And having watched the commercials linked to in the article, I must say I found them funny. Not evil. Funny, dammit!
I found them funny too, and so clearly 50's style, how anyone could take the health stuff litterally in 2007 I don't know. I mean, in the 50's smoking was stylish, trendy and good for you !
Smoking isn't good for you?! Crap, here I've been coughing my lungs up because I remembered watching those black-and-white infomercials about the health benefits of smoking. *hack* *cough* *spit* Maybe I can find another lung someplace. I eat an egg-biscuit every morning before work with a 32 ounce sweet-tea. Lunch doesn't vary much from day to day either. Supper is about the only meal that I change up on a regular basis. My stomach seems to react better to this than changing what I eat every day.
Talking of dodgy 50s cigarette commercials check this out. I can't remember if I've posted this before but it does make you realise why some of these rules are in place. This one just seems insane.
It first aired in the 1960s, or the 1960's if you're American (or Biritish committing apostrophe abuse). :smile:
Is a Biritish half way between a British person and a chicken Biriani ? :biggrin: Wow, I didn't realise it was that old honestly... :shock:
They've both been around as long as each other, and I believe it's really a matter of personal preference. An apostrophe has always been standard in dates to help avoid mistaking the 's' for part of the number.
*throws eggs at Garner* It does seem insane, yes. By today's standards. And I personally understand why such laws are in place. What bugs me is the stupid application of said laws in the particular case of an egg commercial. *goes back to throwing eggs at Garner*
**joins Roman at throwing eggs at Garner** Ok, let's not make this a habit, just because for once you're doing the right thing, ok ? And it's not just an egg commercial, I mean if someone made exactly the same commercial these days, I think it would seem weird, and we probably would wonder about eggs and nutrition stuff, but clearly re-running old adverts to celebrate an anniversary is quite different. Also, in France, they have just started a new law that means that any advertising of anything that counts as food (including plain mineral water or... toothpaste ?) has a big health warning about eating helthily and exercising more. This is really making it's way up my colon and into the lower intestine.
I'm still not sure I can agree with that, it just seems wrong. I don't know who would confuse a small 's' with a '0', which is what the 's' usually follows in dates - where people are normally referring to decades. I know it's written everywhere, even in the UK, but I still don't think it should be. For example, there was a made for TV film on today called "The 70's" and I knew right away that it was American because of the apostrophe. No UK-based media production team, film studio or writer would ever call a work "The 70's" or "The 1980's" etc because it just isn't right, from a literary viewpoint that is. Anyway, that's just what I think. The apostrophe never seemed to be used as widely, or haphazardly, when I was growing up. I think one day I will just have to let it go.
Actually, although the apostrophe use is standard in American English, it has only recently become acceptable not to use an apostrophe in UK English. I had a feeling I'd had this argument before, so I went and dug out this post from the old board:
If I remember correctly there were also mentions of the hating of "WMDs" and "WMD's", as it is already plural or singular in itself. I still think it sounds funny without the 's' on the end. The punctuation mark that I have the most problem with is the comma. I usually just put one in when it feels right to do so. Sometimes this gives me grief as I can't ever find my old grammar books and I've forgotten what some of the rules are.
I know i'm wrong and Grace will probably slap me with some sort of fish, but i use a comma where i don't feel the thing i'm saying has finished. so like that line, i needed to take a breath half way through but to me a full stop would have been wrong. *bends over and winces in prep for the slapping*
There was nothing wrong with your comma use in that paragraph, Wendy. In fact, what you've just described is a pretty good rule of thumb for when to use a comma.
But i was crap at English at school. Thats why my spelling is so damn awful. WOOO HOOOO look everyone! i got something right! Damn you Tile Hill Wood School for girls. I knew i was better than that GCSE D grade!
