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  • Re: Please

    But pick one and stick with it for the whole piece. At least, that's the advice I once received.

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    • Re: Please

      Originally posted by dlm View Post
      Hope my question doesn't sound stupid but... Is it toward or towards? Thank you!
      According to a quick internet search, 'towards' is more often used by British persons, and 'toward' more often used by U.S. persons.
      “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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      • Re: Please

        What Manchester said. I've taught many students how to use apostrophes, the difference between "its" and "it's," "they're" and "their," but my typing fingers, like his, sometimes draw on some other ignorant part of the brain.

        Originally posted by Manchester View Post
        Intellectually and aspirationally, I am with you 100%. As a practical matter, not as much.

        I do no the difference between its/it's and there/their/they're. I not only learned sentence diagramming as a kid, I liked it. I find it frustrating to have forgotten the technical terms for the various verb tenses and such - especially since ESL friends of mine who speak exceptionally-good English (i.e., speak English exceptionally well) sometimes ask me to explain some arcane bit of grammar.

        And yet, sometimes my fingers seem to disconnect from the part of my brain where such information is stored and reroute themselves to my "homonym and near-homonym uber-alles cortex".

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        • Re: Please

          Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
          According to a quick internet search, 'towards' is more often used by British persons, and 'toward' more often used by U.S. persons.
          This is correct.
          Chicks Who Script podcast

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          • Re: Please

            Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
            According to a quick internet search, 'towards' is more often used by British persons, and 'toward' more often used by U.S. persons.
            Yeah, I knew that. I was just curious if it matters which one I use. Problem solved now. Thank you all!

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            • Re: Please

              Originally posted by dlm View Post
              Hope my question doesn't sound stupid but...

              Is it toward or towards?

              Thank you!
              I remember reading somewhere that towards pertained to direction -- "He stepped towards the door."

              Whereas toward was relational -- "Obama's views toward Syria are a joke."
              I'm never wrong. Reality is just stubborn.

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              • Re: Please

                Originally posted by FoxHound View Post
                I remember reading somewhere that towards pertained to direction -- "He stepped towards the door."

                Whereas toward was relational -- "Obama's views toward Syria are a joke."
                Perhaps you are thinking of the differences between 'farther' and 'further.' 'Farther' refers to physical distance and 'further' refers to metaphorical or figurative distance.

                "How much farther to the next stop on this whistle-stop campaign?" asked the politician, "I need to further my political ambitions by getting myself elected so lobbyists can fill my coffers and line my pockets."
                “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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                • Re: Please

                  Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
                  Perhaps you are thinking of the differences between 'farther' and 'further.' 'Farther' refers to physical distance and 'further' refers to metaphorical or figurative distance.

                  "How much farther to the next stop on this whistle-stop campaign?" asked the politician, "I need to further my political ambitions by getting myself elected so lobbyists can fill my coffers and line my pockets."
                  And yet, somehow it's not*...
                  STAFFER 1
                  Of course, the policy's stupid,
                  but the Senator's determined.

                  STAFFER 2
                  So, how fur do you think he'll
                  take it?


                  * - Not is not valid in some states.

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                  • Re: Please

                    Originally posted by Geoff Alexander View Post
                    ... I can't tell people how to come up with a great idea, I can't tell people how to have a voice, but I can tell people to do this tiny little thing. Learn to use apostrophes. For God's sake. It's not that difficult. And yet I see improper use in screenplays and it's a distraction.

                    You're and Your are not the same. Its and It's are not interchangeable. Not all words that end in "s" require apostrophes'. Buy a copy of Strunk and White, Elements of Style, and use it. Or, if your tastes are not so refined, go with English Grammar for Dummies.
                    It's the Apostrophe Apocalypse, all right. When basic rules are ignored, such a thing will inevitably rear its ugly head.
                    Last edited by Clint Hill; 09-21-2013, 06:49 PM.
                    “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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                    • Re: Please

                      I object to the "alright" as being acceptable English in Australia, but won't argue it. I just know at my university it's corrected when it shows up.

                      But here's a weird one that could get you into trouble...

                      When Americans say they "lucked out" it means they had good luck.

                      When Australians say they "lucked out" it means they had bad luck. As in, out of luck.

                      I got all confused when I lived in the US over that one as, unlike all the other grammatical variations, I hadn't encountered that one before.
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                      • Re: Please

                        Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
                        It's the Apostrophe Apocalypse, all right. When basic rules are ignored, such a thing will inevitably rear its ugly head.
                        Amen.

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