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Fellow pedants, gather round and share a very, very special growing-up moment in the Inferiority Complex

37 replies

motherinferior · 11/04/2007 17:24

I explained apostrophes to DD1 today.

It was a special, precious moment (in the car, of course, as these moments tend to be). I shall remember it always.

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Carmenere · 11/04/2007 17:26

Aww sweet.

SenoraPostrophe · 11/04/2007 17:26

. well done.

Twiglett · 11/04/2007 17:26

hmm I'm sure I've heard you tell that story before MI

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Heathcliffscathy · 11/04/2007 17:30

me too

lovely to see/meet you both today btw.

we had amazingly smooth journey home....one of those when you get to platforms/bustops and the right train/bus is just arriving! bliss.

Twiglett · 11/04/2007 17:33

I am in awe of your command of public transport

motherinferior · 11/04/2007 17:34

I drove halfway round SouthEastBloodyLondon, dammit.

I told you I'd have to share here, you two

OP posts:
Califrau · 11/04/2007 17:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PrincessPeaHead · 11/04/2007 17:39

oooh! oooh! I did that in the car the other day too!

But it was to my 9 yr old who should, frankly, now it by now. But still!

We have a common bond, MI. I treasure that.

Kif · 11/04/2007 17:58

know

JackieNo · 11/04/2007 18:03

MI, you must be very proud. You know there will come a time, when she's older, that you'll have to explain semi-colons to her. Almost as difficult as explaining about Where Babies Come From, I should imagine.

hunkermunker · 11/04/2007 18:04

That's lovely, MI.

Another pedant is born!

singersgirl · 11/04/2007 18:15

DS2 and I are very Fond Of Apostrophes. DS1 (his father's son) is less bothered.

May I recommend The Great Grammar Book, which is a fantastic pop up book that goes into great detail about colons, semi-colons, apostrophes ("Never ever with a possessive pronoun!"), ellipses and so forth? Top reading for the pedantically inclined 5 year old.

Aloha · 11/04/2007 18:18

ds pointed out an incorrect apostrophe at the greengrocer's lately.

singersgirl · 11/04/2007 18:20

Aloha, that is a real pedant's coming-of-age, and you should be mightily proud!

filthymindedvixen · 11/04/2007 18:23

my ds (aged 5) pointed out a grocer's apostophe (in an actual greengrocer's ) and a spelling mistake (tomato's)

Does he get an honourable mention too?

(He also made his teacher's day when he explained to the rest of his reception class about alliteration)
(Particularly proud pedantic parenting moment )

DrMarthaMcMoo · 11/04/2007 18:29

I took ds2 to a performance of "The Elves and the Shoemaker" at Carmarthen's Lyric Theatre (no, you probably haven't heard of it, I know) last week and almost, almost heckled the leading man when he came out with a line about "I have even less customers than I used to have..."

How sad would I have looked if I'd given in to my impulse and shouted "fewer"?

singersgirl · 11/04/2007 18:32

Yes, FMV, your son should definitely be admitted to the Hall of Fame!

Aloha · 11/04/2007 18:32

Ah a boasting thread! Marvellous. My ds knows what a homophone is (or did last week, can't be sure about this week).

I know what you mean about the urge McMartha! It's almost overwhelming isn't it. Dh and I share our happiest moments bellowing 'FEWER!' at the television.

donnie · 11/04/2007 18:35

dd1 takes pleasure in correcting people's dropped ts and hs at school. She actually did ask one of her class mates ' are you from chavland?' the other week which was slightly embarrassing.

DrMarthaMcMoo · 11/04/2007 18:36

Ha, Aloha...also last week we did pond dipping at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales and the woman said something about "less tadpoles". Dh and I did a sideways, raised eyebrows glance at each other and we each knew exactly what the other was thinking It keeps us happy.

brimfull · 11/04/2007 18:45

please explain the less/fewer rule for thicko here

DrMarthaMcMoo · 11/04/2007 18:52

Fewer is for nouns that are multiples - so fewer peas, fewer customers, fewer items (in the 10 items or less queue in Tesco )

Less is for singular - so less sand, less money etc.

It's often nouns with an s on the end which you use fewer for but not always - ie., fewer men, not less men.

singersgirl · 11/04/2007 18:55

I'm now on the board of governors at the DSs' school and I have to bite my lip every time the headteacher says "between you and I", or "he said to Jenny and I".

singersgirl · 11/04/2007 18:56

Oh, and have posted before on DS2's fondness for pointing out other people's glottal stops - pretty embarrassing when we were camping in France...

frogs · 11/04/2007 19:00

DrMoo, the technical term is 'count' and 'non-count' nouns (in EFL speak, anyway). If you can count it, at least theoretically (bicycles, apples, planets, stars, books, trees, viruses) then you need 'fewer'. If you can't count it (sugar, milk, mud, paint) then you need 'less'.