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Original poster

Punctuation queens - need advice please!

117 replies

oliveoil · 06/02/2004 14:14

My boring report has sent me doolally.

Describing The Judges' Entrance - as in several judges use the entrance - have I done it right?

Or is is Judge's - but does that mean only one?

Or just judges?

arrrrgghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Pregnancy does addle the brain

OP posts:
bunnyrabbit · 06/02/2004 22:16

Anyway should't it be I not i?

BR

Janh · 06/02/2004 22:17

easy, I have it too - quite a few of us do - there is a whole thread on it and Lynne Truss (bet that is poor grammar!) I will go search

tillymint · 06/02/2004 22:18

I say it all the time...
DH "What's for dinner darling"
Me "today is leftovers!"

spacemonkey · 06/02/2004 22:18

haha BR

"Strictly speaking, I'm a pedant, not a nitpicker"

Oakmaiden · 06/02/2004 22:18

Today is leftovers does work - do you not know that song - "Today's Monday - Today's Monday - Monday's cold beef, is everybody happy...."

The original sentance wasn't actually about leftovers. It was about something military. ~It may have been "today's advanced fighter planes" or something. I just said leftovers cos I din't want you all to know what an anorak my dh is.

Janh · 06/02/2004 22:19

beat me to it, pops!

spacemonkey · 06/02/2004 22:20

yeh but "today is Monday" makes sense, "today is leftovers" doesn't

Oakmaiden · 06/02/2004 22:20

the cold beef line was the one I was referring to!

tillymint · 06/02/2004 22:21

Its okay, oaky (interesting anagram)
My dh is an anorak too, he lives in the garage! Suits me.

spacemonkey · 06/02/2004 22:21

"Today is cold beef" makes no sense either! Unless you're speaking metaphorically I suppose?

Janh · 06/02/2004 22:22

May I just interject here with a phrase my kids use every day and which drives me wild - "what time are you aiming tea for?"

What? WHAT? Can somebody please give me an equivalent in proper English which I can then have tattooed on the backs of their hands?

spacemonkey · 06/02/2004 22:22

as in "today is cold beef in the delicatessen of my week"?

twiglett · 06/02/2004 22:22

message withdrawn

popsycal · 06/02/2004 22:23

at what time will tea be served mother dearest???

Oakmaiden · 06/02/2004 22:23

I suppose it is quite colloquial. Today's cold beef. Today's english literature. The cold beef belonging to today, that we plan to eat for supper tonight....

Oakmaiden · 06/02/2004 22:24

Hm, mumble mumble. looks confused at own arguement and shrugs

twiglett · 06/02/2004 22:24

message withdrawn

spacemonkey · 06/02/2004 22:24

ah yes that would work twiglett (scuttles off obviously unable to hack it with the pedantry big boys ...)

tillymint · 06/02/2004 22:25

Jan
A little difficult to give you an alternative phrase. Perhaps they are correct in the directional sense, carrots at 2o'clock, aim fire!!

twiglett · 06/02/2004 22:25

message withdrawn

Janh · 06/02/2004 22:25

That's very nice, popsy!

To be fair, the problem is that I never know exactly when it's going to happen ( mostly due to lingering here longer than intended), so we need to incorporate that element of vagueness into the query.

popsycal · 06/02/2004 22:27

Could you please give us a rough indication of the hour during which tea will be served??

Janh · 06/02/2004 22:28

tillymint, you have a carrot gun too?

twiglett, love the mummy darling and daddy alternatives. I'll work on those!

easy · 06/02/2004 22:30

Janh,

Can you tell me why my junior school teacher Mrs. Booth would never let us use the word 'nice' ?

spacemonkey · 06/02/2004 22:30

i had a teacher like that too easy

she said using the word "nice" was lazy thinking