Getting Possessive Over Contractions

 I've seen apostrophes cause so many little catastrophes. Okay, yes I am being dramatic, but they can be tricky if you don't know where they belong and the proper use and meaning. typos happen quite often because of them so let's define a few. 

Now there's a good one right there. 'Lets' and 'let's' are different. Because based on 'its' and 'it's' we know that "it's" means "it is." But "let's" is actually a plural verb for let us "let us" while "lets" is singular.

But I would say the most commonly messed up words are "your" and "you're." I see this on the internet all the time. So many try to start a petty fight and they type, "your stupid." Their stupid what? "You're" is actually "you are," it's a possessive contraction describing a state of being. "Your" is just possessive. Not that I approve of name calling but at least you know if someone says "your stupid," you know that is incorrect because you don't have any stupid. You know it should be "you are stupid," so do them a favor and leave them a reply and remind them the word should be"You're*."

Online Errors

 Errors are so easy to make online.

I remember one instance I was reading a poem from a certain site, it was supposed to be 202 from Emily Dickinson. But in the title they made a mistake, it read "Faith is fine Invention." Once I saw that I sent them a comment and let them know they were missing an 'a' in the title that was included in the first line but not the title. That was a month ago and they have since fixed it. 

I decided to look for punctuation specific errors, and I'm realizing that most of the media I consume gets dumped if I can't understand it. But I have learned that 95% of memes are somewhere between using too many ellipses or not using any periods at all.  Of course there are points where it is necessary. But for the most part I agree with this post.

Not a single period or comma in sight, yet it is still readable. But once the story gets to two sentences or more it becomes necessary. 

But at the same time it can be a little ironic. You better have the best grammar and spelling ever if you plan to pick a fight over the internet. 

It's been taken so far that sometimes the serious posts become jokes.

This one is one of my favorites, the whole dramatic air of the post just tossed out a window. 

A more recent punctuation test given to the internet is this:

So choose your words and punctuation carefully. It can change whole ideals and societal constructs. 

The Elusive Email

Emails can be difficult to deliver the correct message and even receive a response. Depending on the setting an email can be as professional or as casual as the situation calls for. I would say A World Without Whom by Emmy Favilla explains the process best. In chapter 11 of her book, Favilla discusses the importance for being frank and too the point with emails. Lets be honest, when was the last time you got an email just for fun?

So for example, here is an email I sent to a customer service team after I only received half of my text book order. (Right?!) So this is the panicked email I sent them. (Spoilers, the other half came two days later and all is well.)

 

Hi my name is Ambri Miller, I ordered some books about a week ago and it says they're all here but I'm missing half my order.

Attached is a screenshot of my order. I'm still missing "Whereas" and "Typos." I need these books for class and I need them asap but the tracker doesn't show them anymore. 

Please let me know when you find them.

Thanks!

Looking at Favilla's list of greeting meanings, I do agree that I am trying my best to make this email as normal as possible, I wouldn't call myself the complaining type, so emailing a formal complaint is out of my usual league. Would I change it? Probably not, it's short and sweet and gets to the point. Which is also how the body of the email is. Nobody has time for generic niceties. Just say what's on you're mind, this is especially important here because what's the point of niceties among strangers? Who are they? This business email doesn't have to go there. 

Ending with a "Thanks!" as opposed to leaving out the exclamation mark probably isn't that big of a deal, but it did draw the necessary attention that the message needed.

Now this isn't to highlight just how wonderful my emailing skills are. After they got back to me and promised a refund, I definitely responded back after finally receiving my books with "I actually got my books, worry about the trouble."

(Inhales for 10 minutes.) I mean if they had never come they should be worried, but I meant to apologize. And I may be haunted by that email response for the rest of my life.

New Year New Meaning

 I said in my last post that language is constantly changing. So this week here's a couple words that have changed meaning or come into being in my whole 24 years of living. (Note: formal definitions listed definitions are found on google.)

1. Yeet - verb/ adj. (probably)

Lets start with one of my favorites. Yeet, is a word that came from a video on an app called Vine around 2015. It features a girl being handed an empty soda can and throwing it into a crowded staircase while exclaiming 'yeet.' Yeet is usually shouted when throwing something, but it has also evolved/ devolved into an excited word for 'yes' or 'let's go.' I've heard it used in casual cases such as: 

"Hey, I'm going to yeet over to walmart, want to come?" 

"Yeet! Let me grab my shoes." 

2. Canon- noun

a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine.

Honestly, I had to google the actual definition when I heard this in college because I learned the internet definition first. I genuinely thought it already had a meaning. When you say that someone is canon, it is usually referring to a couple in a story falling in love, and when they finally get together they are considered canon. I've also heard canon as referred to what is accepted to have happened in a story. Whether perhaps it did actually happen or someone came up a very plausible fan theory. It goes in hand with the image of 'ships.' Likely derived from 'relationships.' Again going back to a couples in a story, any possible dating relationships are considered ships, so when they finally end up together they become canon. It sounds a bit like pirate talk if you don't know the meanings.