Best Google Research Project Ever
How many "A's" do you put in "Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" ??
Wow, that has to be the hardest to punctuate sentence I have ever written. Is there even a right way to punctuate that?
Via TJIC
Update: This is also an interesting study in the Heisenberg principle (which, generalized from its quantum mechanics roots, posits that you can't study a process without altering it). The very act of posting the results is changing future Google searches, so the original results will be invalid.
Update #2: There needs to be one of those web sites that do textual analysis of web content called the geek-o-meter. I would suppose that by dropping a Heisenberg and a Star Trek reference in the same post, I have shot up there on any presumptive scale. All I need is a D&D reference, which I actually came frighteningly close to in the last post when I wanted to say "it's like Obama dropped all his character creation points into charisma and didn't have any left over for wisdom."
Steve:
On the topic of correct punctuation, the apostrophe indicates possession or a contraction, not "look out, there's an 's' coming!"
So, that would be:
How many "A"s do you ...
Back in the 70s we wrote "Z"s on the labels of our 45s. No apostrophes needed.
February 5, 2009, 11:20 amSteve:
On the topic of correct punctuation, the apostrophe indicates possession or a contraction, not "look out, there's an 's' coming!"
So, that would be:
How many "A"s do you ...
Back in the 70s we wrote "Z"s on the labels of our 45s. No apostrophes needed.
</petulant grammar>
February 5, 2009, 11:24 amKevin Jackson:
Actually, Steve, I would go with A's rather than "A"s. The quotation marks serve no purpose there (who are you quoting?). And I use the apostrophe-s for pluralization when the result without apostrophe would be confusing. As could be confused with the word as, for example. CD's and DVD's are another situation where I do the same.
This is my personal preference, not rules from a style guide, of course. But I think the apostrophe is justified when you pluralize something that is not strictly a word.
February 5, 2009, 3:52 pmGarrison:
And charisma is supposed to be the dump stat.
February 5, 2009, 4:15 pmKiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirk!:
Usually it is written with the same number of "a"'s as there are "i"'s in my name.
February 5, 2009, 6:29 pmBrad Warbiany:
How about applying Schrödinger’s Cat to babies? Will that peg the geek-o-meter?
February 5, 2009, 10:32 pmSteve:
Kevin, it is a very common mistake. You'll get away with it with most people, either because they are ignorant of the rules or don't care.
Sure, it could be argued that A's are more obvious than "A"s, but you couldn't you say the same thing for A-s, A#s, A^s, etc.?
If you want to really have fun, try saying, "Woe is I," instead of, "Woe is me." The first is formally correct, but I've never heard anyone say that. I have, occasionally heard, "It is I," or, "It is she."d
As for your other example, I see no reason why CD's are in any way better than CDs.
February 6, 2009, 4:36 amGreg:
Embrace your geekiness. Blog about Dungeons and Dragons!
Place under a picture of Obama:
"The problem with having a high Charisma is it means you're useless in combat."
February 10, 2009, 10:30 pm