http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/grammar/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/festival-of-obvious-ideas-12-abolish-the-apostrophe/ Its time to abolish the apostrophe. This poor little punctuation mark has been abused, neglected, contorted into unnatural positions. It is a tattered remnant of its former self, and deserves to be put peacefully to sleep. So let’s give it a dignified end, and save it from further pain. Where it was once the greengrocers’ prerogative to enslave apostrophes and bend them to their evil will (tomato’s, anyone?) the cancer has spread, and the apostrophe is beyond saving. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/festival-of-obvious-ideas-12-abolish-the-apostrophe/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/festival-of-obvious-ideas-12-abolish-the-apostrophe/#item6990 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I admit it:  I’m in danger of being a language bore. I’m that guy who, when you say you’re ‘honing in’ on something, asks derisively if you’ve ever heard of a honing pigeon or a honing missile. If you call me a ‘font of information’, I’m liable to take offence on the grounds that a font is a shallow bowl used for church christenings, and I’d rather be a fount, thank you. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/some-key-learnings-about-the-debasement-of-language/ I admit it:  I’m in danger of being a language bore. I’m that guy who, when you say you’re ‘honing in’ on something, asks derisively if you’ve ever heard of a honing pigeon or a honing missile. If you call me a ‘font of information’, I’m liable to take offence on the grounds that a font is a shallow bowl used for church christenings, and I’d rather be a fount, thank you. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/some-key-learnings-about-the-debasement-of-language/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/some-key-learnings-about-the-debasement-of-language/#item1349 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I admit it:  I’m in danger of being a language bore. I’m that guy who, when you say you’re ‘honing in’ on something, asks derisively if you’ve ever heard of a honing pigeon or a honing missile. If you call me a ‘font of information’, I’m liable to take offence on the grounds that a font is a shallow bowl used for church christenings, and I’d rather be a fount, thank you. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mind-your-language-if-youre-making-a-parse-at-me/ [*Ed’s note to Gen Y: that isn’t a typo in the headline. It’s a cool joke, and Lucy explains it further down.] I think I realised I was different when I corrected the grammar of my extremely attractive barista.  It was a Monday morning; he was frothing milk as we chatted idly about the drunken antics of our respective weekends.  All the usual stuff - the people we knew in common, the places we had almost run into each other, the quality of the cocktail jugs at various Sydney locations.  He might have been carefully watching the temperature gauge rise on that little jug of milk, but we both knew where the real heat was.  Just as I was about to casually invite him to a rock gig he dropped a clanger. ‘Yeah I like World Bar.  Dave and me were there last Thursday.’ feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mind-your-language-if-youre-making-a-parse-at-me/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mind-your-language-if-youre-making-a-parse-at-me/#item689 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I admit it:  I’m in danger of being a language bore. I’m that guy who, when you say you’re ‘honing in’ on something, asks derisively if you’ve ever heard of a honing pigeon or a honing missile. If you call me a ‘font of information’, I’m liable to take offence on the grounds that a font is a shallow bowl used for church christenings, and I’d rather be a fount, thank you. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-time-to-save-the-apostrophe/ It’s tiny but powerful. Its incorrect insertion could mean the difference between life and death. And it’s fighting for its very existence. I’m referring to the apostrophe; specifically, the possessive apostrophe. Even its proper name – saxon genitive – sounds more like a sexually transmitted disease than the pinnacle of punctuation. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-time-to-save-the-apostrophe/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-time-to-save-the-apostrophe/#item494 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 I admit it:  I’m in danger of being a language bore. I’m that guy who, when you say you’re ‘honing in’ on something, asks derisively if you’ve ever heard of a honing pigeon or a honing missile. If you call me a ‘font of information’, I’m liable to take offence on the grounds that a font is a shallow bowl used for church christenings, and I’d rather be a fount, thank you.