Once and For All

by Marinka on October 22, 2010

Can we agree that the plural of child is children? And that the possessive of children is children’s? And yet, every Word processing program, Google and WordPress give me the red squiggly line underneath it which is roughly translated into “you spelled it wrong, moron.”

And now I’m super-paranoid that I put the period inside the quote and it’s supposed to go on the outside. The fact that it’s next to the word “moron” isn’t helping.

P.S. Monday is my and Husbandrinka’s anniversary. How do we feel about an anniversary post? I realize that no one will leave a comment that says “fuck that!” so just blink once for “yes” and twice for “no”. (or “no.”)

One year ago ...

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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }

Roxanne October 22, 2010 at 11:12 am

*blink*

Reply

Zee October 22, 2010 at 11:21 am

“blink’s”.

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Alias Mother October 22, 2010 at 11:28 am

I’ve noticed that, too. What’s up, spell checks? Do your plural children not own things as a group?

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Finn
Twitter:
October 22, 2010 at 11:28 am

Fuck that.

See what I did there?

BTW, the period does go inside the quotes. As do commas. Question marks and exclamation marks go outside.

What word processing program are you using? I’ve not experienced this “children’s” irritation.

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Awesome dude October 22, 2010 at 11:35 am

I believe that everybody is still possessing gifts of speech and sight. What is that with this blinking “just out of coma language”?

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Whitney
Twitter:
October 22, 2010 at 12:13 pm

I hate the children’s issue! Makes me crazy! Google Chrome seems to understand that children can possess things though.

*blink*

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Keyona
Twitter:
October 22, 2010 at 12:23 pm

How do you feel about a thumbs up?

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Kristine
Twitter:
October 22, 2010 at 1:00 pm

I always thought I was INSANE every time this happened because I’d work through in my mind like a child. ,Children’s? No? Ok, well, children is plural. And child is singular. And APOSTROPHE S APOSTROPHE S! It usually ended with some spasms.

To top it off, I was just urged by WordPress to change “my youngest’s room” to “my youngster’s room.” In fact, IT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.

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Leslie October 22, 2010 at 2:55 pm

Agree.

*Blink*

Here’s a handy rule for your reference that I found not too long ago:

â– Periods and commas: inside the quotation marks
â– Colons and semicolons: outside the quotation marks
â– Question marks and exclamation points: (a) inside if the question or exclamation is part of the quotation, and (b) outside if the question or exclamation is not part of the quotation
If we look at the actual punctuation symbols, we can detect a visual pattern to the rule:
â– . | , inside
â– : | ; outside
â– ! | ? depends
(Here’s the source in case you want to read the full article: englishrules.com/writing/2005/quotation-marks.php )

Either way, you are definitely not a moron!

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hokgardner
Twitter:
October 22, 2010 at 3:43 pm

I was all set to tell you the rules about quotation marks and punctuation, but other readers beat me to it. What’s the point of being a grammar and punctuation nerd if I can’t show off?

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anna see October 22, 2010 at 3:53 pm

blink.

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Heather October 22, 2010 at 5:34 pm

I blink once, but if you post some sappy post, I will end up giving you the silent treatment for a week.

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peajaye
Twitter:
October 22, 2010 at 5:58 pm

Props to Finn and Leslie; nicely-put. Still, the best book on punctuation ever: “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” by Lynne Truss.

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vodkamom October 22, 2010 at 9:04 pm

(@*#& that.

yeah. I said it.

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Abbey October 22, 2010 at 9:48 pm

Funny enough, I had this period inside/outside the quotations conversation at work yesterday. Coworker dragged out her style guide. Who has those on their desks? Anyway, the conversation devolved into where to put commas and I lost interest.

Blink.

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dusty earth mother October 22, 2010 at 11:28 pm

How many years? Oh. I suppose you’ll tell us that if I

Blink.

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annie October 23, 2010 at 12:40 am

i think you should go for it. our anniversary is in a couple weeks and i want to know what’s acceptable. and you know, you’re totally my moral compass 🙂

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Elizabeth October 23, 2010 at 12:24 pm

I’m pretty sure the period goes inside the quote marks. Unless you are British (I’ve heard they do the opposite. Don’t quote me on that, though).

Do you hate the improper use of an apostrophe in the possessive “its” as much as I do? It makes me itch.

Also, “in regards to” makes me crazy. It’s “in regard to!” Regards are what you give to Broadway.
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/regards.html

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barbara sigelbaum
Twitter:
October 23, 2010 at 4:05 pm

Leslie gave me a headache. Blink.

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Sophie@Fabrications October 24, 2010 at 5:14 am

Blink.

Now, to the important stuff, which I care about more than your anniversary (just ‘coz I wrote nothing about mine, which was last month).
I am redoing the children’s room. As I type this, yes yes, the C-word is underlined wiggly red. &^$% you, spellcheck!!!

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marathonmom October 24, 2010 at 9:52 am

Some places in The South it is pronounced chirren .

that is all.

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barbara sigelbaum
Twitter:
October 24, 2010 at 10:58 am

so, chirrens?

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Tonya
Twitter:
October 24, 2010 at 2:48 pm

OMG, it’s my anniversary too! Sadly, my spouse and I just realized this. It’s been 13 years so I guess we have given up on any pretense of celebration.
Happy Anniversary to you!

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traci October 24, 2010 at 4:44 pm

I am delighted you clarified the proper way wordage is ‘MY and …… anniversary’. I have been tripping over how to phrase that. MY and Tony’s anniversary was last Thursday. And there will be no post about it.

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the mama bird diaries
Twitter:
October 24, 2010 at 10:30 pm

period inside the quotes.

only an anniversary post if it’s funny and you make fun of your husband.

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Backpacking Dad October 25, 2010 at 2:58 am

Don’t listen to the people telling you to put the period inside the quotes. They don’t read my blog.

http://backpackingdad.com/2010/09/grammaticaster/

Reply

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