I see this mistake all the time in game magazines, websites and forums. I think I must have seen it at least 5 or 6 times today, in these forums alone. So what the hell, I thought I'd start a thread and see if I can reverse the situation.
-The plural form of PCB is PCBs. Similarly with any other acronym (TVs, etc. etc.)
-If you write "PCB's", you are referring to something which belongs to a PCB. It is the possessive form of the noun.
A note on grammar
I am guilty of occasionally using the apostrophe to address the plural form of an acronym. I do it on purpose so as not to confuse the people who don't care as much for grammar, but I suppose I can stop doing that if everyone here is intelligent enough to understand.
I believe that there are certain standards of proper grammar that should be upheld, but it becomes most important when participating in flame wars. Who presents the more convincing argument - the person who sputters an incomprehensible wall of nonsense, or the person who concisely outlines the points in a rational and understandable manner?
I believe that there are certain standards of proper grammar that should be upheld, but it becomes most important when participating in flame wars. Who presents the more convincing argument - the person who sputters an incomprehensible wall of nonsense, or the person who concisely outlines the points in a rational and understandable manner?
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magnum opus
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^ah nice. whats the plural of magnumopus BTW? magnaopii? ^_^
anyway, i just noticed the original poster said acronyms. well, i often type the plural of hmtl as html's (which is wrong) instead of html-files.
as for mistakes i stimes see ppl write "Samus's radsuit", or "Laos's hiscore", etc
my favorite however is "your mothers tit's"
anyway, i just noticed the original poster said acronyms. well, i often type the plural of hmtl as html's (which is wrong) instead of html-files.
as for mistakes i stimes see ppl write "Samus's radsuit", or "Laos's hiscore", etc
my favorite however is "your mothers tit's"
My 2 cents:
This issue is NOT a big deal at all. Even Fortune magazine has deliberately pluralized acronyms with apostrophes and publically justified their use for the sake of clarification (since placing an "s" right after a set of capital letters looks odd), acknowledging that using apostrophes was indeed grammatically incorrect but that cohesive appearing titles were more important than adherence to grammar.
However, I generally follow grammatical rules and write plural acronyms without the apostrophe unless I feel that such use would be confusing. The main problem with the apostrophe is that it goes both ways in that the rule doesn't hold when we deal with one-letter acronyms. If I was talking about the Oakland A's, it would be incorrect to call them the "As."
But really, grammar shouldn't matter much in forums. It's all just casual discusion and I know I make plenty of grammatical mistakes in my non-proofread posts here that I wouldn't have dare made in an essay or executive summary.
This issue is NOT a big deal at all. Even Fortune magazine has deliberately pluralized acronyms with apostrophes and publically justified their use for the sake of clarification (since placing an "s" right after a set of capital letters looks odd), acknowledging that using apostrophes was indeed grammatically incorrect but that cohesive appearing titles were more important than adherence to grammar.
However, I generally follow grammatical rules and write plural acronyms without the apostrophe unless I feel that such use would be confusing. The main problem with the apostrophe is that it goes both ways in that the rule doesn't hold when we deal with one-letter acronyms. If I was talking about the Oakland A's, it would be incorrect to call them the "As."
That's actually correct for the possessive form of proper names.Ko.oS wrote: as for mistakes i stimes see ppl write "Samus's radsuit", or "Laos's hiscore", etc
But really, grammar shouldn't matter much in forums. It's all just casual discusion and I know I make plenty of grammatical mistakes in my non-proofread posts here that I wouldn't have dare made in an essay or executive summary.
I don't really mind that kind of mistakes that much, with the pluralization and aphostrophes. Everyone makes mistakes.
Now, if u r takling about ppl who rite liek this, and who complian that d intarwab is not engilsh class and that noone should be forced to use there (Instead of "Their") stuppid rules... Urgh! There should be a law that mandates castration for people who don't make the effort to write their own language properly. (People with disabilities are exempt, of course. One thing is not being able to write correctly, and another is to be a self-made moron.)
