Pedants' Paradise

[french frank]

... I wonder if we've only had one Cnut

Harthly - there was Harthacnut, son of Cnut. And Harold was actually Harold II. Harold I was also son of Cnut. Post Conquest there was only one Stephen.

[cloughie]

Some people would say that Surf washes cleaner than Tide.

Tide’s in - dirt’s out!

[Old Grumpy]

Tide’s in - dirt’s out!

Or tide's in dirt's in...


...All those water companies will be opening the "storm flaps" at high tide!

[cloughie]

Or tide's in dirt's in...


...All those water companies will be opening the "storm flaps" at high tide!

…because they’ve not spent a penny forty years, unlike the nation's population!

[oddoneout]

Prince Andrew's Close came up this morning In a TV discussion on councils dropping apostrophes from street and place names!

Apropos of which

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/07/apostrophes-possession-contractions-plurals-quiz

[french frank]

Prince Andrew's Close came up this morning In a TV discussion on councils dropping apostrophes from street and place names!

I've been thinking about that. The apostrophe indicates either possession (the close belongs to Prince Andrew which it presumably doesn't) or contraction = Prince Andrew is Close (which he may be temporarily but this is, I presume, unlikely to be permanent). So the apostrophe is wrong, but so is the s unless it refers to several Prince Andrews, or Princes Andrew. Conclusion: it should be Prince Andrew Close - simply named after Prince Andrew, as it may be Sylvia Peters Close, or (Ed) Sheeran Close.

Though would it need an apostrophe if it's the close where Prince Andrew lives...? No. I don't think so.

[LMcD]

Apropos of which
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...s-plurals-quiz

I scored 12 out of 15

[Sir Velo]

Apropos of which
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...s-plurals-quiz

14/15. Sackcloth and ashes.

[vinteuil]

.
... once you learn that it's Earl's Court but Barons Court, that it's Paultons Square not Paulton's Square, that it is St Thomas' Hospital, but All Souls College and St Andrews, that Coleridge and others regularly used it's as a possessive - you begin to get a bit blasé where apostrophic pedantry raises its unattractive head....

.

[Serial_Apologist]

.
... once you learn that it's Earl's Court but Barons Court, that it's Paultons Square not Paulton's Square, that it is St Thomas' Hospital, but All Souls College and St Andrews, that Coleridge and others regularly used it's as a possessive - you begin to get a bit blasé where apostrophic pedantry raises its unattractive head....

.

Each time I cycle up Warwick Road I tend to think Earl's Court proper has been liquidated since the demolition of the exhibition hall! Amazing to think that Earl's Court was a tiny village when what was to be the District Line station first went through - or, rather, terminated there for quite a few years. There are photographs from about 1870 to prove it. We had a piano tuner in his 90s in the early 1950s - a Mr Clapp! - who remembered the district as being rural!

[Pulcinella]

ASCII and All Souls wrong here.

[Sir Velo]

.
you begin to get a bit blasé where apostrophic pedantry raises its unattractive head....

.

Alternatively, you think what do English Language teachers actually DO for a living!

[Pulcinella]

Alternatively, you think what do English Language teachers actually DO for a living!

They now have to concentrate on modal verbs and fronted adverbials.
Since when have they bothered you and me?

[french frank]

.
... once you learn that it's Earl's Court but Barons Court, that it's Paultons Square not Paulton's Square, that it is St Thomas' Hospital, but All Souls College and St Andrews, that Coleridge and others regularly used it's as a possessive - you begin to get a bit blasé where apostrophic pedantry raises its unattractive head....

.

Yes, I got all the ones right which were purely grammatical, plus a couple that weren't. But three (including the ASCII date) and two which were 'local knowledge'/usage were wrong. So All Souls was correct (as in All Souls Day) but memory failed on Princes Street. I forget the other one.

[Sir Velo]

Since when have they bothered you and me?

I was thinking more of the scattergun approach to apostrophes adopted by most Gen Z, and musing just how English teachers could justify drawing a salary!