Pet hates

[filecore]

Pizza's, CD's, tape's, car's, potato's, coffee's.

My pet hate :) the horribly abused apostrophe.

You can say, for example

The cat's out of the bag

You can also say

The cat's feet are out of the bag

You cannot say

All the cat's are out of the bag

Now I realise that there are a lot of foreigners around (and I use this term in this context to refer to people whose native language isn't English).  So I direct this at native speakers, who should have no excuse.

The apostrophe is used for two main things - contraction and possession. Contraction is when a word is squished up and some letters are replaced by an apostrophe, as when it is becomes it's, there is becomes there's, and that is becomes that's.

With a possessive word, the apostrophe signifies a possession: belonging to filecore is filecore's, belonging to Britain becomes Britain's, belonging to the website becomes the website's.

What we do not do is put apostrophes on a pluralised word. We do not say there are three cat's, or that there are some carrot's, or even Britain has had lots of Prime Minister's. For the sake of literate communication, please, please, get it right!

What other pet hates are there?

[alchemi2]

People who pick up and publise spelling,grammer or punctuation mistakes on internet message boards.

It's like being back at school or doing exams. ;D

[Andrew]

I am as hungry as a horse.

???

[filecore]

People who pick up and publise spelling,grammer or punctuation mistakes on internet message boards.

It's like being back at school or doing exams. ;D

Nah it's nuffin' to do with BBSes, it's just one of my own little things.  I also do it in, er, what's that thing called that we have to do work and study in, you know, the thing that's not the internet?  Begins with an R...

[Andrew]

Ahh.

I like its and it's

[Dante]

Maybe it's a form of philosophy.

Stupidity. I hate, abhor, dislike, distain... I truly loathe wilful idiocy or illogical behaviour. The examples are far too numerous to mention and cover just about every other smaller subclass of things that annoy me.

Specific objects don't really effect me much.

[Acriku]

Ahh.

I like its and it's  :)

Its is possessive, and it's is "it is" ;)

My biggest pet peeve/hate is self-perpetuated ignorance. If you have never been exposed to a material, then that is fine, but if you've been given access to it and still deny it and continue in the state of ignorance, then that is the worst.

My second biggest pet peeve/hate is people using stupid humor - the kind of humor that takes but a monkey to think of. I prefer thought-out or atleast intelligent humor.

[Leto le Juste]

Problem with intelligent humor is that is sometimes untranslatable (does this word exist, :P) and it depends on your culture and your knowledge.

But, according to me bad humor is sometimes as fun as intelligent humor (and it requires less reflexion  :)). So, if you are tired it is better! ;D

_ Filecore do you want we speak in "not-contracted" form ? If it is what you mean I totally agree because there some I can't read because it is not the form I have studied and some contractions are strange and I can't understand them...

[nemafakei]

Were we all to misuse apostrophes, 'twouldn't be nice; it's a good job its use has been clarified above... I'd've probably got round to doing it eventually if it hadn't.

[SurlyPIG]

1.  Arrogant, egotistical, condescending, oblivious, careless people.

2.  People who talk to their pets or very young kids as if they can understand them.

3.  ppl taht abyoose teh english langwage and seme to b proud of it (I can understand if you lower your standards in the right context ie instant chat but there's a place for that and it isn't a forum)

4.  People who embrace the internet phenomenon "1337 5P33l<" as if it somehow positively effects the impression they leave on people.

5.  Telemarketers and telecanvassers.  I equate calling somebody with entering their home, knocking on every door in the house and yelling.  Convenient, yes, but extremely rude if uninvited or unwanted.

[filecore]

What does this have to do with PRP? ???

Well I was just looking at the directions some people go in the debates and I was just curious.  After all, it's the internal workings of people which are they key to understanding any view on P, R or P...

Besides we got some interesting answers!

2.  People who talk to their pets or very young kids as if they can understand them.

Although this one I disagree with - for children, you have to talk as if they understand you because they have to hear proper language in order to understand it.  Maybe not all the time, but certainly it's an important part of learning.  I'm learning Finnish and I may understand about as much of that as a baby understands its own language, but the principle's the same!

As for pets, maybe they can't understand me, but it's a form of catharsis (sp?), meaning it's good for the speaker to do it, and not necessarily for the benefit of the creature being spoken to.  I like to talk to my cats sometimes when I'm having a long, lonely night or when things are happening and there's just nobody else around.  And sometimes cats are good when all the people are being idiots  :'(