Been a while since I've posted here - great OP Jarkko. Fascinating to hear your background and I share your optimism about the current team. Consistency certainly is the issue - agree that Norwich for 70 mins was fantastic football. We just need to be a bit more ruthless at both ends of the pitch.
Very good Dormo
There are a couple of common problems for writers who would never dream of using the grocer's apostrophe.
The first is the use of it's and your's to indicate possession.
At first glance this seems entirely sensible and logical. After all it's seems to indicate something belonging to it, and your's something belonging to you.
However, it's can only ever be used to indicate a missing letter, and never to indicate possession.
And your's is always incorrect.
The reason for this is that its and yours are possessive pronouns. That is they already indicate possession, so an apostrophe is unnecessary.
The second common problem is that a writer may think that the apostrophe rule is that the apostrophe goes before the s in singular words, and after the s in plural words, as with Queen's and Queens'.
So you often see signs saying Mens', Womens' or Childrens'...
The rule, though, is that the apostrophe should go after the possessor of the object.
So putting an apostrophe before the s in singular nouns and after the s in plural nouns is correct most of the time, because the regular way to make plurals in English is simply to add an s .
The problem arises with irregular plurals such as men, women, children, oxen, sheep etc.
Here the apostrophe goes before the s because the possessor is already indicated as a plural word.
So it is always men's, women's, children's and oxen's, obeying the rule that the apostrophe goes after the possessor of the object.
Sheep is a curiosity since the word has identical singular and plural forms. So the possessive form is always sheep's, but it is impossible to tell from the word whether a singular or plural form is referenced, though generally the context will be enough to indicate which it is.
Language is always in flux however. Fifty years ago grammatical pedants would write to The Times or Daily Telegraph to complain about the barbaric omission of the apostrophe on words such as 'bus or pram'
The other thing that is worth a mention is that the word apostrophe has an additional meaning in relation to language. It is also a figure of speech. It is used frequently in plays and poems to indicate a speech that is addressed to someone who is not present, or to an inanimate object.
Of course, what invariably happens whenever someone has the temerity to say anything about language is that they are guilty of committing the most horrific howlers themselves. It's a rigid rule. So my profuse apologies in advance.
@borophil - Hey! Good to have you back on active duty again!
@lenmasterman - That's great so, thanks, Len! For all that I might go on about these things, there are often words/spellings that I pause before using. I have an ancient Collins English Gem Dictionary that my mother bought me in 1969 sitting by the side of my laptop. Sometimes I will want to use a word I have used many times before, but I spell it and it doesn't "look right". When I check, I usually find that it isn't correct and I've just had a metal block.
My sister once worked for the Oxford (Booo!) University Press and for Christmas one year, or maybe a birthday, she gave me a copy of what I think is the Shorter Oxford Dictionary. "Short" it is not! Very heavy, in its own large box and with large pages of VERY small print on Bible paper, it can be read easily (maybe at all, these days) only with the supplied self-illuminating magnifying glass which has "Oxford" printed on its handle and which is just the correct width to magnify one paragraph of a column of the print. I think I put that dictionary up into the loft last year. I have a copy of the "Chambers 20th Century Dictionary" (their italics and no apostrophe) on the bookcase in the living room and, though rarely used, it boasts that it contains more definitions that any other single-volume English dictionary and lots of foreign words that have crept into English usage and gives the origins of many of the words. It was bought for me in 1983 (when that edition was published) by the partners of the firm in which I did my training. Maybe they were trying to tell me something? My wife on the other hand has the Oxford Modern English Dictionary ("130,000 defintitons and 90,000 entries") in her study together with the "Little Oxford English Dictionary". She used to be a school teacher. Mostly if I make spelling mistakes, it is a case of Fat Finger Syndrome, particularly if I am using the mobile phone.
Having said all that I think when I have time later today I might have a look again at the Collins dictionary. Just a sneaky little look to see what catches my attention. I am likely to slip down a few rabbit holes in there: "Ah! So THAT'S where the word comes from..."