Now, if u r takling about ppl who rite liek this, and who complian that d intarwab is not engilsh class and that noone should be forced to use there (Instead of "Their") stuppid rules... Urgh! There should be a law that mandates castration for people who don't make the effort to write their own language properly. (People with disabilities are exempt, of course. One thing is not being able to write correctly, and another is to be a self-made moron.)
Don't hold grudges. GET EVEN.
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BulletMagnet
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Having been raised by English teachers (kind of like being raised by wolves, except that you're constantly having your snarls and howls corrected), I do tend to notice lapses in spelling/grammar more easily than others might, though I don't consider myself super-picky about it...one or two occasional mishaps don't faze me at all, though constant "there/their/they're" muddling and such makes me wince. I don't think I've ever actually told anyone to improve their grammar, however, or even posted a link to one of those patronizing "Posting and You"-type sites.
Spelling and grammar mistakes mostly piss me off, but I try not to bother anyone with that fact. Apparently, a lot of people don't feel that it's necessary for casual communications, so they don't spend the effort. There are a few rules that I think are just plain obstructive, so I ignore them (consistently, at least). Also, in any kind of online argument, the traditional reply to any comment about spelling or grammar is that the complaining party obviously can't think of anything else to contribute and has therefore conceded whatever it was arguing, and admitting that anything pisses one off is an easy invitation for everybody to reply in a way that exhibits the mentioned nuisance in a reflexive attempt to look clever. Sigh, why do I even bother.
"Can they really get inside my head?"
"As long as you keep an open mind."
"As long as you keep an open mind."
I usually just find the bad grammar here to be amusing, not annoying. Most of the time it's still understandable.
The only language I can't stand is all that stuff like roxoorz, pawns, teh, etc. God that crap pisses me off. I don't know if people are trying to be funny, cool, or satirical with it, but it makes me want to kill someone regardless.
The only language I can't stand is all that stuff like roxoorz, pawns, teh, etc. God that crap pisses me off. I don't know if people are trying to be funny, cool, or satirical with it, but it makes me want to kill someone regardless.
SHOOT IT QUICKLY !
This is fairly trivial, but this is an odd grammer point. "Laos's hiscore" should be "Laos' hiscore", but "Samus's radsuit" is correct. The rule is that the S is there if the last syllable has its own sound. For example, Moses's, Romulus's and Brutus's are correct, but not James's or Jones's.Ko.oS wrote:as for mistakes i stimes see ppl write "Samus's radsuit", or "Laos's hiscore", etc
In general, I find that correct spelling and grammar make a person seem more intelligent. Actually, it's more like alphabet soup that resembles English makes me think the writer is an idiot, regardless of the meaning of what they wrote.
-ReK
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dave4shmups
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This question really should've been phrased; "How important is grammar in the Shmup Forums?"
Grammar is much more important when writing reviews or blogs, then it is just posting on gaming forums, IMO.
I could really give a rip if someone's grammar is off in their posts, as long as I can still read said posts. There have been a few times, however, where I've read posts, or PM's sent to me, where the posts read like the writer was drunk when they wrote them. That's mildly annoying, but it doesn't happen that often.
Grammar is much more important when writing reviews or blogs, then it is just posting on gaming forums, IMO.
I could really give a rip if someone's grammar is off in their posts, as long as I can still read said posts. There have been a few times, however, where I've read posts, or PM's sent to me, where the posts read like the writer was drunk when they wrote them. That's mildly annoying, but it doesn't happen that often.
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
You're missing the option 'it matters' - you've got two options that downplay it. Of course, some errors are worse than others. You're call though 
System11's random blog, with things - and stuff!
http://blog.system11.org
http://blog.system11.org
I prefer proper spelling and grammer.
