Apostrophe crimes

Talk about anything but keep it polite and reasonably clean.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23980
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

mcoulson wrote: 13:51 Sun 10 Nov 2024
jdaw1 wrote: 13:37 Sun 10 Nov 2024My food correct. A pedant might suggest that it should be “Alex (pommy42)” rather than “Pommy42 (Alex)”, and “BRPetrie” rather than “BRP”.
For the sake of the well being of any pedant's and that they may sleep well at night I have correcting this hideous organisational offence ..... :lol:
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23980
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

In Streatham, on Telford Avenue, at ///atom.lifts.couches, on the road:
Image

Yes, an apostrophe can indicate missing letters. And the word “Roundabout” has been abbreviated by the omission of four letters, all vowels, none of which are where the apostrophe is.
PhilW
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3606
Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
Location: Near Cambridge, UK

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by PhilW »

jdaw1 wrote:In Streatham, on Telford Avenue, at ///atom.lifts.couches, on the road:
Image

Yes, an apostrophe can indicate missing letters. And the word “Roundabout” has been abbreviated by the omission of four letters, all vowels, none of which are where the apostrophe is.
That did, in fact, make me laugh out loud! For goodness' sake!
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23980
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

PhilW wrote: 22:08 Tue 12 Nov 2024That did, in fact, make me laugh out loud! For goodness' sake!
Agreed: schoolboy error.
User avatar
Alex Bridgeman
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15349
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Schl’by er’rr, surely?
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
PhilW
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3606
Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
Location: Near Cambridge, UK

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by PhilW »

Alex Bridgeman wrote: 00:30 Wed 13 Nov 2024 Schl’by er’rr, surely?
Have you been drinking? And don't call me Shirley.
akzy
Warre’s Otima 10 year old Tawny
Posts: 555
Joined: 21:42 Tue 13 Nov 2018
Location: Three Bridges

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by akzy »

In Romania...
20241130_172610.jpg
20241130_172610.jpg (236.71 KiB) Viewed 550 times
I've been told that the Romanian language doesn't even use a'postrophes.
MigSU
Warre’s Otima 20 year old Tawny
Posts: 727
Joined: 13:22 Wed 17 Feb 2021
Location: Douro Valley

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by MigSU »

Portuguese doesn't use them either. Well, almost doesn't. There are some niche uses.
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4324
Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Glenn E. »

MigSU wrote: 17:09 Sat 30 Nov 2024 Portuguese doesn't use them either. Well, almost doesn't. There are some niche uses.
Yes, but Portuguese makes up for its lack of apostrophes by having 12 (ish) accented vowels plus an accented consonant for good measure.

á, é, í, ó, ú, â, ê, ô, ã, õ, à, and rarely ò (though I haven't seen this one yet). And apparently the language used to also have è, ì, and ù.

The consonant is, of course, ç. My understanding is that ñ is only used in Spanish.
Glenn Elliott
MigSU
Warre’s Otima 20 year old Tawny
Posts: 727
Joined: 13:22 Wed 17 Feb 2021
Location: Douro Valley

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by MigSU »

Glenn E. wrote: 20:22 Mon 02 Dec 2024
MigSU wrote: 17:09 Sat 30 Nov 2024 Portuguese doesn't use them either. Well, almost doesn't. There are some niche uses.
Yes, but Portuguese makes up for its lack of apostrophes by having 12 (ish) accented vowels plus an accented consonant for good measure.

á, é, í, ó, ú, â, ê, ô, ã, õ, à, and rarely ò (though I haven't seen this one yet). And apparently the language used to also have è, ì, and ù.

The consonant is, of course, ç. My understanding is that ñ is only used in Spanish.
You are correct on all counts. Impressive.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23980
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

Glenn E. wrote: 20:22 Mon 02 Dec 2024The consonant is, of course, ç.
Poças.

The e macron, as in Croft Sērikos, isn’t proper Portuguese.
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4324
Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Glenn E. »

What's "fun" is that the only use I've seen (so far) for à is as an abreviation for... "a a". Yes, they shorten 2 x 'a' to just 'à', but only when the two letters are different words.
Glenn Elliott
User avatar
Alex Bridgeman
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15349
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

MigSU wrote: 17:09 Sat 30 Nov 2024 Portuguese doesn't use them either. Well, almost doesn't. There are some niche uses.
Perhaps a lot more when spoken than when written? Such as “….de ir”, which is only ever spoken as “…d’ir”. Caused me lots of confusion at first.

But no more confusion than the usual Portuguese practice of only saying half the syllables in a sentence. Or inventing syllables which aren’t in a sentence.

“O que estudas português?” is normally spoken as “Oo kek stoodas português?” Honestly! And people say English is a difficult language to master!!
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
MigSU
Warre’s Otima 20 year old Tawny
Posts: 727
Joined: 13:22 Wed 17 Feb 2021
Location: Douro Valley

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by MigSU »

Alex Bridgeman wrote: 00:31 Wed 04 Dec 2024
MigSU wrote: 17:09 Sat 30 Nov 2024 Portuguese doesn't use them either. Well, almost doesn't. There are some niche uses.
Perhaps a lot more when spoken than when written? Such as “….de ir”, which is only ever spoken as “…d’ir”. Caused me lots of confusion at first.

But no more confusion than the usual Portuguese practice of only saying half the syllables in a sentence. Or inventing syllables which aren’t in a sentence.

“O que estudas português?” is normally spoken as “Oo kek stoodas português?” Honestly! And people say English is a difficult language to master!!
Yes, those were the niche uses that came to mind - the change from «de/do/da» to «d'». There are a few written ones - Borda d'Água is a well known publication in Portugal - but you're absolutely right that, were we to write as we speak, there would be thousands of examples.

I agree that the relative disconnect between the written and the spoken language is probably a nightmare to anyone trying to get at least a small grasp of the language :?
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4324
Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by Glenn E. »

Alex Bridgeman wrote: 00:31 Wed 04 Dec 2024 “O que estudas português?” is normally spoken as “Oo kek stoodas português?” Honestly! And people say English is a difficult language to master!!
Brazilian is much more... sensible? It doesn't just add 'sh' to the ends of words randomly, and leading/trailing vowels are usually still pronounced.

Your example above would be "oh keh estoodas português" but... also wouldn't be said that way in the first place. That reads as "what you study Portuguese?" to me, with "tu" before "estudas" implied. If you want to ask someone if they study Portuguese, it would just be "você estuda Português" or "tu estudas Português".

Setúbal is "SCHTOOble" in Portuguese but "seTOOble" in Brazilian.
Glenn Elliott
MigSU
Warre’s Otima 20 year old Tawny
Posts: 727
Joined: 13:22 Wed 17 Feb 2021
Location: Douro Valley

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by MigSU »

This has now become the unofficial Portuguese language thread.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23980
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Post by jdaw1 »

MigSU wrote: 09:12 Wed 04 Dec 2024This has now become the unofficial Portuguese language thread.
It is a friendlier use for this thread.

But still, we are all at ever-present risk. Use them well.
Post Reply