I Will Forgive Them For Their Apostrophe Abuse

[gnomi]

Because their iPhone app is so brilliant. Free for a limited time, they say.

(They use the name "Email 'n Walk." They've got smart quotes turned on, so their apostrophe is upside-down. Also, they should have apostrophes on both sides of the n. I also would prefer they use a dash in "E-mail," but that's a matter for style guides to fight out.)

(Thanks to Universal Hub for the heads-up.)

Comments

[madfilkentist]

Aggh! Apple lists an application which encourages people to walk down the street with their faces buried in an iPhone, but refuses one which lets people put their face into a picture of Jesus? That's insane.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

COOL. I think J could use that, stat.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Scary to say, I know a *lot* of people who could use it.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Er, I broke my glasses when I was eleven when I walked into a lamp post in St. Andrews, Scotland. We had to fix it with bandaids and bobby pins until new frames were made.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I can totally relate -- I used to walk into things (trash cans, other students) while in high school because I would read while walking down the corridor. I was usually good about missing obstacles, but occasionally I'd either be distracted by a particularly intriguing section of prose or an obstacle would come out of nowhere.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

THOSE SILLY OBSTACLES.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I *know*! Shouldn't they know I'm *reading*?

[thesilia.livejournal.com]

i love grammar nerdity! if i had an iphone i'd go check it out. :)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm very much about the grammar nerdity. :-)

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

We need one that allows Text 'n' Walk, not just Email.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Though that might lead to Text 'n' Drive, which is just a Bad Place to go.

". . . up with which I shall not put."

[(Anonymous)]

Alas, distracted by the faulty punctuation, you have ended a sentence with a preposition. I suggest: "... but that's a matter for style guides to resolve."

This reminds me of a tale about a lighthouse keeper and his wife who lived on a remote island. The keeper was an avid reader, but his wife, who liked to maintain a neat lighthouse, grew weary of finding his books scattered about the beacon room in disarray. Accordingly, she insisted he keep all his books in a separate, one-room building situated at the foot of the lighthouse. Thus, it came as a great surprise to the keeper one day when he returned from an inspection tour of the island, climbed the spiral staircase to the beacon room, and discovered his wife leafing through the pages of his "Illustrated Encylopedia of Australian Flora and Fauna." In consternation he demanded, "What did you bring that book about Down Under in up around from out below for?"


STEVE O.

Re: ". . . up with which I shall not put."

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

In informal writing (and in formal writing when it would otherwise sound awkward), I have no problem ending sentences with prepositions. I'd rather not do verbal gymnastics when my point is clearly made anyway.

And I have always enjoyed the tale of the lighthouse keeper and his wife.