Correct use of an apostrophe

Deref said :

The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe.

Love your work.

IrishPete said :

Pork Hunt said :

LSWCHP said :

Meconium said :

Porker, the word “myself” is a reflexive pronoun, not a direct object. That means you shouldn’t substitute it with the word “me”, as you did in the sentence above, where you claimed you were a grammar Nazi on occasion.

Example of its use: “I shat myself.” The person administering the defecating is the same person receiving it. Compare with “He shat on me.” Because there are two people involved, you don’t use a reflexive pronoun here. “Myself” can also be used for emphasis, but in this case you need the pronoun that is the subject of the sentence as well.

You could have said “I myself am included in the group of grammar Nazis on RiotACT”, or “I include myself in the group…”, but don’t substitute the word “me” for “myself” indiscriminately, especially when the whole reason for your post was to promote good grammar.

“The person administering the defecating…”. Now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d see on RA. Or anywhere, for that matter. 🙂

As long as it remains an administrative matter, no one should get in the shit I suppose…

If we are talking about manual (well, probably digital) evacuation of bowels, that’s a job for an attractive nurse of whichever gender you prefer…

IP

‘strylya, a land of closed borders and open bowels…

Oh except apostrophe Nazism is of course warranted.

Meconium said :

Porker, the word “myself” is a reflexive pronoun, not a direct object. That means you shouldn’t substitute it with the word “me”, as you did in the sentence above, where you claimed you were a grammar Nazi on occasion.

Example of its use: “I shat myself.” The person administering the defecating is the same person receiving it. Compare with “He shat on me.” Because there are two people involved, you don’t use a reflexive pronoun here. “Myself” can also be used for emphasis, but in this case you need the pronoun that is the subject of the sentence as well.

You could have said “I myself am included in the group of grammar Nazis on RiotACT”, or “I include myself in the group…”, but don’t substitute the word “me” for “myself” indiscriminately, especially when the whole reason for your post was to promote good grammar.

I think it’s acceptable usage. It’s clearly understood and not ambiguous. Where a more “correct” version would have been tortuous or forced, it’s perfectly fine to step outside the “rules”. Any professional editor will tell you that there should be no hard-and-fast rules, other than the most basic and obvious, applied to English expression.

LSWCHP said :

Meconium said :

Example of its use: “I shat myself.” The person administering the defecating is the same person receiving it.

“The person administering the defecating…”. Now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d see on RA. Or anywhere, for that matter. 🙂

Shouldn’t it be “The person administering the defecation…”?

(I note in passing that Meconium is the most sly of the scatonyms that appear to be curiously popular here).

IrishPete said :

Pork Hunt said :

LSWCHP said :

Meconium said :

Porker, the word “myself” is a reflexive pronoun, not a direct object. That means you shouldn’t substitute it with the word “me”, as you did in the sentence above, where you claimed you were a grammar Nazi on occasion.

Example of its use: “I shat myself.” The person administering the defecating is the same person receiving it. Compare with “He shat on me.” Because there are two people involved, you don’t use a reflexive pronoun here. “Myself” can also be used for emphasis, but in this case you need the pronoun that is the subject of the sentence as well.

You could have said “I myself am included in the group of grammar Nazis on RiotACT”, or “I include myself in the group…”, but don’t substitute the word “me” for “myself” indiscriminately, especially when the whole reason for your post was to promote good grammar.

“The person administering the defecating…”. Now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d see on RA. Or anywhere, for that matter. 🙂

As long as it remains an administrative matter, no one should get in the shit I suppose…

If we are talking about manual (well, probably digital) evacuation of bowels, that’s a job for an attractive nurse of whichever gender you prefer…

IP

If this is covered by Medicare or even bulk billed, I’m in..

Pork Hunt said :

LSWCHP said :

Meconium said :

Porker, the word “myself” is a reflexive pronoun, not a direct object. That means you shouldn’t substitute it with the word “me”, as you did in the sentence above, where you claimed you were a grammar Nazi on occasion.

Example of its use: “I shat myself.” The person administering the defecating is the same person receiving it. Compare with “He shat on me.” Because there are two people involved, you don’t use a reflexive pronoun here. “Myself” can also be used for emphasis, but in this case you need the pronoun that is the subject of the sentence as well.

You could have said “I myself am included in the group of grammar Nazis on RiotACT”, or “I include myself in the group…”, but don’t substitute the word “me” for “myself” indiscriminately, especially when the whole reason for your post was to promote good grammar.

“The person administering the defecating…”. Now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d see on RA. Or anywhere, for that matter. 🙂

As long as it remains an administrative matter, no one should get in the shit I suppose…

If we are talking about manual (well, probably digital) evacuation of bowels, that’s a job for an attractive nurse of whichever gender you prefer…

IP

LSWCHP said :

Meconium said :

Porker, the word “myself” is a reflexive pronoun, not a direct object. That means you shouldn’t substitute it with the word “me”, as you did in the sentence above, where you claimed you were a grammar Nazi on occasion.

Example of its use: “I shat myself.” The person administering the defecating is the same person receiving it. Compare with “He shat on me.” Because there are two people involved, you don’t use a reflexive pronoun here. “Myself” can also be used for emphasis, but in this case you need the pronoun that is the subject of the sentence as well.

You could have said “I myself am included in the group of grammar Nazis on RiotACT”, or “I include myself in the group…”, but don’t substitute the word “me” for “myself” indiscriminately, especially when the whole reason for your post was to promote good grammar.

“The person administering the defecating…”. Now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d see on RA. Or anywhere, for that matter. 🙂

As long as it remains an administrative matter, no one should get in the shit I suppose…

IrishPete said :

peitab said :

IrishPete said :

Except that place name standards mean it is Batemans Bay, no apostrophe…

Sorry to be a pedant. OK, not sorry.

IP

I’m not sorry to be a pedant either Irish Pete! … I believe that it’s standard for US place names to have punctuation removed, but I’ve never heard of it happening in Australia.

http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/58843/Guidelines_determination_placenames.pdf

IP

Fair point, although the document does say that apostrophes and hyphens should be avoided, and not that they’re banned altogether. In the US, punctuation cannot be used. *cough pedant cough*

Meconium said :

Porker, the word “myself” is a reflexive pronoun, not a direct object. That means you shouldn’t substitute it with the word “me”, as you did in the sentence above, where you claimed you were a grammar Nazi on occasion.

Example of its use: “I shat myself.” The person administering the defecating is the same person receiving it. Compare with “He shat on me.” Because there are two people involved, you don’t use a reflexive pronoun here. “Myself” can also be used for emphasis, but in this case you need the pronoun that is the subject of the sentence as well.

You could have said “I myself am included in the group of grammar Nazis on RiotACT”, or “I include myself in the group…”, but don’t substitute the word “me” for “myself” indiscriminately, especially when the whole reason for your post was to promote good grammar.

“The person administering the defecating…”. Now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d see on RA. Or anywhere, for that matter. 🙂