On my page at VF i get around 50 comments a day and nearly all of them have horrible spelling. That's not what bothers me the most though - it's thier sentence structure. It's really unflattering when someone sends me a compliment but they didn't even take the time or effort to make sure that they won't look like a dumbass to me.
On my page at VF i get around 50 comments a day and nearly all of them have horrible spelling. That's not what bothers me the most though - it's thier sentence structure. It's really unflattering when someone sends me a compliment but they didn't even take the time or effort to make sure that they won't look like a dumbass to me.
Godzilla was an inside job
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Shatterhand
- Posts: 4102
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Usually when I send an e-mail, a forum post or just write something that someone else will read, I usually read it like 2 or 3 times before sending it, to make sure the other person reading it will not have any difficulties in understanding what I want to say.
Now english is not my primary language (It's portuguese, I am, as everyone knows, Brazilian).. so I am pretty sure I make some bad mistakes, and I also sometimes have some difficulty to write in english what I am thinking in portuguese (Funnily, the opposite also happens with me sometimes, I think something in english, and I don't know how to say it in portuguese, heh
)
My reviews also suck because of this, hehe.
But I think people manage to understand me, and I can understand everyone here 98% of the time
I hope I don't piss anyone with my bad english grammar
Now english is not my primary language (It's portuguese, I am, as everyone knows, Brazilian).. so I am pretty sure I make some bad mistakes, and I also sometimes have some difficulty to write in english what I am thinking in portuguese (Funnily, the opposite also happens with me sometimes, I think something in english, and I don't know how to say it in portuguese, heh
)My reviews also suck because of this, hehe.
But I think people manage to understand me, and I can understand everyone here 98% of the time
I hope I don't piss anyone with my bad english grammar
I was about to mention this.Shatterhand wrote:Usually when I send an e-mail, a forum post or just write something that someone else will read, I usually read it like 2 or 3 times before sending it, to make sure the other person reading it will not have any difficulties in understanding what I want to say.
Now english is not my primary language (It's portuguese, I am, as everyone knows, Brazilian).. so I am pretty sure I make some bad mistakes, and I also sometimes have some difficulty to write in english what I am thinking in portuguese (Funnily, the opposite also happens with me sometimes, I think something in english, and I don't know how to say it in portuguese, heh
My reviews also suck because of this, hehe.
But I think people manage to understand me, and I can understand everyone here 98% of the time
I hope I don't piss anyone with my bad english grammar
Not everyone who visits this forum can write 100% comprehensive English. We have a multitude of members for whom English is a secondary or even tertiary language.
I'm willing to forgive the odd little spelling error or grammatical mistake... provided your name isn't Recap (where the hell did he ever get "thoe" from?).
Heh, I wasn't thinking about non-native speakers either. However, I don't see them make apostrophe/pluralization mistakes very often; more often, IMO, their mistakes seem to reflect bad assumptions or guesses about English syntax rather than the complete obliviousness to syntax that I interpret in apostrophe mistakes. No, I actually find the former sort of mistake more interesting and entertaining than annoying -- I see them as "logical" errors more than simple laziness.
And of course I feel well justified in taking major publications/websites to task for any sort of mistakes, as they're supposed to have editors. And relatively literate writers.
And of course I feel well justified in taking major publications/websites to task for any sort of mistakes, as they're supposed to have editors. And relatively literate writers.
"Can they really get inside my head?"
"As long as you keep an open mind."
"As long as you keep an open mind."
Some of the more common mistakes can be fixed... by an admin.
By including word sensors that automatically change one word to another. Sneaky, and the person who made the mistake will never know what happened, so they won't have a chance to improve their spelling skills. But the forum will look better overall to outsiders.
I know it's a bad idea, I am just sayin'.
By including word sensors that automatically change one word to another. Sneaky, and the person who made the mistake will never know what happened, so they won't have a chance to improve their spelling skills. But the forum will look better overall to outsiders.
I know it's a bad idea, I am just sayin'.
