Aaarrrgghhh!

I don’t think you can blame people who’ve been poorly taught at school.

And a joke that highlights the importance of adequate punctuation in English is:

“Let’s eat, Grandma.”

With the comma, these words indicate that the speaker is talking to their grandma and suggesting that they eat dinner. Watch what happens when you remove the comma:

“Let’s eat Grandma.”

Without the comma, the speaker is suggesting that they eat their grandma!

Hey, this is pedants corner!

That said, I agree with gillybob and Anniebach people’s feelings are more important than spellings or punctuation. I would NEVER correct anyone’s post. Rude in my opinion.

The exclamation mark was just my way of saying....what difference does it make is someone uses a form of punctuation where perhaps (in the rules of grammar) it should not be? Okay if we were all being marked in a GCSE exam, but does it really matter on a Gransnet forum?

Anyway, no matter.

Nanny27 fair enough to say misuse of a punctuation mark annoys you, this thread is for padantics, but to declare ‘it’s not hard to learn the rules ‘ , for some it is.

I am not intolerant of people who misspell, use or not use apostrophes inappropriately and whose punctuation is poor but I get quite cross when it is a business or public body which does it. They should know better, it is their job to do it properly. Yes, there have been many times when I have wanted to add an apostrophe or remove one.

I once tried to explain to a Sainsbury's Manager that CD's meant that they belonged to someone called CD but he just thought I was a mad old lady.

Not sure my DCs learnt this at school, I think it was all the thank you letters I made them not only write but correct as well.

Misuse of apostrophes has really been done to death here in the pedants' corner.

In internet posts, I don't care much about grammar and punctuation unless I really can't understand what's been said.
On newspaper reports, on signs etc, mistakes can be annoying.

I expect the OP is having a snigger about winding up a lot of GNers on the subject of apostrophes, then sitting back to watch them go.

Well not using apostrophes like posting wtf, isn’t against GN rules , I wish the latter was but have to accept it’s allowed,

I am probably guilty of the apostrophe crime. If I post withou my glasses on I can see the iPad/iPhone keyboard but not what I have typed.

May I apologies now?

I’m with you Anniebach as last night on a current affairs forum someone had posted ‘WTAF’.!
Perhaps she’d been at the ?

I think it’s probably a good thing I don’t understand that urm ?

Have you read "Eats, shoots and leaves. The zero tolerance approach to punctuation" by Lynne Truss?

If not, do.

Strange isn't it how a spelling error or misplaced apostrophe jumps out at you. Is it the same for numerate folk when they see a pricing error. ? I have to confess that I would not recognise a numerical error if it leaped out and bit me.
I would never correct anyone's errors apart from my husband and family I wouldn't want to stop people writing and expressing themselves.
I wish like others that people who put very long posts on GN would put paragraphs in and not use lots of abbreviations.

I probably drive you people mad with my apostrophe use. I know I make mistakes but I give then a go.

I will apologise now for past and future cock ups/up's/ups'.

I have noticed that although a work colleague does sort of use paragrsphs, he doesn't double space.

I do, (as just shown!) I just think it makes it easier to read.

I still remember reminding a Sixth firmer to double space his A level German essays (facilitating marking as well as making them easier to read)
Imagine my surprise when the first one came in hand written and not on alternate lines but with a curiously large space between each word.
Yes, he had left “double spaces” beetween the words

WTAF
“What The Actual F***”

I've reached the stage on G N where I accept that badly punctuated posts or poor spelling bother me less and less as long as I can understand them.
More difficult to accept are those pontificating on threads like this one but making many of the same mistakes they criticise!
Glad I read this through or, thanks to predictive text, I'd have posted badly punctured posts!
(And don't get me started on that ghastly phrase "Don't get me started".)

(And don't get me started on that ghastly phrase "Don't get me started".)

Hear hear mcem. I'm pretty easygoing when it comes to people's use of language, but this expression is one of the few that I really cannot abide.

Firstly, why exhort others not to get them started, when they have already started themselves, thereby negating the need for others to 'get them started' confused

Secondly, surely a thread opening with this sentence is, by definition, inviting people to discuss the issue? Or perhaps the OP just throws it out there for others "to get started" while they rapidly retreat, for fear of being "started" themselves.

Either way, it's a ridiculous and extremely irritating expression!

Sorry, the opening line should have been in italics, as a quote by mcem