Southward bound?

This thread system is unlike that of any other discussion forum I've seen. It's confusing when things get out of chronological order, but worth it that you can reply to a post right beneath it instead of at the very end.

OK, you guys are already over the coolness of that, so I'll move right along. Yes, I much prefer 1900s to 1900's, and was disappointed to see in at least one usage guide that 1900's was ALSO acceptable. I was already disappointed enough that you have to say "Straight A's," even though "A" is not possessive, just so it won't look like the word "as." But with numbers, that confusion can't arise, so why waste time and eyesight on an apostrophe?

I also have something to say about "enormity." I wrote this online writing guide for--well, I hate to plug myself when this ENTIRE TRIBE is all about plugging me already (and I'm still not over that--WHOA)--but, anyway, I wrote it for my proofreading web site, www.thescarletpen.com. It's a 66-page downloadable style and usage guide, with sample sentences for certain words, and here's what I said about that one:

enormity vs. enormousness
Though dictionaries allow for the use of "enormity" to indicate size, usage guides direct that it be reserved for "outrageousness" or "atrociousness." For size, use enormousness or immensity:

Orwell found himself thinking that the enormity of shooting the elephant was magnified by the enormousness of the beast.


And, since I'm already talking about it, I'll add this other bit from my usage guide, as proof to Sanchez that no GOOD editor cares about the following:

Starting a Sentence with "And" or "But"
Sometimes a sentence has gone on long enough--you've made several points, and perhaps inserted a parenthetical phrase or two--and you just have to end it. But that doesn't mean you're done with the subject. It's appropriate, in these cases, to begin the next sentence with "And" or "But." All usage guides seem to agree that, especially in formal writing, the practice should not be overdone. But that could be said of any stylistic technique.

*kick*

Re: You're/Your

My favorite example of the you're/your misuse was on a tomb stone. Fortunately no one I knew, but it said something about devoted father, loving husband... bla bla bla, ending with, "Your always in our hearts." Someone actually carved that in stone. Yeah, I know.

You're my hero.