Just needed to be heard for a little while

Solarjunkie

It seems apostrophes after names ending in S has been a hot topic for a very long time, but it does seem that Jesus & Moses don't usually get an extra S. Mind you, at school I was taught that "belonging to Jesus" was not pronounced Jeesusses but Jeez-ewes.

While doing a bit of apostrophic googling I came up with this, which took me from googling to giggling -

Kingsley Amis, on being challenged to produce a sentence whose meaning depended on a possessive apostrophe, came up with:

Those things over there are my husband’s. (Those things over there belong to my husband.)
Those things over there are my husbands’. (Those things over there belong to several husbands of mine.)
Those things over there are my husbands. (I'm married to those men over there.)

Waves_and_Smiles

Hahahahahaha I love Kingsley Amis, I love Martin Amis, too! I miss reading their books. The other word problem that always gets me is effect and affect. I know how it works in theory but still hesitate over which one to use. You will find I don't use either very often, I substitute something else.

Pyxis

Here's an mnemonic:

1. Affectionate gestures affect me greatly. (Verb).
A...G...A

2. The Butterfly Effect. Butterfly effects a change in a far-off corner of the world. B...E....B....E
(The first is as a noun, the second as a verb, meaning to make or cause to happen.)

(NB. Affect can also be a noun, but it is not used a great deal, so shan't confuse the issue here!)
Edit. Yes, thanks JM! I was just going to add that it means an emotional state in psychology/psychiatry!

jobbingmusician

Ummmm..... affect as a noun is used all the time in mental health! (It means mood, more or less)

Waves_and_Smiles

This is true, JM! It's sentences like "This had a strange effect" or "This was effective/affective" that get me! I asked my teacher friend to explain it (he was an English teacher before a headteacher) and I am still confused!

dibuzz

Can one of you nip round and hit me with a sledgehammer please? It's the only thing I've not tried.

whitewing

Oh dear, dibuzz, it must be enormously frustrating.

Are you hydrated enough?

I am getting enough sleep, but I am dreaming a lot lately - herds of donkeys, very cute baby donkeys and buffaloes featured in the last dream. The dreams aren't scary but I don't feel very rested.

seven-day-weekend

Thank you WaS for relating the cup of tea incident. It's helped with understanding.

I have a friend who, despite being a very good cook, is rarely able to do any. She has suffered for most of her life (she is now nearly 50) with severe depression and psychotic episodes and has been on a cocktail of strong medication including lithium for many years.

She can't often get her thoughts together or organise herself enough to do cooking. Your experience with the tea-making has given me some insight into what this might feel like. Thanks.

Just a thought, would it help if you continually said to yourself 'I am making a CUP of TEA', then you would focus on the cup and tea bag - would a narrower thought process like this help?

Please tell me if this suggestion is too intrusive and I will delete it.

dibuzz

whitewing wrote: »

Oh dear, dibuzz, it must be enormously frustrating.

Are you hydrated enough?

I think so, one side effect of the meds is a dry mouth so I drink a lot, mainly herb teas.
I managed to sleep for an hour.

Pyxis

Dibuzz, do you think that hypnotherapy might help?