atw: Re: Particular past tense

I've seen "family's" in a design document meant for a customer.
 
Michelle

________________________________

From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Trussler
Sent: Friday, 27 April 2007 10:25 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: Particular past tense


"a sufficiently large number of the ignorant can always turn the tide."
 
The tide seems to be turning on apostrophes.
Where I am currently working, a lot of the staff are writing TV'S, and
CD'S in the like, new style.
What is worrying me is that they are also applying the apostrophe to all
plurals.
So we now get  
      the PC'S are on the table's, and the plug's are in the socket's.
 
Like Malcolm Turnbull, I don't quite understand this democracy thing.
Bob T 


 
On 4/27/07, Daryl Colquhoun <atw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: 

        Oh dear. Sorry about that mishap with the previous post.
        
        Michael:
        >Ah, yes. The power of democracy. Never mind the facts; a
sufficiently large 
        number of the ignorant can always turn the tide.
        
        But at least that large number (based on my sample of 5) have
the good grace
        to be talking about something other than the subject of this
discussion,
        which I now propose to subvert. It seems the "present perfect
continuous", 
        according to the websites, is what we get when we deploy that
bane of
        English learners, the present participle, thus, *"The driver has
been losing
        control of his truck and he's been ending up in a creek". Which
is plainly 
        not possible here. It works in something like "I've been
studying this
        question all night". And it's different from the plain present
perfect;
        compare "I've washed my car as long as I've owned it" with the
somewhat 
        silly "I've been washing my car as long as I've owned it".
        
        I take Michael's point about perfect and continuous being a
dichotomy, but
        I've always called this construction with the present participle

        "continuous". So this isn't really perfect? Because it's still
happening?
        (In which case I suppose the websites are just simplifying.)
        
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