I see you all

[MajGenl.Meade]

The parenthetical sentence is aged and a little obese. Sometimes things are not well contained at the end.

The Goo Gal appears to agree that "everybody's" is correct.

[Bicycle Bill]

Welcome back, TPFKA@W.  Stick around for a while, whydontcha?

And congrats on the grandbaby.  I never gave my parents any grandkids, but my sister did ... five times.  My mother just loved being "gramma" and often said that the coolest thing about being the grandma was that when they visited she could spoil the kids rotten and then send 'em home with the parents.

She also claimed that if she'd known being a grandma was going to be so much fun she would have had them first.

-"BB"-

[Crackpot]

A year old now you say so you should be able to start tripping soon.

[Gob]

Oh god it's her again...

[Burning Petard]

A digression, prompted by the above observations of punctuation. I learned English grammar and proper usage mostly by osmosis. One exception was basic training in a foreign language (German). Have to know the general and specific rules to do translation. But online exposure to pedants and professionals in this topic motivated me to buy a copy of "Fowler's Modern English Usage" 2nd ed, 1965. Now it is more than 50 years later. The book was old and battered when I got it. I must now treat it gently just to keep the pages together. Is there a current similar authoritative reference work? Or is this too a victim of post-modernism?

snailgate

Later edit. A brief trip to Amazon indicates there is a Fowlers 4th and also a Garners 4th, both recent, both from the same publisher. Fowlers seems to be British, Garners seems to be American. Are either particularly idiosyncratic? Thanks for your consideration.

[ex-khobar Andy]

There are British and American differences in usage, particularly in quotation marks. Clumsy American printers necessitated the (American and illogical) convention such as:

The poem I like best is Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

UK usage would be to reverse those last two punctuation elements:

The poem I like best is Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".

The story is that in the old days of leaded type, American printers were in the habit of knocking off the fragile final period, and therefore started to enclose it within the quotation mark. Because I frequently write for both UK and American readers I tend to recast the sentence:

Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is the poem I like the best.

Notice how I avoided the word 'favo(u)rite'?

However, both Fowler and Garner would agree that it is Fowler's and Garner's.

If you got any nits you need pickin', call me. Like Ray, I'm here all week.

[Long Run]

The poem I like best is Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".

Another Andrew (AGD, RIP), convincingly argued years ago on these very pages that this made more sense than the U.S. style.

[Burning Petard]

"convincingly argued years ago on these very pages that this made more sense than the U.S. style."

But language changes, grows, evolves in ways that seem give very low priority to making sense. Too many times (probably three times) this week I have heard a talking head on a tv news cast say "I can't wait. . . . (for the Super Bowl game)" Actually, like every one else, they will wait.

snailgatge

[Lord Jim]

Another Andrew (AGD, RIP), convincingly argued years ago on these very pages that this made more sense than the U.S. style.

I'm inclined to agree with him on that point, but I'm also inclined to agree with this perspective:

[wesw]

finally, someone else who hates kissing ass......

...I mean, you still gotta kiss it but you don t have to extend yer firggin' tongue iffin' you don t feel like it...

...am I right?

good to hear from you , ya dried up old cunt.......

you still fuckin' helpin' people at the fuckin' hospitable?