The powah of the apostrophe

So after letting it lie fallow for too long, I've deleted some stuff and resurrected this as my 'whimsy' blog. Heh.

While I was drying my hair (always fun during a heatwave), it just occurred to me I am a snob.

Well, I always knew that really: setting the scene is just for effect. And to hell with the blow-dry because it really is hot.

Mostly, I'm a language snob (but yes, a snob in general too). And a quick check of a feed just confirmed that.

"Per say" - ouch. Mercinary... also ouch. Last week I sat and boggled over "Lot's and lot's". Gah. Then there's the frequent references to "new bikini's". Makes me think "new bikini's what?"

Apostrophes are not hard. The mean "belonging". The bikini's fastener, or instance. Or they mean "contraction": It's a nice day.

Its, without one, is a pronoun. "Her bikini with its fastener".

They go AFTER WHAT IT BELONGS TO. Good rule of thumb. Like this:
Man's, children's, bikini's, etc. etc.

If there are several of something, then think of a horse (go on, you can)
The horse's hooves = the hooves that belong to one horse, so the apostrophes goes after the owner
The horses' hooves = the hooves that belong to several horses.

Logical, eh?

Other things: the countries' flags, but the country's flags, the lady's boobs but the ladies' boobs.

Got it?

Heh.

Sure, communication is the thing on blogs, and not perfection. But dammit if you're posting to a blog intended to, y'know, advertise yourself and your stunning creations or fashion sense, bear in mind that major bloopers make people laugh (sometimes) or groan and scroll on.

I groaned and scrolled. But hey, that's me.

And next, I may tackle the comma. I'll leave you with this:

"He's choking, baby!" versus "He's choking baby!"

Powerful little buggers also, commas.