As you said, Anon, many people write “dos and don’ts” as “do’s and don’t’s.” Some people write it as “do’s and don’ts.”
Which is right?
Unfortunately, it depends. For example, the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook says that “dos and don’ts” is correct. But the Oxford Companion to the English Language states that it should be “do’s and don’ts.” Both are trusted sources.
The argument that people make in support of “do’s” (which looks grotesque because it uses ‘s to pluralize a word) is that “dos” can be confused with the Spanish word “dos” (two) or with the old computer operating system DOS.
Personally, we think this argument is weak:
- Why would anyone reasonably think that “dos” is referring to the Spanish word “dos” in “dos and don’ts”? “Two and don’ts” makes no logical sense whatsoever. Moreover, do we ever say things like “cuatro and can’ts”? (No!) In other words, there is no reason to think that a Spanish word will randomly be used in conjunction with an English one.
- Who the f*** even talks about DOS anymore? We would venture to guess that 95% of the people who follow this blog have no idea what DOS is, and that 99% have never used DOS or seen it in action.
In closing, although both “dos and don’ts” and “do’s and don’ts” (but not “do’s and don’t’s”) are considered acceptable, we prefer “dos and don’ts.”
TL;DR
Part 1 of the answer is simple: almost every word that begins with a consonant (e.g., cat, dog, monkey, giraffe, hamburgers) requires the indefinite article “a.”
The exception to this rule is a word like “honest,” in which the consonant “h” is silent. In that case, it requires “an”: an honest man, an hour from now, etc. (However, for other “h” words in which the “h” is not silent, we use “a”: a hungry hippo, a hot potato, a hero, etc.)
Part 2 of the answer details with vowels:
Therefore, jackerbie, the correct answer to your question would be “a university.”
(Source: theyuniversity, via theyuniversity)
That basically answers what a semicolon does. If you are studying for the SAT exam, you definitely need to master the semicolon; it appears frequently. (See what we did there?)
The comma, on the other hand, is much more complicated. Luckily, an excellent piece from the New York Times delves into the misunderstood punctuation that is the comma.
If you have additional questions, feel free to tweet us @The_YUNiversity. Cheers.
(Source: theyuniversity, via theyuniversity)
The short answer is that momentarily can mean either “lasting for a moment” or “in a moment.”
Momentarily originally meant “lasting for a moment,” as in “He paused momentarily before answering the question.” But since the 1920s, it has also been used to mean “in a moment,” e.g., “Jane told us that she will be arriving momentarily.”
Here are some more examples:
This post will end momentarily.
For the sake of thoroughness, let’s cover all the different verb tenses of sing.
Sung is the past participle form of “sing.” It usually follows “have,” “has,” or “had.”
However, sung by itself can follow “is,” “was,” and “were”:
- “No Surprises” was sung by Radiohead.
- The chorus was sung in front of a live studio audience.
- “God Bless America” is sometimes sung instead of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at sporting events.
(NOTE: Those three examples are all in the passive voice.)
There you have it. We hope this makes sing, sang, sung, and even singed clearer than when you began reading this post five minutes ago.
(Source: theyuniversity)
How should you say fragile?
Interesting question!
Let’s first look at the different ways in which “return” can be used:
There’s also one more, as in “to strike back”:
- “Nadal returned Ferrer’s serve for a winner.”
- “She returned his weak insult with a witty remark that completely embarrassed him.”
From the above, “come back” can be used interchangeably with “return” in only #2 and #3:
- “She came back to her homeland.”
- “She came back from her trip to her homeland.”
However, there are cases when “return” cannot be used interchangeably with “come back”:
CLOSING POINTS:
- Notice that all of the above examples involving “come back” involve idioms.
- Also, this post covers “return” and “come back” as verbs, not as nouns. (They can also be nouns. Consult a dictionary to see what they mean as nouns.)
doctor's appointment? doctors appointment? doctors'? uhmmmmm?
Both “doctor’s appointment” and “doctor appointment” are accepted, and if we absolutely had to pick between the two, we’d choose the latter.
Here’s why:
Of course, no one will interpret “I have a doctor’s appointment at noon” to mean “I have an appointment that belongs to a doctor at noon,” but it still looks strange.
What would be a better way to say it?
Interestingly, “doctor’s appointment” is by far the more popular of the two. (“Doctor’s appointment” is in blue; “doctor appointment” is in red.)
As you can see, it’s not even close (and the dominance of “doctor’s appointment” is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning around 1970). This Ngram shows that “doctor’s appointment” has pretty much become the standard usage.
Having said that, no one will criticize you for “doctor appointment” or “appointment with a doctor.”
Let’s suppose that you’re about to graduate from college. Naturally, you’re excited about buying a license plate frame for your car to express your pride in your alma mater.
But don’t rush into buying any license plate frame; make sure that you don’t embarrass your school by purchasing the wrong one!
Before you grab the coolest looking “Alumni - (Name of School)” license plate frame, ask yourself the all-important question: Am I an “alumnus,” “alumni,” “alumna,” or “alumnae”? (Many people have never even heard of the last two; therefore, very few companies even make such license plate frames. We happened to find one such plate in the wild.)
You might have read all this and asked, “Who the [grawlix] cares?”
YOU should, my friend. It all begins with YOU.
P.S. The abbreviation “alum” works in place of “alumnus” and “alumna,” and “alums” works in place of “alumnae” and “alumni.”
(Source: theyuniversity, via theyuniversity)
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