Pedants' Paradise

[jean]

Rebecca Gowers out-pedants the pedants

[mangerton]

Rebecca Gowers out-pedants the pedants

Irregardless of what others may say, it's a most interesting article. Thank you, and take a kudo, for bringing it to our attention.

[Keraulophone]

At 7.20 on this morning's Today, an interviewer who had spoken to an expert on the Chinese property market continued: "I asked him to try to dimension the problem".

John Humphrys probably went up in smoke at that point, as, after the interview, she had to admit "of course it's a noun not a verb". How could anyone bring themselves to utter such gibberish, let alone a BBC journalist?

[french frank]

Irregardless of what others may say, it's a most interesting article. Thank you, and take a kudo, for bringing it to our attention.

And presumably kudos has changed its pronunciation to kudoes (and eventually its spelling?) on the analogy of potatoes.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Irregardless of what others may say, it's a most interesting article. Thank you, and take a kudo, for bringing it to our attention.

[Nick Armstrong]

Irregardless of what others may say, it's a most interesting article. Thank you, and take a kudo, for bringing it to our attention.

Can I have one too please?

The Guardian return's to the subject of pendant's and pedantry in it's issue today...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Can I have one too please?

Oh, Cali - you're a Black Belt in Kudo.

The Guardian return's to the subject of pendant's and pedantry in it's issue today...

Thmub's Up!

[Flosshilde]

And his use of "we" - I rather think that I am not the sort of person he'd want in this country.

I hope I'm not the sort (or even type) of person he'd want (whereas I would want many more like me)

[ahinton]

I hope I'm not the sort (or even type) of person he'd want (whereas I would want many more like me)

Nor am I - although in that use of "we" he seems to be no entirely unakin to a certain member and occasional contributor here who shall remain nameless but is probably at the same time readily identifiable at least to some!

Anyway, to return to Michael, my compatriot...

Gove, dumb-born bookend,
Tell her that sang me once that song of laws

as Ezra Pound didn't quite write in his Envoi (as I know well, since I once set what he actually did write)...

[french frank]

Waterstones/Waterstone's

I think Alpie can no longer insist, in this particular case, on the retention of the apostrophe when the company wishes (as on their website) to write something like:

"Since the introduction of Phoenix version 9 - Waterstone's award-winning stock and range management system - the company has improved availability of its top 13,000 core range titles by over 20%."

Alpie, I suggest, should protest vigorously over this sentence.

Either they should rebrand their chain simply Waterstone - in which case the sentence quoted would be correct

or, they should have written Waterstones', implying a plural brand name Waterstones (without apostrophe) to which Alpie objects

or, they should have written Waterstone's' - I presume Alpies's's preference?

In fact, the company is no longer the original Waterstone's (founded by Mr Tim Waterstone), but an amalgam owned by the HMV Group plc of Waterstone's (part owned by WH Smith), Dillon's and Ottakar's.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Waterstones/Waterstone's

I think Alpie can no longer insist, in this particular case, on the retention of the apostrophe when the company wishes (as on their website) to write something like:

"Since the introduction of Phoenix version 9 - Waterstone's award-winning stock and range management system - the company has improved availability of its top 13,000 core range titles by over 20%."

I refute this suggestion - or, at any rate, question your suggestion that "Alpie can no longer insist ... on the retention of the apostrophe". Alpie (and others who share his regret) can "insist" on the restoration of a spelling/punctuation mark/grammatical construction for as long as he(/they) like(s), on the grounds that it is his (/their) money that the offending company wishes him (/them) to give them (/it). If a bookshop is unwilling to display (literally) the standards he insists upon as a customer, then he is perfectly entitled to take that money to another retailer that meets those standards. Shops exist to serve the demands of their customers - customers don't exist to provide shops with money.

In fact, the company is no longer the original Waterstone's (founded by Mr Tim Waterstone), but an amalgam owned by the HMV Group plc of Waterstone's (part owned by WH Smith), Dillon's and Ottakar's.

Precisely - Mr Waterstone met the standards Alpie insisted upon; Mr Waterson's stores received Alpie's custom. The current owners don't (as further illustrated by the grammatically clumsy sentence that you quote from them).

[jean]

There never was a Mr Waterson, as far as I'm aware!

[french frank]

I refute this suggestion - or, at any rate, question your suggestion

I was of course speaking of logic, but cannot argue with people's right to dissent if that suits then But that is not a logical refutation of the argument, if I may say so. I did add the words 'in this particular case'; that is referring to the grammatical construction where Waterstone's requires a possessive apostrophe.

Factually, the existing company is not what it was when Mr Waterstone founded it: it is no longer his company. The new company is entitled to alter its name, just as Alpie is entitled to withhold his custom.

By the way, I was at university with a Willie Waterstone. Although his surname was usually pronounced 'Waterson' it was spelled 'stone' at the end - with the additional 't' inserted, albeit silent.

[french frank]

There never was a Mr Waterson, as far as I'm aware!

I was rather a long time penning my previous reply - I wondered if the internet had any trace of Mr Waterstone, W.

[french frank]

In fact, research indicates that the name was Waterston, not Waterstone. But it was still pronounced Waterson. The firm manufactured paper for Scottish bank notes, or so I was told.