Klarinet Archive - Posting 000072.txt from 2000/12

From: Gary Truesdail <gir@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] War of the Tony`s
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 01:42:51 -0500

Uh, oh. Now the secret is out. You have now told the world the real reason
the US colonists left England and felt strongly enough to have a war over it.
The Brits spent too much time sorting out global geography and not enough time
sorting out the rules for their own language.

rgarrett@-----.edu wrote:

> At 02:23 PM 12/1/00 -0700, you wrote:
> >This is really fun. I am enjoying your discussions over the use of
> >apostrophies. I drank too much beer last night and this conversation
> >just brightened up my day! ANNIE
>
> Annie,
>
> Then you'll love the response I had all cooked up! Neil already changed
> his mind, so I wasn't going to post, but then you said it brightened your
> day (collective groan from the list), so here goes:
>
> The primary issue here is whether or not proper nouns are different from
> any other nouns with respect to how their plurals are formed. Not one of
> the grammar-related books in my office, including the MLA Handbook, several
> general purpose handbooks, and two grammars, makes any distinction between
> plurals and other nouns with respect to this issue.
>
> Therefore, the same rules apply to _Tony_ as to any other English noun. To
> form the plural of a noun ending in _y_ with no vowel immediately before
> the _y_, drop the _y_ and add _ies_--in this case, _Tonies_.
>
> Using the word attorney (sorry Kevin!), the plural would be attorneys, but
> the rule is different because there's a vowel before the y. Similarly, the
> plural of _day_ is not _daies_ but _days_. But the plural of _pony_ is
> _ponies_.
>
> An apostrophe is not merely a grammatical device to denote the possessive
> case in the English language, nor merely for grammatical correctness in the
> cases of contractions and ommisions.
> It is true that, according to *some* handbooks, some plurals are indeed
> formed with an apostrophe. The most common instances of this usage are
> plurals of letters, numbers, and unusual characters: "Say goodbye to the
> 1990's." "You can't have two _@-----." "There are three
> _s_'s in sassafras." However, both the MLA and the APA now recommend
> omitting the apostrophe in forming the plural of numbers and letters. There
> are different conventions of usage, in other words, but, these days, I
> personally would use an apostrophe to form the plural of a noun only when
> not doing so would be confusing (as in the "s's in sassafras" example
> above, but NOT in the case of the "1990's" example, which should more
> properly be "1990s").
>
> Isn't the list fun? Who was it wanted only clarinet tips and info?????
>
> Happy weekend everyone.
>
> Sincerely,
> Roger Garrett
>
> Roger Garrett
> Assistant Professor of Clarinet
> Director, Symphonic Winds
> Head, Recording Studio
> Illinois Wesleyan University
> School of Music
> Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
> (309) 556-3268
>
> "A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes
> another's."
> Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825)
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
> Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
> Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
> Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org