The Apostrophe Fight, Common Punctuation and Spelling Errors
When Did We Stop Caring About Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling?
What's wrong with the two sentences above? If you cannot find the error in the sentences above and I tell you, will you block my Associated Content or YouTube account, tell me you "don't care," tell me I'm "obsessed" and to "leave me the hell alone"? I ask because that's exactly what happened when I left a YouTube comment for user 80sCommercialVault.
I've been a freelance copyeditor for seven years and a professional copyeditor for four years. One thing I've always enjoyed about editing is learning how to make a sentence better, what doesn't work and finding out if I need to correct something. But I never imagined I'd get the response I did from this user by the name of Michael.
If you still haven't figured out what are the issues in the two sentences above, the description is misleading. The commercials from this user are from 1980 to 1989. But the user has "80's Commercials" as a description for the 14-part commercial series. When the apostrophe is after the "0," it means that the commercials are only going to be from 1980. When describing a decade, the apostrophe should go before the "8" (ex. '80s). Or, the decade should be typed as 1980s. This is a clear indication that the commercials will be from 1980 to 1989.
When I explained this to 80sCommercialVault, Michael's response was, "I don't care. I see it all the time so you're probably wrong." When did seeing a common punctuation error make it okay to do? I sighed and explained to Michael that that is why it's called a "common error." After leaving the correction on the video comments in hopes that he would correct this, I was blocked. He sent me a scathing message telling me I was obsessed and "I use 80's because it's 80's commercials." I sent e-mail links from sites like Purdue University to explain to him that I wasn't making this apostrophe error up. He told me to "leave me the hell alone," claimed he took AP Style and MLA Style as an English major, and "I know when to break the rules."
Am I obsessed with editing? I don't think so. Do I make editorial mistakes? Certainly, but when I do, I make a point of correcting them the next time. Did I go above and beyond to try to show him the error? Yes. Why? Initially I was trying to be helpful, but then I didn't appreciate being ignored for trying to be helpful and blown off as "probably wrong." Should I have let it be? Probably. Why didn't I? It bothers me when people are not willing to accept the fact that they may have made a mistake. Being in denial about making an editorial mistake that's easily fixable means you'll pass that information on to the next person. And the next person. And the person after that. This is how common punctuation errors and grammatical mistakes get started. Before you know it, they're so widely accepted that people are saying, "Damn what the grammar books say. We'll do it our way."
I also see this happening with the words "CDs" and "HBCUs." There shouldn't be an apostrophe after CDs unless there's a noun to describe something about the CD (ex. The CD's case is broken.). This describes one particular CD being broken instead of a group of CDs.
With HBCUs, there should only be an apostrophe if it's referring to something about one particular HBCU (ex. The HBCU's president wanted to talk to the board.). This example describes one historically black college or university (HBCU) that has a president who wants to talk to the board. When you're referring to a group of HBCUs or a collection of CDs, no apostrophe is necessary.
Check any AP Style Guide or Chicago Manual Style Guide to verify this information if you're skeptical. But please don't block someone and be furious about an editor trying to help you. Every time someone corrects you, it's not to make you look foolish. They may be trying to improve a product because they see the potential in it. Regardless of whether the issue is on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace or Twitter (please rescue me from trending topics determined to use "your" instead of "you're"), always try to do your best when it comes to punctuation and grammar. When you get too casual with spelling, grammar and punctuation, especially with text messages, before you know it, you really won't know when it's right or wrong. Nothing ruins an e-mail, article, book or paper more than one that's full of typos.
Other common errors on YouTube and Twitter:
you're = you are
your = ownership of something (ex. Your keyboard has crumbs in it. You're cleaning crumbs out of your keyboard.)
it's = it is
its = something belonging to another thing (ex. The dog chewed on its toy. It's a dog chewing on its toy.)
we're = we are
were = past tense of "to be" (I was trying to help. We were trying to help. -but not- We was trying to help.)
cannot = This is one word, not two.
a lot = This is two words, not one (ex. alot).
I come in editorial peace. No attacks over here.
Published by Shamontiel
Shamontiel is the author of "Round Trip" and "Change for a Twenty," and in mid-October became the Chicago Tribune's Digital News Editor. She works on National Travel, Health and occasionally Breaking News, a... View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentWow. This was informative. But I have to thank you for improving my writing as well. I took no offence at all. In fact I was a little embarrassed, but now I feel confident. There is nothing wrong with learning, from anyone that’s trying to help. The most important thing is that you recognize the error.
