Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 8 · column 6 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
member that the apostrophe in “it’s” means “is.” The Times never would have said, “Without it is listing.” Heaven forfend! *
The pesky apostrophe gives trouble in other ways. The Pittsburg Post-Gazette carried an article in December about sex and violence on videocassettes available to children. The author had a modest proposal: “All video game inventors must use the faces of their own children on their characters. If they don’t have children, they must use the faces of their boss’s children, or their boss’ boss’ children.” It should have been “boss’s” every time. «
A Mexican restaurant in Florida had a special last month: “Mother’s receive free carnation and glass of champagne!” How did that apostrophe get into “mothers”?
Brian D. Smith of Indianapolis writes to challenge a familiar word for an angry uproar. Random House and Merriam-Webster spell it “hornet’s nest”; American Heritage spells it “hornets’ next.” The metaphor dates from 1740. Let’s hear it for American Heritage! More than one hornet lives in a hornets’ nest.
Grey LaPrade of Mount Airy, N.C., sends along an ad from a clothing store offering special discounts on “ladie’s dresses, ladie’s shoes, girl’s hats, and boy’s dress shirts.” Let this kind word be said for the copywriter. He or she got it wrong every time: A for consistency, F for spelling.
COPYRIGHT 1994
UNIVERSAL PRESS
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