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Re: [OM] the war is over, they won

Subject: Re: [OM] the war is over, they won
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2019 12:10:25 -0800
On 12/10/2019 3:39 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
MIke, Mike, don’t give up!

The chap is intending to run a website (he was on the BBC Radio 4 on Sunday), 
educational and campaigning in one place, to continue the advocacy for the 
correct/appropriate/sensible use of the apostrophe.

The fight goes on!

I do wonder sometimes . . .

"Although some tribes were closely related to their neighbors and shared many traditions, most tribes had very distinct ethnic identities and followed their own customs. Neighboring tribes often built different style houses, wore their hair in different styles, and even advertised their tribal affiliation with their dental patterns. For instance, traditional Bashilele lived in rectangular houses, knocked out their two front teeth, and wore their hair in a closely cropped natural style. Traditional Bapende, on the other hand, lived in round houses, filed their teeth to points, and sculpted their hair into pointed mounds by adding clay."

From The Witch Doctor's Wife, by Tamar Myers, who grew up deep in the bush in 
the Congo.

Yes, proper use of apostrophes does make for less ambiguity in writing, although in most cases, the meaning is clear, anyway. And how is it that we get along in spoken English, with plurals and possessives sans apostrophes?

To what extent may efforts to maintain existing rules in an ever changing language be an effort to keep people from abandoning, and thus diminishing, MY group, in which I feel safe and comfortable?

Me? I am careful in my use of apostrophes, but not interested in going to war over them. How many in humans' endless history of wars happened over things just as  minimally important?

But COMMAS! Commas are important, if only because they can cost money. <https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180723-the-commas-that-cost-companies-millions>

I have a similar, but much older, story. We ended up in the Arizona Supreme Court over the meaning of placement of a comma in a contract. We won, but with an admonition that we would not prevail if the same issue came up again. We did end up removing that comma from our standard form agreement.

It's original placement, by the way, was intentional, by a very clever attorney 
who ended up as an Executive VP and CFO.

Grammatically yours,
    Moose



Chris

On 10 Dec 2019, at 01:06, Mike Lazzari <watershed1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50692797>

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What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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