ways of saying thing can lead to the use of the apostrophe or not. tone does a lot to the english language

Also, we dont use question marks when talking to people. we dont use commas, we dont use full stops. so why put them in text? well a question mark defines a question, if you read a book and they ask a question but dont have a question mark in it then would u suspect it was a statement or a question?

well, i see that u dont always use capitalization when always appropriate, or even whole words like "you". so, because of these errors in grammar, i guess i need u to clarify what u mean since there is just no way of knowing. i suppose i should clarify what i mean here 2 since theres just no way 2 noe.

and i never said enything about question marks or periods or commas. i am strictly speaking of the useless apostrophe.

 

[tails]

well thats fair enough but the use of the apostrophe can come just as useful as every other bit of punctuation. It is all needed in text to define diffent things people say. You say that i dont use capitalisation or even whole words, YOU dont need to when talking (writing) to people like this. There's no point to get picky with every minor detail. You did understand what i meant, well you must have because you replied to it. Yes i do use words like u to describe you, it doesn't really matter. As long as people understand it. I wouldn't write a book or a poem using those words. but when i can i dont even think about it i just do it. There are many more people use it, you probably think we're inane but it doesn't matter. i'm like still young and i can proberly say you did the same thing at the age i am. I'm not trying to sound harsh but its true there are so many people that do it. As long as something is understood then it shouldn't matter but there will be times when the apostrophe will be needed. I cant think of anything off the top of my head but there will be a time we're you may write something and someone wont understand it because there is no apostrophe's in the sentance. i can see where your coming from but there is and will be need for the apostrophe. If we're going to talk about useless puncuation then why not get rid of slashes yeah you can go s/he and things like that but cant you just type things like he or she etc. and why not get rid of & and then again get rid of % and just type in percent and get rid of $ and type in dollars. Everything has a purpose.

 

[Todd Bardoni]

But that's my point, the apostrophe doesn't serve a practical purpose. The only reason it is used is because of the old cliche, "it has always been done that way." Yeah, and Man used to run around in a loin cloth hunting with sharp sticks and stones. But, eventually more efficient ways to hunt came about and we left the useless sticks and stones behind. It is time to move on from this nonsense as well.

Death to the apostrophe!


hehehe

 

[tails]

Removing things from the english language can become very inefficient. We have used the apostrophe for so long we might as well keep it. It would be like changing socks to pants. You can change it but it will cause mass confusion to us all. there will be people who can pick up on it straight away but there will be a lot of people that will not be able to stop using it. Plus the apostrophe allows us to shorten words from do not to don't and things like that. So maybe it is worth keeping.

 

[Babydum]

Recommended reading:

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss.

 

[Norie]

Formulae all the way.

 

[Zack Barresse]

Formula.

 

[scrupul0us]

How my simply question morphed into this thread... lol... i cant help but laugh