You Know You're A Roadgeek If...

[NE2]

I was taught that if you want to make a possessive of a word already ending with an "s", such as a plural, name, etc., you add only an apostrophe at the end of the word without adding another "s".

If it's a plural, yes. If it's a singular such as a name, goat.

[mgk920]

I agree - never, but NEVER put apostrophe's into your plural's!!!

George = one George
Georges = more than one George
George's = something that belongs to George
Georges' = something that belongs to the above group of Georges.

(exception: the pronoun its = something that belongs to it, this to differentiate that instance from the one below)

Also, contractions:
Don't = Do not
Can't = Can not
You're = You are
It's = It is
etc.

There is, of course, more to this, but this is the bare basic of the apostrophe.



Mike

[Scott5114]

I would like to direct you all to the newly-updated forum rules, which state that commenting on another user's grammar and spelling is no longer allowed. If it is so poor that the post cannot be understood, we will deal with it for you. Otherwise, let it go.

[NE2]

I would like to direct you all

I think you mean "y'all".

[Pete from Boston]

(exception: the pronoun its = something that belongs to it, this to differentiate that instance from the one below)

Which, of course, follows the rule that possessive forms of pronouns do not get apostrophes:

his
hers
ours
theirs
its

[ET21]

Back on topic... 

[hotdogPi]

You don't allow yourself to sleep when you are a passenger, but you are somewhere you haven't been before, even if you are extremely tired.

[wxfree]

Since this is the Off-Topic forum and grammar is being discussed, I'll mention that I am a bit of a grammar nerd (I have many near-obsessive interests, so I guess I'm just a nerd overall).

My view is that the rules are good places to start, and it's good to seek to follow them.  What bothers me isn't when rules are broken, but is when they're broken out of ignorance.  I have no problem breaking rules when I'm trying to say a certain thing a certain way.  I'll split infinitives and start with conjunctions and end with prepositions when I intend for it to mean something.  To me, rules are meant to be understood, not to be followed rigidly.  It's the breaking of rules due to ignorance that bothers me.

Add-on:  It bothers me that my (cheap) cell phone doesn't have a semicolon for text messages (I use a comma instead).  It bothers me more that no one ever corrects me for using the wrong punctuation.

[wxfree]

And back on topic

If... You count the weeks till the next Texas Transportation Commission or Regional Transportation Council meeting agenda is put online.
You watch the videos of the meetings with great interest, even the long and (sometimes very) tedious parts.
You check the FTP system three or four times each week for new construction or maintenance project files.
You use a GPS just to see how far it is to the next town in a very rural area, and routinely ignore its directions because you prefer back roads.
You divide your year not by months or seasons, but by your annual road trips.
You wonder if maybe your interest goes too far, in spite of an entire forum devoted to obsessed roadgeeks.

[tchafe1978]

...you prefer to navigate and plan your trips with old-fashioned paper maps instead of a GPS, because you don't want to end up like that one lady who got herself lost in the middle of Death Valley by blindly following her GPS.

[TEG24601]

You know that some states have State Highways, State Roads, State Routes, and Trunk Lines/Routes, and sometimes you will find them all in the same state.


You can plan a cross country trip, from one small town to another small town, without needing to consult a map, including highway numbers and turns... at age 5.

[agentsteel53]

You know that some states have State Highways, State Roads, State Routes, and Trunk Lines/Routes, and sometimes you will find them all in the same state.

okay, I'll bite.  which state?  I know Oregon has both state highways and state routes (shudder), but not all four.

[Pete from Boston]

...you've held onto that massive volume of Shakespeare unopened all these years, in part because it's edited by Wilbur Cross (yes, that one).

[J N Winkler]

You check the FTP system three or four times each week for new construction or maintenance project files.

Or . . . after 10 years of checking the same FTP server at least once a day, you write a script that you run once a day to check for newly uploaded projects and download them using wget; and then, because you are trying to surveil more than 20 other state DOTs at the same time, you write a second script that uses the sheet cross-reference PDFs to extract potential signing sheets so you can sort out the pattern-accurate sign panel detail sheets and sign elevation sheets later.

[Scott5114]

You check the FTP system three or four times each week for new construction or maintenance project files.

Or . . . after 10 years of checking the same FTP server at least once a day, you write a script that you run once a day to check for newly uploaded projects and download them using wget; and then, because you are trying to surveil more than 20 other state DOTs at the same time, you write a second script that uses the sheet cross-reference PDFs to extract potential signing sheets so you can sort out the pattern-accurate sign panel detail sheets and sign elevation sheets later.

I think that belongs in the "You Know You're J.N. Winkler If..." thread.

[TEG24601]

You know that some states have State Highways, State Roads, State Routes, and Trunk Lines/Routes, and sometimes you will find them all in the same state.

okay, I'll bite.  which state?  I know Oregon has both state highways and state routes (shudder), but not all four.

There isn't one with all 4, unless you count how people talk about the Michigan Highways, which depending on their place of origin could be any of the four.  I just couldn't figure out another way to word that sentence to say that without it being overly complex in the wording.


Then again, Nova Scotia has Trunks, Highways, and Routes... so, it is close.

[PHLBOS]

... when you see a photo of an old disaster (weather-related or otherwise) and you fixate your sites on the various road & route signs in the photo.

Highland Ave. over I-95/MA 128 Newton, MA just after Hurricane Gloria 1985 (note also the Howard Johnson's sign after the exit ramp):

[vtk]

You see a car commercial and you pay more attention to the roads / traffic control devices than the car.

[Michael]

...you check if the MUTCD website is affected by the government shutdown.
...after checking the MUTCD website, you check the main FHWA and USDOT sites.

Here's the status of the sites I checked as of the time of this post:
mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov: up, no notice
www.fhwa.dot.gov: up, no notice
www.dot.gov: up with shutdown notice at the top

[NE2]

http://research.archives.gov/ down, but deep links still work: http://research.archives.gov/search?sw-arc-id=821491&sw-desc-level=series
http://nationalmap.gov/historical/ down
http://raster.nationalmap.gov/ArcGIS/services/DRG/TNM_Digital_Raster_Graphics/MapServer/WMSServer down (rather annoying, but USAPhotoMaps is a workable alternative)

[Scott5114]

FHWA somehow got 100% of its employees classed as essential, so it will not be affected by the shutdown. Other DOT agencies (like FAA) were not so lucky.

[msubulldog]

You use road-related terminology to describe everyday things, like the lyrics of an old Elvis song being "don't you step on my Texaco shoes" instead of "don't you step on my Blue Suede Shoes". Another one deals with children's literature where "The Pied Piper of Hamlin" becomes "The Pied Piper of Amoco".

[NE2]

the fuck?

[Molandfreak]

You use road-related terminology to describe everyday things, like the lyrics of an old Elvis song being "don't you step on my Texaco shoes" instead of "don't you step on my Blue Suede Shoes". Another one deals with children's literature where "The Pied Piper of Hamlin" becomes "The Pied Piper of Amoco".

1. You actually sing this "Don't You Step on my Texaco Shoes" to your friends???
2. "Everyday things?" I've never even heard of "The Pied Piper of Hamlin," and the only reason I've heard of "Blue Suede Shoes" is because I am a huge fan of old time rock.
3. Your definition of "describe" must be very different from mine.

[mgk920]

. . . you can spell funky words with Wisconsin county highway route marker sign assemblies.

Mike