Gowerz book

What I had intended to write and had omitted the critical word, was:

That fits within the second rule of the Sir Ernest Gowers book "The Complete Plain Words" for the use of apostrophes.

That eliminates the apostrophe problem entirely!

Oh poop!
The autistic "Mr Apostrophe Men" are out of the closets now.
So that lets me add my bit.
When adding an "s" to indicate plurals there is NO need for an apostrophe (even though many think they have to).
Agree with Watto: "One Cooper S; or 2 Cooper Ss" - the little "s" means plural because it would be pronounced (by the reader) as "one Cooper ess; or 2 Cooper esses".

OK, seeing as we are having English lessons, I would like to point out a couple of my pet hates.
People who write "should of" Instead of "should have"
And secondly "smaller then" instead of smaller than"
It happens a lot here!!!

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Ha ha. I think we must be showing our age, Dave, as I also cringe a bit with some of the grammar used online, including here on Ausmini. And yes, "should of" stands out, which I routinely shorten to "should've".

Of course it's more important that Ausminiers actively participate in forum life than have perfect grammar so I generally ignore transgressions. I rationalise that a career that included authoring policy and procedure documents, developing business proposals and writing project plans has given me English grammar and spelling training that others miss out on. I do admit, Your Honour, that I sometimes use Moderator privileges to correct posts by others where the meaning and intent is not clear. Splitting a long-winded post into separate paragraphs and adding some punctuation can make a world of difference.

Dave, my pet hate is the use of texting shortcuts when posting on here. The keying time saved by the author is more than offset by the need for others to read the post several times in order to comprehend. It smacks of laziness and a lack of courtesy to me.

OMG, if you RBTL you'll see me ROTFLMAO re this POV. J/K. Later bro.

http://www.netlingo.com/top50/popular-text-terms.php

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

I know he's trying to tell me something...

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Watto .
Photojournalist
Mini historian and enthusiast
http://www.theminiexperience.com.au

I would like the people that have issues with someones spelling to PM the person. They don't need to be put down in front of thousands of others. If i can understand what they are saying then i don't have an issue. Some members may use english as a secondary language, may have had limited schooling or learning issues.

I agree, except I'm not sure it's even beneficial to point out errors via a PM for the very reasons stated. We all come from different backgrounds so some would see it as unfair personal criticism. I PM'ed the author of a very disjointed and confusing post several years ago, only to discover it was one of the outcomes of a nasty brain injury. I encouraged them to ignore my comment and continue doing what they were doing.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

Gee and I thought you were supposed to be a Moderator and not an Editor.

If the meaning and intent is unclear to you I don't think you should change a post without advising the OP (couldn't resist using a common internet shortening!) as we then have your interpretation which may be incorrect.

I wondered if that might get a response to that admission. To clarify, all I've ever done is inserted a full-stop or a comma where it's obviously an omission, and only if I have had to read the post several times to understand what's meant.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

Many times i have had to go back and fix my posts. Usually because i don't read what i write before i hit the send button. But you have to be quick and fix it before someone posts something else.

It is offensive in the extreme to 'put people down' for their spelling/grammar.
It is what they say/know that is relevant - as per Winabbey.
Just that the question starting this thread was asking for the plural of "Cooper S" and there is a convention on plurals - as per Watto.
Bill

advice, advise
they're, there, their
were, we're, where
Jones, Jones'

don't do too much skoolin' these days

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The bitterness of poor quality (or Crappy Workmanship) remains LONG AFTER the Sweet Taste of Low Price is forgotten.

Oh dear,
I thought the possessive plural of "princess" caused enough consternation.

Miniron

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68 build Mk1 Cooper S
72 Clubman GT project. Total restoration required

Another possibility is similar to that used with Attorney General.

The plural of Attorney General is Attorneys General as it is the Attorneys that are plural not the General.
The same could be applied to Cooper S as it is the Coopers that are plural and not the S which is the model specific designation similar to the General part of Attorneys General.

I am not saying this is correct just suggesting this as a possibility.

Miniron

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68 build Mk1 Cooper S
72 Clubman GT project. Total restoration required