Ultimate Unofficial Guide

[Judy <judy@judyshapiro.com>]

GulPlum wrote:
> I don't think I've encountered a single typo, misplaced 
> apostrophe or comma, or badly-structured sentence (despite some 
> sentences being very complicated syntactically) in the four [JKR]
> books to date.

Well, one copy I have refers to HRH as playing "exploding snape."
(Freudian slip?)  Even if it were our dear Severeus who were doing the
exploding, his name should have been capitalized.  So, any way you
look at it, "exploding snape" is ungrammatical.

Gul continued:
> do American schools not teach proper use of apostrophes any 
> more? ... For instance, use of "The Durlsey's" as 
> a nominative plural (viz. several posts on the mail list in the
> last 24 hours, hence my pre-occupation with this issue at this very 
> moment) causes me physical irritation. 

I have two answers to that question.  First, I think using an
apostrophe followed by the letter "s" is sometimes considered
grammatical.  (I try to avoid it, though, since learning several
months ago that it bothers some people.) Grammar isn't fixed; it
evolves over time.  If enough people say that a usage is grammatical,
then it is. (Which is sometimes unfortunate. It drives me nuts when
people use "disinterested" to mean "uninterested" instead of
"impartial.") 

Second, some American schools have been avoiding a focus on spelling
and grammar, in the belief that the creative aspects of writing are
more important than the formal aspects.  I don't agree with neglecting
spelling and grammar, but there it is.

-- Judy, who entirely missed the thread about hidden cameras and
parents, and needs to go back and read it