I was bothered that you were so hostile in your YouTube reply and hostile by e-mail when I was trying to help you. Your commercials were not from 1980. They were from the entire decade. I would've never posted the comment if you hadn't been so hostile about me giving you a heads-up. Instead of looking it up, you told me I'm wrong and you do it all the time. I think that's beyond heard-headed. It's just not logical to be proud of doing something wrong. But you told me to leave you alone so I did. As far as it being necessary, YES. Although you said you'll continue to make the same mistake because other people do it and you know "when to break the rules," I want to help those who really don't realize it's wrong. Contrary to your belief, not everybody is content giving out misinformation. Some may just not know. If we're really "done," let's be done then...as in two months ago, the last time I contacted you trying to help you.
I'm mostly bothered that you decided to drag a personal conversation elsewhere. I was forwarded this article by a friend only recently. My reply later to your youtube comment was after I had realized you had posted the same comment 15 different times on different videos! Was that really necessary? Or professional? Frankly, you deserved every ounce of my hostility. Done.
...hostile about it and frankly the ONLY one who I've ever observed be so hostile about it. I've always appreciated someone giving me a heads-up on something I'm doing wrong to IMPROVE. I guess some are cool with mediocrity. That's an internal issue that you will have to work out on your own. Two months ago, I moved on. Why you still continue to contact me although you don't care makes you sound like you just can't handle being wrong. It also makes you sound spoiled because someone didn't agree with you. It happens. Correct it. Move on.
...teachers then. Honestly, I'm over it. I left you alone like you asked. I posted this response as a heads-up for those who do care about giving out wrong information and punctual errors. You can do whatever you please. Writing it wrong all your life and being proud of doing it wrong simply because you don't care doesn't make it anymore right. It just makes you too proud to correct a mistake. Considering the amount of books and articles and professors who do try to teach correct punctuation, yes, they do. But here's what I don't get. If you don't care, why are you on this AC entry or STILL replying to YouTube comments when I left you alone two months ago when you told me not to contact you via e-mail. It sounds like you might care a little bit to me. I could be wrong. But at this point, my purpose is to help those who do. Your reaction was beyond belief. I've helped other writers and gotten thank you cards, thank you e-mails, and then they just don't make the error anymore. You were h
Michael, I don't think I behaved like a spoiled child, but I think it's a little strange that you're so annoyed about someone trying to give you a heads-up. My original comment on YouTube was to say that I didn't recognize the video. I made the comment about the apostrophe as a side note and thought nothing about it. But when you responded back in a hostile manner about how you don't care and I'm probably wrong, yes, that's when I did indeed leave all the comments. The e-mail was to try to HELP you because you were giving out misinformation. You told me to leave you alone and I did just that. Weeks later you replied AGAIN on YouTube still complaining about it. I'd said all I had to say. I'm actually disappointed that you take criticism so hard when it's intended to help you. When someone doesn't care about misinformation, that hurts their credibility. Instead of taking the time to see that I had a point, you started calling me a psycho for trying to HELP you. You must really hate teach
(Con't) And then she went on to write an article all about it without my knowledge where I'm portrayed as the antagonist. Hilarious. On the "80's" issue...I still don't care if it's incorrect. I've been writing decades like this all my life...and I'm not the only person who does this. If people have a problem with it, I guess it's their loss...it certainly isn't a concern of mine. And she asks when people stopped caring about stuff like this? The real question is...did they ever care?
I just thought I'd post my side of this story, since this woman thought it would be perfectly all right to publish sides of a personal conversation in one of her little articles and then completely leave out the part where she behaved like a spoiled child.
Her original post chastised me for this heinous and unforgivable grammatical error. The tone of this post was neither polite or convincing. I told her I didn't care, removed the comment, and went about my business. I returned an hour later to see that she had posted a similar comment on 15 of my videos in the span of about 10 minutes. To clarify, she posted the same comment on 15 videos, what is commonly called "comment spamming". This is ultimately the reason why she was blocked.
She then contacted me through my personal e-mail address, even after I had stated twice that I didn't care and that I wasn't changing anything. For the third time I had to tell this woman that I didn't care and to leave me alone. And then she went on to w
Hi Jody, for whatever reason, I missed this comment the first time around. Thank you for dropping by. I try not to correct people to the point of being annoying, but if I see something in writing I'll give that person a heads-up. But this guy was so furious about the correction that it made me wonder if he took it as bullying instead of helping.
Good piece. I also have a tendency to correct people, but mostly in person. The grammar errors that I see sometimes are quite frightening though!