MichaelStroke:
Robert1893:
MichaelStroke:
The OP should request some free grammar lessons for Father's Day instead. Maybe then, he would know the difference between your and you're, and that not every word ending in S requires an apostrophe.
If he's a dad, I shudder to imagine how poorly educated his children are.
That's uncalled for.
That's especially so because the mistyping of some words could simply be the result of muscle memory rather than not knowing the difference between or among the words. In other words, a person is thinking one word but then types another word. Additionally, there are other reasons for making typing mistakes that are not a reflection of one's level of intelligence. Here's a good blog post on that phenomenon:
http://tinyurl.com/yb2h9upy
Regardless, it's a discussion board. I think the rules of grammar and spelling should not be a focus. And even if they are, to bring a person's children into the conversation is bad form (and that's being charitable).
There's a difference between a "typo" and simply not having the proper knowledge.
Also, I find it very called for. Ignore the fact that his post was simple whining, akin to something today's millennials would write. If you want to be taken seriously in a text-based forum, then you should be able to come across as reasonably intelligent and well-spoken (not necessarily perfect grammar, but something MUCH better than what he wrote).
Hi Michael
I agree with your first point 100%. On one occasion during an alt. shot game I congratulated somebody on a very nice sh it.
However, it's easy to assume that everybody here has english as a first language. I left England nearly twenty years ago, I live in Germany now. I've learnt the language and speak it fluently but the grammer is another matter. If I had been taught it as a child, in school or at home, then things would be different. I don't need it everyday, luckily, my work doesn't involve a lot of writing. If however, I tried to write this in German then it would be full of grammatical errors. Allosso, Ostfriedel and the like would maybe think it had been written by somebody "not to be taken seriously".
That's all before I mention our two great nations, divided by a common language.
So, to the day in question. Without an apostrophe.
The argument for this is that the fathers do not own the day itself. The day is a day for fathers not a day belonging to fathers, and, since no possession is involved, there is no need for an apostrophe. I would argue that apostrophes are not necessary when “for” is implied and not “belonging to”.
There is also an argument for an apostrophe after the s, that is that there are many fathers in the world and this is all of their day. Therefore, the plural possessive is necessary.
However, we seem to have settled with the capitalized spelling, apostrophe before the s. Father’s Day is an officially recognized holiday and, in the United States at least, the official spelling of the holiday (I may be wrong) is in fact “Father’s Day”.
Secondly, the argument for the variant “Fathers Day” is not particularly compelling when you keep in mind that the day to which the possession is referring is the holiday. It is correct that fathers do not own the third Sunday in June, but they do own the holiday Father’s Day that happens to fall on that day. And if fathers do not own it, who does? Mothers certainly don’t.
Further, Father’s Day is meant to honor fathers as individuals as they relate to a specific family. It was not meant to be a day honoring all fathers of the world or to honor fathers as a collective group. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that Father’s Day is “A day for recognition of the respect and gratitude felt by children toward their fathers”.
Now who the hell is going to fight through that lot just to make a point, or ask a question in a forum dealing with a game?
I will happily provide a list of my qualifications in both the English language and its' literature to anybody interested, and yes, some of the language and grammer on display here at times is appalling I agree. What are we here for though, golf or grammer policing? I could have played nine holes while writing this.
Cheers!
Rich