Friday Follies #137 – Making Grammar Great Again, One Hyphen at a Time

The Grammar Cop is ever vigilant, FF friends, and she has recently uncovered a slew of terrible transgressions. Here are a few of the super-annoying ones.

  1. “While most press conferences tend to be cut and dry, the atmosphere was positively electric last week at the…”
  2. “Bring the whole family. Lot’s of yummy BBQ treats.”
  3. “The Gallery opened it’s doors in late 2015. Soon after…”

The corrections:

  1. Let’s get this expression straight: it’s not “cut and dry.” It’s cut and dried. As my dictionary says: cut and dried – fixed and definite. cut-and-dried opinions.
    Also, at https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/31/cut-and-dry/

    cut and dry | Common Errors in English Usage and More | Washington …

    May 31, 2016 – Many people mishear the standard expression meaning “set,” “not open to change,” as “cut and dry.” Although this form is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, it is definitely less common in sophisticated writing. The dominant modern usage is “cut and dried.”

    The Grammar Cop’s motto: Don’t believe everything you see in the OED. 😀

  2. “Lot’s of”? No! It should be Lots of.  Why? Because the Grammar Cop said so! No, seriously, this is a bad case of Misplaced Apostrophe. There is no logical reason for that apostrophe to be in “lot’s.” There are only two reasons for placing an apostrophe in a word. One: to show that a letter has been omitted, as in: Rock ‘n’ Roll, where the ‘n’ is short for and. Two: to show possession in a noun, as in: the cat’s whiskers, or the cats’ whiskers if there are cats, plural. (Pronouns are different. See #3, next.)
  3. The Grammar Cop has corrected this error ’til she is blue in the face. (Actually, her uniform may be blue, but not her face. That is just an expression. 😉 ) Here, it should not say “it’s” because “it’s” is a contraction for “it is.” You would never say “The Gallery opened it is doors in…” See? What you want is the possessive form of the word, which is its with no apostrophe. Now I know this seems to contradict the rule quoted in #2, above. But note: you only add in the apostrophe if it’s a NOUN. NOT if it’s a pronoun. Let’s review the pronouns and their possessives:
    it – its
    me – my; mine
    you – your; yours
    he – his
    she – her; hers
    we – our; ours
    they – their; theirs
    Note that there is NO APOSTROPHE in sight. Nada.

Tonight I’m going to have a good night’s sleep. Wake me when it’s over. I’d love to have an apostrophe-free weekend. I’ll see you next week! 😀

13 thoughts on “Friday Follies #137 – Making Grammar Great Again, One Hyphen at a Time

  1. 1-Most press conferences are dry and should be cut from the news. (My cut-and-dried opinion.)
    2 and 3- Aaarrrggghh! Apostrophe atrocities are rampant!
    I hope the Grammar Cop has a good dentist! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. “Apostrophe atrocities” – the Grammar Cop admires this lovely example of alliteration! BTW it’s the atrocities that allow her to have a JOB, so what the hey… eh? 😀
      Yes, she has an excellent dentist. Eye roll. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Because so many people use “it’s”, I always read it to myself as “it is”. I’m trying to pass that on to wonderful grandsons who don’t understand what all the fuss is about. They are still willing to text me, so I try to make my points with humor.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Oh yeah … and all walks of life believe me. A few weeks ago, a client sent a draft letter they wrote to be approved by my boss. He was traveling and on the road – I read it to him. I saw a spelling mistake and two apostrophe calamities. Told him – I only see the spelling error so just tell him about that.

        Liked by 1 person

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