My column from April 29, 2017.
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I need to get something off my chest.
The misuse of sky commas drives me batty.
Sky commas, you ask?
I’m talking about apostrophes and quotation marks.
I acknowledge that I qualify as a grammar nerd. I love to
read and live to write. By no means is my own grammar, spelling, punctuation
(or even pronunciation) perfect. I make mistakes and miss typos. And sometimes
those who edit my work may miss something too. I appreciate readers (often my
mother) who send me a message pointing out the errors. Once my mortification
fades I can at least fix the online version of a story, column or Facebook
post. Twitter keeps promising the option to edit a tweet, but has yet to
deliver.
Ask anyone who learns English as a second (or more)
language, and they’ll tell you how complicated it can be compared to other
languages thanks to idioms, heteronyms (words spelled the same with different
meanings and pronunciations), tense changes and more. Still, English does not
even make the top 10 list of most difficult-to-learn languages such as
Mandarin, Finnish, Arabic, Korean, Basque, Icelandic, Navajo, Japanese and
Polish.
My grammar nerd pet peeves include using the wrong version
of to, too, or two, their, there or they’re, who’s and whose, your and you’re.
Also on the list are abbreviations or text message shortcuts (especially in
professional correspondence or online dating profiles).Punctuation errors also
make me cringe.
The double “sky” commas – quotation marks – set off
word-for-word quotations, and components such as book, album, song or show
titles, and even the titles of TV series episodes, article or essay titles and
short story or poem titles and the names of works of art. Some use italics for
this instead. When identifying a quote within a quotation, use single quotation
marks.
Quotations marks can also be used to set apart technical
terms or something used sarcastically. Readers may be familiar with the “air”
quote marks gesture – the index and middle fingers on each hand extended and
twitched—often employed ironically or to use a word or expression in a way that
varies from standard usage.
While visiting a restaurant recently, I noticed a disturbing
use of quotation marks on the menu. Perhaps the person who designed the menu
wanted to call special attention to “fresh” or “homemade” for the food available,
but seeing “Fresh” fish on a menu makes me question the veracity of the claim.
Lesson learned — do not use quotation marks to show emphasis or the message
sent may not be one you wished to deliver.
The apostrophe (the single sky comma ’) shows possession to
a singular noun when used with an S (the cat’s toy). An apostrophe does not
make a regular noun plural. “Apostrophe’s are confusing” is wrong – it should
be apostrophes. Apostrophes help build contractions – with the apostrophe
replacing the letter or letters removed—thus cannot becomes can’t, they are
become they’re and did not becomes didn’t. If you need to form a plural of
lowercase letters, you can use apostrophes. The phrase “Mind your Ps and Qs”
dates back to the early days of printing presses when letters were set in
presses backwards to appear on the printed page correctly. While the phrase
origin remains disputed, today the phrase means “Be careful, don’t make a
mistake.”
But we are human and make mistakes. If you are not sure
about a word or punctuation rule, do what I try to do.
Look it up.
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