Friday 25 January 2008
Redemption for Marlo
Before Christmas, I posted about the frightening use of apostrophes on MarloDee Designs' website. A few days ago we received notification of the following comment.
Hello! This is Marlo from MarloDee Designs. I think I have fixed all the punctuation errors on my website. Wow! I didn't mean to blind Heather. I did have a couple of people send me email's pointing out my faults(although the one sent to me was quite mean). But, maybe I deserved it. (oh by the way, I am in the process of redesigning two pages. So, if you visit again you will find that two of my pages will still have punctuation errors. I am sorry. I will have them corrected soon.) I didn't mean to offend anyone.
Does anyone else find this response disarmingly charming? The fact that in this comment Marlo makes the very same mistake for which she was lambasted just adds to the charm, in my opinion. (Marlo dear, simple plurals don't need an apostrophe so "email's" is incorrect.)
A brief glance at Marlo's website confirms that she has corrected many (although not all) of the errors, so we can take her off The List.
Marlo, thank you for your delightful comment, I am pleased you are trying to change your apostrophe abusing ways. As they say, the first step is admitting you have a problem and asking for help. I apologise for the over-exuberance of some of our readers but to stretch that A.A. analogy, think of their rudeness as an intervention.
Finally, to the over-zealous grammar vigilante who sent Marlo a nasty email: you should be ashamed of yourself. I know in the past I've alluded to firebombing and lynch-mobs but such endorsements are in jest... usually. A polite email would have been much more appropriate. Although having said that, these guys might benefit from a little letter bomb or two. Where's my bag of nails?
Related post: 'Tis the season to make new enemies
Labels: apostrophe abuse, crisis of faith, punctuation, redemption
posted by Gez at 7:09 pm
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8 Comments:
Woah, holy crap, I think she's talking about me... but I did not think that my e-mail was in any way mean. I tried to phrase it in a nice and sort of casually-joking way, but I guess some people are more sensitive than I thought. I'm not ashamed of myself, as I don't think I was being impolite, but I'm awfully sorry if I caused Marlo any distress, because that was definitely not my intention. Please believe that I'm not one of those people who is nasty just for kicks.
Errors with apostrophes are not grammar errors. They're punctuation errors. Learn the difference.
Errors with apostrophes are not grammar errors. They're punctuation errors. Learn the difference.
Erm, yes anonymous. That's why this post is labelled punctuation.
Actually, that's not strictly true. The term grammar refers to all rules governing language. So punctuation come under that umbrella. Or as Rhianna would have it, umberella-ella -ella-ella.
Hello,
First of all I would like to say Thank You again for keeping me on my toes. Someday I will learn the proper way of using punctuation. And, I am glad this blog is here. It is quite intriguing to say the least. (And I am sorry about email's in my prior posting. You are right. I get quite confused as to when to make a word plural or not. So thank you again. I learn something new everyday!)
In regards to the emails and the posting above. I received a couple of emails shortly after the posting to this blog. Unfortunately, whether it was sort of casually joking or not, I felt they could have been approached in a different way. I don't feel I was being sensitive or overly sensitive. I just don't understand the need to say things like "I am sure you are older then 4 years old, so you should know better"? And "You need to go back to school and learn better grammar skills?" And "This person designs stuff for a living?" I always thought the word stuff was a no no in the land of english?
The funny thing is, yes I am older then 4 years old, but I am also human. I do make mistakes. I don't mind it so much when someone points out my mistakes. I am a big girl, I can handle it. But it is a little sad when someone who feels they are more intelligent then I am, sends me an email that calls me names(stupid to be exact) and tells me I should know better or go back to school? Look, I am not out to stir any pots. I am not out to offend anyone either. I just thought, maybe, the emails I received could have been handled with a little more dignity and care. Just like if you were sending an email to your friend. And, if I did receive an email from the person who posted above, to be honest, how am I to know that is was meant to be sort of casually-joking way? Then again, I don't know which email was yours. And, please don't take this as an attack against you either(whoever you are). I was a little offended, yes I will admit, by some of the emails I received. You can probably tell by my posting. But, in the end my mistakes were pointed out and I am glad because to be honest I didn't notice it. So, I was able to correct it and learn from it as well.
I will admit that I still make mistakes. I am trying everyday to become better with my grammar skills. So, thank you again. Oh, and if by chance I made any mistakes in this posting, I am sorry. I will try not to do it again. Smiles...
Marlo from MarloDee Designs
I love this blog. It's nice to know there are others out there as nit-picking as I.
That said, I do think that if you're going to keep a blog devoted to seeking and destroying grammatical errors, your own grammar ought to be above reproach. Sadly, it is not. To quote:
"Marlo, thank you for your delightful comment, I am pleased you are trying to change your apostrophe abusing ways."
Holy comma splices and missing hyphens, Batman!
Glad you like the blog, Emma. I'll concede the comma splice; of course a semicolon should have been used. When it comes to hyphens I take the same standpoint as Churchill.
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