(n.) A figure of speech by which the orator or writer suddenly breaks off from the previous method of his discourse, and addresses, in the second person, some person or thing, absent or present; as, Milton's apostrophe to Light at the beginning of the third book of "Paradise Lost."
(n.) The contraction of a word by the omission of a letter or letters, which omission is marked by the character ['] placed where the letter or letters would have been; as, call'd for called.
(n.) The mark ['] used to denote that a word is contracted (as in ne'er for never, can't for can not), and as a sign of the possessive, singular and plural; as, a boy's hat, boys' hats. In the latter use it originally marked the omission of the letter e.
Example Sentences:
(1) The Ukrainian security service said it had forbidden Seagal entry to the country for five years, in a letter published by the news site Apostrophe.
(2) What if she misuses an apostrophe in her next post?
(3) The apostrophe has been missing since time immemorial.
(4) Instinctively, I glance at my room, looking for long-gone stickers in the window, the one for Mix ’96 (“Bucks Best Music” – the lack of apostrophe still irritates), and an aquapark we once went to in Spain.
(5) The word did not exist until the early 1700s, when the “a” in “acute” was replaced by an apostrophe – ’cute – and then dropped altogether.
(6) "The theme tune by Ronnie Hazlehurst features a piccolo spelling out the title in Morse code, excluding the apostrophes.
(7) He campaigned mightily to preserve the correct usage of the apostrophe, and the good councillors of Clogthorpe would be lampooned regularly as they ponderously set about desecrating their Victorian town in the cause of modernity.
(8) But it is far more important to highlight the moments that make this job truly special, like seeing the imagination a year 10 boy will put into thinking up a false name when caught misbehaving, or the deliberate misuse of an apostrophe by a student who, in his own way, is showing you he gets it.
(9) • This article was amended on 21 June 2012 to remove a misplaced apostrophe in the standfirst.
(10) But Tussauds (which has now dropped the apostrophe) never quite enjoyed the credibility of a museum and tended to be sneered at by historians.
(11) Unfortunately named cafe chain Apostrophe also fell victim to the curse of the apostrophe in a marketing slogan, "Great taste on it's way".
(12) Long before Lynne Truss's, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Waterhouse founded The Association for the Abolition of the Aberrant Apostrophe: vile lapses of grammar in shops were among many regular targets.
(13) It could be something as small as a "Hope your OK" text, which will send me spiralling into apocalyptic visions of a life without apostrophes or question marks.
(14) As annoying as errant apostrophes and misplaced hyphens can be, they probably didn’t warrant their own website, nor were so offensive as to need incineration.
(15) Next comes the NHS, for confusing subject and object in a letter – "Your appointment has now been organised to attend Queen Mary's Hospital … " – and featuring a rogue apostrophe: "The RDC Suite's are clearly signposted".
Ditto
Definition:
(n.) The aforesaid thing; the same (as before). Often contracted to do., or to two "turned commas" ("), or small marks. Used in bills, books of account, tables of names, etc., to save repetition.
(adv.) As before, or aforesaid; in the same manner; also.
Example Sentences:
(1) Ditto the policies that made life in Gaza so difficult.
(2) Ditto for his acknowledgement that the “oversight theatre” (my term, not his) that currently passes for democratic accountability must be replaced by a much more muscular and credible institution – an independent surveillance and intelligence commission.
(3) Ditto for users, who don't like the idea of spending on a new computer and then having to shift their files over from an old machine.
(4) I can’t remember which ill-fated combo decided to do a synth-pop cover of Hoagy Carmichael’s I Get Along Without You Very Well, but I can remember Smash Hits’ one-word response: “Ditto.” In their review of David Bowie’s 1983 album Let’s Dance, there was no sense that the journalist was trying to be reasonable, or to justify his views intellectually.
(5) Ditto local government, which will lose around a third of its funding from 2010 to 2015, with much worse to come in the event of another Tory-led government.
(6) Ditto selecting the right setlist from a back catalogue that's prone to end-of-the-world doom-mongering.
(7) Ditto the Little Mermaid’s Ariel, whose desire not just to change her circumstances but change her physical form has made her an unlikely object of identification among some younger members of the transgender community – a girl who believes herself literally born in the wrong body.
(8) When he asked Ditto to stop, he claimed she told him to "Google [her]".
(9) Ditto Fassbender for Shame, Shannon for Take Shelter & Swinton for Kevin.
(10) Ditto the journalists swarming around their beautiful village.
(11) Ditto was arrested after an incident at the Bungalo Bar in Portland, Oregon, which boasts "cheap drinks", "fire pits" and a "huge whiskey selection".
(12) On the final page, Gauguin adds: "Don't listen to Vincent, as you know he's prone to admiration and ditto indulgence.
(13) Today Labour has 211 peers (60% created since 1997), the Lib Dems 67 (ditto), and the Tories 188 (only 25% created since 1997), with non-party crossbenchers (whose "wild card" votes usually cancel each other out) 182, plus 25 bishops and 30 others.
(14) The BBC, as ever, is irritatingly good, despite all the dittos about video.
(15) Ditto the average reporter, though Reuters's Felix Salmon has recently written a terrific account of the phenomenon .
(16) Where are they?” Alan: “One drives around in a big car.” Or John (ditto), plumber: “Well, Ukip are a bit fascist, aren’t they?
(17) Ditto Emma Thompson’s representations, on a number of subjects.
(18) "[Ditto] came up to me and starting to pinch my cheeks (what the fuck?)
(19) Ditto all these Parenting for Clots tomes - by Penelope Leach and Dr Spock and permissive Swedes.
(20) Although she was released that night, Ditto's class B misdemeanor charge is punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 (£1,653) and up to six months in jail, the Portland Mercury reported .