need help with spelling, is it lot's or lots

terryw

An interesting one to ponder.

There are any number of ailments which are precede by a name - Bright, Down, Parkinson etc

I have been told that if the name is that of the physician who first diagnosed it then it it not deserving of an apostrophe, but if it named after the sufferer then it does.

What does the team think?

Mojisola

terryw wrote: »

An interesting one to ponder.

There are any number of ailments which are precede by a name - Bright, Down, Parkinson etc

I have been told that if the name is that of the physician who first diagnosed it then it it not deserving of an apostrophe, but if it named after the sufferer then it does.

What does the team think?

I can't understand the reasoning behind that.

Parkinson's disease always has an apostrophe. So does Bright's disease. So does Alzheimer's. In some cases, Down's syndrome seems to be written without the possessive 's' as in Down syndrome so no 's', no need for an apostrophe.

tyllwyd

terryw wrote: »

... I have been told that if the name is that of the physician who first diagnosed it then it it not deserving of an apostrophe, but if it named after the sufferer then it does.

What does the team think?

I've never heard of that, and it doesn't fit with any examples I can think of. Which names follow that rule?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eponymously_named_diseases

Mojisola

tyllwyd wrote: »

I've never heard of that, and it doesn't fit with any examples I can think of.

I wonder if some people are trying to simplify things - like the Americans dropping the 'u' from words spelt 'ous' - so Alzheimer disease, Crohn disease, etc.

fluffnutter

KiKi wrote: »

I completely understand.

The only thing grammatically worse than a rogue apostrophe to my mind is a misplaced semi-colon. They are my favourite punctuation mark, and so mis-used. Poor things.

I love the semicolon. George Orwell didn't. He deliberately wrote one of his books (Coming Up For Air I think) without using one once. I don't expect anyone noticed.

KiKi

fluffnutter wrote: »

I love the semicolon. George Orwell didn't. He deliberately wrote one of his books (Coming Up For Air I think) without using one once. I don't expect anyone noticed.

Really?? That's absolutely fascinating!

I'm writing a novel at the moment and it's semi-colon city. I'm happy to take in any strays and use them in my sentences; they deserve it.

Thanks for the bit of info. Another nugget to add to my 'useless information for pub quizzes' pot.

Zimm190

pollypenny wrote: »

Ironically, 'Gent's' could be correct, as the apsotrophe shows omission!

Better not to go there though.

Best rule - if in doubt, leave out!

I agree that the omission rule can be confusing to those for whom apostrophes present a challenge; it's led to my husband writing "photo's" and "Christmas dec's", reasoning that the apostrophes indicate shortened versions of "photographs" and "decorations", respectively. I can understand his point.

prowla

reeree wrote: »

when writing lots of love etc do you write lots or lot's, l need to know for my grandsons essay weve looked online but can't find anything, thanks for any help in advance

I'm sure the comprehensive rules can be found somewhere, but at their simplest the apostrophe means is doing or belonging to (eg. Fred's hat, Fred's going for a walk), whereas plural doesn't (eg. How many Freds can you fit into a phone box). The apostrophe can also denote letters left out (eg. it's is it is isn't it).

KiKi

Mojisola wrote: »

I wonder if some people are trying to simplify things - like the Americans dropping the 'u' from words spelt 'ous' - so Alzheimer disease, Crohn disease, etc.

That reminds me of the Eddie Izzard piece from 'Dressed to Kill' where he talks about American spelling in front of an American audience in San Francisco.

"You say 'aluminum' and we say 'aluminium'. You say 'centrifugal' and we say 'centrifugal'. You say, 'leisure' and we say 'lizuray'. You say 'baysil' and we say 'bazil'. You say 'erbs' and we say 'herbs' - because there’s a f***king 'h' in the front. But you spell 'through' T-H-R-U and I’m with you on that, 'cause we spell it 'thruff'."

pollypenny

Zimm190 wrote: »

I agree that the omission rule can be confusing to those for whom apostrophes present a challenge; it's led to my husband writing "photo's" and "Christmas dec's", reasoning that the apostrophes indicate shortened versions of "photographs" and "decorations", respectively. I can understand his point.

Indeed, it is correct, but so ugly, eh?

I think we can safely assume that abbreviations like 'gents' and 'photos' have acquired word status of their own.