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     <modified>2004-06-02T19:52:48Z</modified>
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     <copyright>Copyright 2001-2004, Mark Pilgrim, all rights reserved</copyright>
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     <entry>
         <author>
             <name>Mark Pilgrim</name>
        </author>
         <title>The apostrophe is the modern day Shibboleth</title>
         <link href="http://diveintomark.org/archives/2004/06/02/apostrophe" type="text/html" rel="alternate"></link>
         <id>tag:diveintomark.org,2004-06-02:/archives/20040602195248</id>
         <issued>2004-06-02T19:52:48Z</issued>
         <created>2004-06-02T19:52:48Z</created>
         <modified>2004-06-02T19:52:48Z</modified>

         <dc:subject>Writers</dc:subject>
         <summary>One of the disadvantages of dealing with a copy editor is that I now have a much higher sensitivity to grammatical errors.  (202 words)</summary>
         <content xml:base="http://diveintomark.org/archives/2004/06/02/apostrophe" type="text/html" mode="escaped">	<p>One of the disadvantages of</p>
            <ol>
                <li><a href="http://diveintomark.org/archives/2004/05/12/copy-editor">dealing with copy editors</a> and</li>
                <li>reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592400876/ref%3Dnosim/diveintomark20">Eats, Shoots &amp; Leaves</a></li>
            </ol>
            <p>is that I now have a much higher sensitivity and much lower tolerance for grammatical errors.  It&#8217;s like after you quit smoking, and you realize that all of your friends smell badly.  Or when you&#8217;re on a diet, and you realize that everyone around you is fat.  Or (to end on a positive note) when you&#8217;re newly engaged, and suddenly the world around you is a sea of diamond rings.</p>
            <p>The world around me is a sea of grammatical errors.</p>
            <p>At the YMCA, this sign sits above the water fountain:</p>
            <blockquote>
                <p>REMEMBER NO SPITTING!!!!!</p>
                <p>IN THE FOUNTAIN, THANK&#8217;S!!!!!</p>
            </blockquote>
            <p>On the way home from work, there is a handmade sign on the side of the road:</p>
            <blockquote>
                <p>Window Tinting</p>
                <p>Cars $150</p>
                <p>SUV&#8217;s $180</p>
            </blockquote>
            <p>At our day care center, one room has this sign in the window:</p>
            <blockquote>
                <p>THE TODDLER&#8217;S ARE OUTSIDE</p>
            </blockquote>
            <p>The <a href="http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/">Apostrophe Protection Society</a> is nice, but it&#8217;s so&#8230; British.  What it needs is a militant wing.  Like those culture jammers that go around <a href="http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/strip-pix-burn-iraq-009574.php">defacing iPod posters</a>.  OK, &#8220;culture jammers&#8221; probably overstates it.</p>
            <p>Hey look, <a href="http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Activism/Media/Culture_Jamming/">culture jamming has its own DMOZ category</a>.  And its own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_jamming">Wikipedia page</a>.  As does <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe_(mark)">the apostrophe</a>.</p>
            <p>The apostrophe is the modern day <a href="http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/shibboleth.html">Shibboleth</a>.</p>
            </content>
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