Slog - Comments on I'm So All Over This

Comment by boxofbirds

boxofbirds — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:31:31 -0800

what the hell kind of title is that?

Comment by Bison

Bison — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:31:59 -0800

Maybe we'll get to hear about the roots of his bizarre falafel/loofah fetish!

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:37:51 -0800

A bold, fresh piece of what, did you say?

Comment by laterite

laterite — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:50:34 -0800

Terrible title for a terrible person.

Comment by max solomon

max solomon — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:58:20 -0800

#1 NYT best seller, available at every Walmart near your stupid republican relatives!

Comment by Etherite

Etherite — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:24:11 -0800

I think this is going to be the only review from Mr. Constant that I will look forward to.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:32:50 -0800

Under no circumstances should you hid any stacks of this book under a really boring title so that nobody buys it.

Or shelve the library copy behind other library books that nobody looks at so that it doesn't get checked out.

That would be ... patriotic.

Comment by MR. Language Person

MR. Language Person — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:40:01 -0800

For the love of...

"Its" !!!

"It's" is a contraction of "it is."

Aren't you supposed to be a friggin journalist, for crying out loud? ...And no, it's not just a typo. For anyone interested in a career in writing, basic rules like that, along with "there/their/they're," singular/plural agreement, along with several other key points should be so seared into your mind that the mere glance of something so appalling would distress you. It distresses me!
God wants me to destroy journalists who make mistakes! When do you ride the bus?

Comment by A Bold Fresh Piece of Shit

A Bold Fresh Piece of Shit — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:19:02 -0800

Bill O'Reilly is the only one who can make you equate humanity with shit.

Comment by Jimmy

Jimmy — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:28:45 -0800

You didn't finish your review of Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste by Carl Wilson. Let's get to that first.

Comment by Gabe

Gabe — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:35:34 -0800

@8: Isn't (contraction there) a posessive version of a noun expressed the same way? Gabe's title...it's (not a contraction there)my title. Doesn't (contraction there) that also fit the rules??? "it" is a noun, isn't (contraction there) it? Has it's(not a contraction there) meaning changed so it's (contraction there) no longer subject to the posessive?

Comment by Gabe

Gabe — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:37:44 -0800

hehe....screwed that up a bit @11, but doesn't the point hold? Posessive version gets the same punctuation, right?

Comment by Punctuation Person

Punctuation Person — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:44:59 -0800

Nerp. Not with ITS/IT'S. It's just a rule, there to show a distinction between the possessive and the contraction. Used to be, 19th century or so, people used IT'S for possession, and TIS for the contraction of IT and IS (sometimes 'TIS). But we do sometimes us 'S for both: as in, TOM'S A GOOD GUY (contraction of TOM IS) and TOM'S SHOES (possession). Different meanings, same punctuation. But ITS/IT'S has a different rule for some reason. Deal with it.

Comment by k

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:45:20 -0800

This is an Internet joke...

...right?

Comment by Mahtli69

Mahtli69 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:57:16 -0800

At first glance, I thought the title was "A Bold Piece of Human Flesh"

Comment by Mahtli69

Mahtli69 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:04:10 -0800

At first glance, I thought the title was "A Bold Piece of Human Flesh"

Comment by MR. Language Person

MR. Language Person — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:54:53 -0800

@11, 12.

Ouch, Gabe. You did that to hurt me, right? Fine, call Paul, and you two get on the bus together. Hold a white stick with red writing on it so I know who you are.

Comment by julia

julia — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:27:05 -0800

@13, the possessive "its" doesn't have an apostrophe because it's a pronoun, like yours, theirs, or hers. It's not an arbitrary rule at all.

Comment by Jeff Stevens

Jeff Stevens — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:41:45 -0800

As an academically-trained linguist (UW MA 2005), I believe its time that we sent the whole apostrophe confusion controversy to it's final resting place. The apostrophe, like whiteness, is socially constructed, and it belongs exactly where you, the linguistic actor, feels like it does.

Or should.

Whatever.

Comment by Gabe

Gabe — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:02:26 -0800

@19. If the apostrophe feels right, use it, eh? I can live with that ruling. I also like your usage in the post (used for posession and not for contraction). Explains why I never go the rule on that if there actually is none.

Comment by Cookie W. Monster

Cookie W. Monster — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:19:47 -0800

Jeff Stevens ate a bowl of stupid for breakfast again. Everybody knows you put the apostrophe just before the last letter of every word, jus't lik'e thi's.

I, unlike white trash academic pretenders like Jeff Stevens, never do that because I'm a rebel. I break all the rules.

Can you dig it? I knew that you could.

Comment by MR. Language Person

MR. Language Person — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:21:24 -0800

@19.

That is the dumbest argument I have heard in a long time. ALL of language is a social construct. The words, the spelling, the whole damn thing! Without a social construction, we wouldn't have any language

Correct use of grammar, punctuation, etc. is necessary to be precise and accurate. Try telling a lawyer that the basic idea is all that matters. Little changes in punctuation, word choice, etc., can cause millions of dollars in a decision. I'll give you an example appropriate for this board's subjects. It may be a little bit more nit-picky than most are willing to get, but it's a great example. I bet you think there's no problem with the following sentence as some guy's justification for why his girlfriend should not leave him for another guy:
"I like you more than him."
There's nothing grammatically incorrect with it, as long as the speaker means, "I like you more than I like him," which would be obvious to the girl (I would hope). To be precise, he would need to say, "I like you more than he," meaning "I like you more than he does."

...grumble, grumble, "socially constructed" my foot... *grumble*

Comment by Jeff Stevens

Jeff Stevens — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:32:53 -0800

@19,

You have failed miserably to answer the original question. Namely, Where do I put this damn apostrophe?

In other words, Where did I leave my meta-vitamins?

Comment by Jeff Stevens

Jeff Stevens — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:35:28 -0800

And that goes for you too, MR. (sic) Language Person!