Question for the grammar police

[i_like_lectric_motors]

I think the apostrophe simply replaces the missing letter, i.e. take the "o" out of "are not", replace with an apostrophe, and you have "aren't".

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Results:
Too much damage done. Go away. [78%] 63 votes
Yah! Kimiiii is back! Hip hip hooray! [22%] 18 votes

[phillyidol]

OH! So now Blir is against Gypsies?! Bwahahahaha Back to the basement I go...with my pie charts and graphs.

[design_femme]

I am totally [i]confuzzled.[/i]

[KYYX4ever]

[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
<br>I think the apostrophe simply replaces the missing letter, i.e. take the "o" out of "are not", replace with an apostrophe, and you have "aren't".
[/quote]

This is correct. An apostrophe replaces the missing letter. That also clears up your earlier post where you'd spelled "hasn't" like "has'nt" but I thought you were joking.

Not to marv, but to anybody who cares: an easy way to choose [i]its/ it's[/i] correctly is to "replace" [i]it is[/i] if you're ever going to use the apostrophe. If you don't know if it should be [i]it's[/i] or not, use the long form.

[i][b]It is[/b] madness like this that takes years off my life.
----"it is" -> "it's"
[b]It's[/b] madness like this that takes years off my life[/i]

The possessive form of "it" has no apostrophe, which sacriflies (thanks motors!) in the face of what we all learned for possessives: use an apostrophe ([i] marv's post, Blir's stats, etc.)
The monster's claw --> its claw[/i]

[MARV]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
<br>I think the apostrophe simply replaces the missing letter, i.e. take the "o" out of "are not", replace with an apostrophe, and you have "aren't".
[/quote]

This is correct. An apostrophe replaces the missing letter. That also clears up your earlier post where you'd spelled "hasn't" like "has'nt" but I thought you were joking.[/quote]

OK, got it.

[quote]Not to marv, but to anybody who cares: an easy way to choose [i]its/ it's[/i] correctly is to "replace" [i]it is[/i] if you're ever going to use the apostrophe. If you don't know if it should be [i]it's[/i] or not, use the long form.

[i][b]It is[/b] madness like this that takes years off my life.
----"it is" -> "it's"
[b]It's[/b] madness like this that takes years off my life[/i]

The possessive form of "it" has no apostrophe, which sacriflies (thanks motors!) in the face of what we all learned for possessives: use an apostrophe ([i] marv's post, Blir's stats, etc.)
The monster's claw --> its claw[/i]
[/quote]

OK, got that too. But it sure is going to feel weird not putting that apostrophe there anymore. You know when you've been doing something your whole life? Thanks KYYXie!

Now what about Blir's gross use of the word "yuz"? We all know that the proper spelling is "yous", as in "all of yous" not be confused with Hutter's "all o' y'all" [:p]

<a href="http://marvymarv.multiply.com/">[i]You on the guestlist?[/i]</a>

[Rubbeet921]

[quote][i]Originally posted by MikeP[/i]
<br>Rubbeet: seriously - stay on topic and drop it already. Stop allowing your personal battles to spill over into the next available thread.

So much for Happy Holidays, eh?[xx(] Carry on grammar cops.

[/quote]

Ahem, maybe I was too sleepy last night that I couldn't stop myself from getting pissed off with Blir's endless sideways jabs.

I APOLOGIZE to EVERYONE.

You all know I come to this section for a laugh and I want it to stay like that. Just please leave me the fuck alone coz it's NOT FUNNY AT ALL.

Btw, it's "Gossipmonger Gang"!

Eight6, you just failed in reporting to your cohorts what it means. I didn't know you weren't paying attention. What a disappointment![;)] (a winkie for you, baybee!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! (and I really mean it this time![:I])

[eight6]

Note to self: Buy more daggers.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/dbince/eight.gif"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/dbince/number6.gif">

Need a thread locked? Call me.

[ExRat]

[quote][i]Originally posted by marvymarv[/i]

Now what about Blir's gross use of the word "yuz"? We all know that the proper spelling is "yous", as in "all of yous" not be confused with Hutter's "all o' y'all" [:p]

<a href="http://marvymarv.multiply.com/">[i]You on the guestlist?[/i]</a>
[/quote]

In Western Pennsylvania it's "Yinz":

"Where are yinz going?"

"How are yinz doing?"

It's supposed to be the plural of "you" to denote more than one person and is sort of the equivalent of the South's "Y'all" or New Yorker's "Yous".

This actually makes sense (to me, at least) that English language speakers try to resolve the grammatically nonexistent way of addressing more than one person in present tense, such as you do with more than one individual - [i]they, them, their[/i].

I actually had a lot of trouble initially trying to understand this. I am therefore OK with all of the "yinzes" and "y'alls" and "yous" because, even though it may not be grammatically correct, it makes sense to many non-native speakers.

When I was little, I was the bane of my tutor's existence because I absolutely could [i]not[/i] comprehend this; Is there no such thing as "thems"? Why do you not say "yous" when addressing more than one person and only say "you"? There is more than [i]one[/i] of them. They explained, but I am still occasionally befuddled by it.

[phillyidol]

I'm testing my new signature.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/dbince/tinhat.gif">

[hutter]

[quote][i]Originally posted by phillyidol[/i]
<br>I'm testing my new signature.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/dbince/tinhat.gif">

[/quote]
You figured it out! Cool.

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h197/troylowe/twinspin.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a> The Twins...get to know them! http://nealsnow.multiply.com/tag/twins

[KYYX4ever]

[quote][i]Originally posted by ExRat[/i]
<br>There is more than [i]one[/i] of them. They explained, but I am still occasionally befuddled by it.
[/quote]

I know exactly what you are saying. The English language is WEIRD, full of strange and complicated grammar and spelling rules. Part of it is that we are a "garbage" language, in the sense that we've picked up words from a variety of other languages--Greek, Latin, German, Old English, Native American--and sometimes we've changed the spellings and sometimes we haven't. The English language also was profoundly affected by the invention of movable type/ printing press. When that came around, English speakers at the time were like "my god, we need some grammar around here", and an attempt was also made to simplify spelling rules. Some were changed and some weren't. "Knight" is a good example. Remember that scene out of [i]Monty Python and the Holy Grail[/i] where the French guy made fun of "all you silly k-niggets". They really used to pronounce every single letter. Eventually, silent letters came about to preserve the old spellings.
*sorry, I'll stop geeking. This is what I'm studying for my eventual Masters / PhD--the history of our grammar and language*

This is something cool I like to show people: this list:
through
though
cough
rough
plough
hiccough

6 words, all ending in the same "-ough" spelling----WITH 6 DIFFERENT PRONUNCIATIONS ! Crazy and very cool, eh ? No wonder folks who learn English as a Second Language get confused !