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apostrophe
APOSTROPHE
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
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1998
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© Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information)
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APOSTROPHE2 [Stress: ‘a-POS-tro-fy’].
1. In
RHETORIC, addressing someone or something that cannot respond, such as: a dead person (‘Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour’: Wordsworth), a place (‘Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain’: Goldsmith), or an idea (‘O liberty! O liberty! what crimes are committed in thy name!’: translating Mme Roland). Originally, the term referred to the invocation opening such epics as Homer's
Iliad: ‘Sing, Goddess, of the deadly wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus.’
2. A deliberate interruption, as when a lawyer breaks off from an argument to address a judge or turn on an opponent, usually for rhetorical effect or to divert attention from a tricky issue or a weak argument.
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Narrative apostrophe: reading, rhetoric, resistance in Michel Butor's 'La modification' and Julio Cortazar's "Graffiti." (Second-Person Narrative)
Magazine article from: Style; 9/22/1994; ; 700+ words
; ...significantly - and bizarrely - the apostrophe bears two "addresses...will not. Covertly, an apostrophe is meant to provoke response...to say, the convention of apostrophe is to differentiate between...put it yet another way, apostrophes are messages uttered with...
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 "Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)")
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APOSTROPHE LOSING ITS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE.(News/National/International)
Newspaper article from: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO); 9/28/1997; 700+ words
; ...bothersome as the omitted apostrophe is the needless and unwanted apostrophe. This often appears...s.'' Why the apostrophes? Strike 'em out! Unloved apostrophes turn up everywhere...stylistic use of the apostrophe. Just about every...
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 "The Star (South Africa)")
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Isnt it time to let go of the apostrophe? Those who dont want it have a point, but there might be problems.(News)
Newspaper article from: The Star (South Africa); 5/11/2009; 700+ words
; ...upon other peoples apostrophe 'misuse' like it matters, which it doesnt. Apostrophes are redundant. Wed...quoted above - where the apostrophe has been eliminated...consuming putting in apostrophes - when text messaging in particular. But the apostrophe lovers' lobby argues...
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Apostrophes in Names Stir Lot O' Trouble
News Wire article from: AP Online; 2/21/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...still getting confused by the apostrophe. It's a problem familiar...identity. I dropped the apostrophe and ran my name as `ODowd...Italian and African names with apostrophes can befuddle computer systems...not be able to handle an apostrophe, a hyphen or a gap in a...
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Its a catastrophe for the apostrophe in Britain
News Wire article from: AP Worldstream; 1/30/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...be rewritten with an apostrophe. I had to make a final...Friday. We keep debating apostrophes in meetings and we have...campaigns to restore the apostrophe that would tell passers...owned by the monarchy. Apostrophes denote possessions that...
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 "Deseret News (Salt Lake City)")
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It's a catastrophe for the apostrophe as British officials shun punctuation
Newspaper article from: Deseret News (Salt Lake City); 2/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...be rewritten with an apostrophe. "I had to make a...We keep debating apostrophes in meetings and we have...campaigns to restore the apostrophe that would tell passers...by the monarchy. "Apostrophes denote possessions that...
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An idiot's guide to the apostrophe Councils issue crib sheets advising staff on basics of grammar to stop embarrassing blunders on signs
Newspaper article from: The Sunday Telegraph London; 8/30/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...correct use of the apostrophe in his home town...become known as the Apostrophe Man of Royal Tunbridge...signs that were missing apostrophes or had one in the wrong...and founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society...missing or incorrect apostrophes and punctuation. But...
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For English city, apostrophe's a thing of the past
Newspaper article from: Sunday Gazette-Mail; 2/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...be rewritten with an apostrophe. "I had to make a...We keep debating apostrophes in meetings and we have...campaigns to restore the apostrophe that would tell passers...by the monarchy. "Apostrophes denote possessions that...
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The bad luck o' the Irish: Apostrophes can confuse computers, mess up your dental appointment
News Wire article from: AP Worldstream; 2/22/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...still getting confused by the apostrophe. It is a problem familiar...was written. I dropped the apostrophe and ran my name as `ODowd...Italian and African names with apostrophes can befuddle computer systems...not be able to handle an apostrophe, a hyphen or a gap in a...
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Find the right home for apostrophes.(Editing)
Newspaper article from: The Newsletter on Newsletters; 8/6/2004; 661 words
; ...improper use of apostrophes. She describes the apostrophe as "that elegant...needs separate apostrophes: John's...3) The apostrophe marks the plural...note that an apostrophe marks the omitted...pronouns have no apostrophes: yours, ours...
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APOSTROPHE
Book article from: Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
...second, which has the apostrophe of omission: by and large, the use of two apostrophes close together (as...s , although such apostrophe-free forms as the...Washington Irving used apostrophes in only 38% of the...x2018;The Ambivalent Apostrophe’, English...
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apostrophe
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
apostrophe figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is addressed as though present...
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abbreviation
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...the middle, the omission sometimes being indicated by an apostrophe, as in the word don't. Most abbreviations are followed...can be pronounced as a word. A period is never used when apostrophes appear. A list of abbreviations used in this encyclopedia...
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D
Book article from: Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
...pronunciation can be shown by means of a GRAVE ACCENT or an APOSTROPHE . So, in Shakespeare's Hamlet , damned has two full syllables...private writing, the suffix -d was often preceded by an apostrophe to indicate an omitted silent e ( ask'd , pass'd , shew...
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punctuation
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...thinsp;]), a secondary parenthesis; capital letters; paragraphing; and indentation. Two other frequent signs are the apostrophe ('), marking an omission of one or two letters, or a possessive case, and the hyphen (-), marking a line division...
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