RIGHT - are we all feeling slightly less miserable and pessimistic about the Boro than after Saturday's disaster? Maybe thinking of 3 points (if not necessarily of OFB's 3 Boro goals)? The sharp knives have been unlocked in my house for general use. The sky isn't looking QUITE so dark as it did a couple of days ago.
@forever-dormo I think I was interview by the great Cliff Mithell while I was visiting for the first time in 1980. And anyway, I have read hundreds of his Boro FC articles in the past as they were posted to me as clippings every fortnight by my pen pal. A great journalist.
@Powmill-Naemore Yes, the Finnish language is evolving as well. We have a simlar system like Germany that make the recommendations. This helps as there is one authority to say and recommend.
As our language is related only to Estonian and very, very distantly to Hungarian (do not ask why), the structure of the language makes it more difficult to borrow words from other languages. And of course the language used by younger generations varies a bit from what we older learnt at shcool.
Especially the IT is bringing some new words, but we cannot take words from other languages directly into our language. So we tend to have a lot of our own words like tietokone=computer, etc. As we do not have any prepositions in our language, we need to use some endings to the words. Example: 'I go to Middlesbrough" would be "Menen Middlesbrough'on". So you see, that adding something to the end of a foreign word is very difficult as one needs to know how it will be pronaunced, too. "To Darlington" would be "Darlingtoniin".
So we have less borrowed words but still the language evolves. My daughter has studied the Finnish language in the University and she says it evelves, all the time.
Up the Boro!
Yes, did we have a match today, anyone?
I wonder if we could see Marcus Forss play some minutes on the right side. Perhaps 30 min him and the first 60 min by Doak?
BTW, a great post, Len. As always. Up the Boro!
I have never been convinced that apostrophes are really of any great importance, but it's probably not an exaggeration to say that the future of the entire planet may hang on the public's understanding of the positioning of an apostrophe. Last week did Joe Biden call Trump supporters garbage ? Or that a Trump supporter's garbage? How US citizens answer that question may well determine whether this planet remains fit for human habitation in the foreseeable future
Tonight’s game is available on Sky so I’ll be able to watch it on my iPad at our static (we’re here to shut it down for the winter) which is great, but I see that there’s no MFC Live video stream. I’m sure I used to be able to watch mid-week games that way - have things changed with the new Sky deal? I haven’t paid my £10 to watch a game at all so far this season.
Busy evening. Obviously it's Bonfire Night so I might go to the Cricket Club to watch the fireworks display starting at 6.30pm (105 minutes away) though it would be nice to say hello to a few people and maybe have a pint before the first rocket zooms into the sky.. But the chicken hasn't been prepared yet for the oven, let alone cooked and ready to eat for tonight's meal. And then there's the QPR v Boro game after the fireworks. Something may have to "give way".
1-1. We will see...
@martin-bellamy. Yes Martin it has changed. The ability in the UK to see Riverside Live midweek games has been replaced by the Sky Sports+ app, if you have a Sky sports subscription. 😎
It's handball training for my son tonight so won't get back until after the first 20 minutes so we'll probably get an early goal!
In the mid 80s I was working for an Oil Company supervising the contractual award for the construction of accommodation platforms offshore in the North Sea.
The main U.K. contractor proposed a swedish company to supply and fabricate living quarters modules rather like big portakabins.
i flew out to Sweden with the U.K. contractors MD and we landed in Sweden then drove for hours right up to the arctic circle.
Very dark all the way until we got to the arctic circle and nothing but trees!
We stayed in a hotel went to a local restaurant and that was the first time I experienced salmon and gravadlax.
The local contractor said that the local excitement was happening that night where a dance was being held in the community hall.
We wandered over to find that a live band was playing and all the dancing was of the strictly type not modern at all.
Looking around the room we realised that the three of us were the only men surrounded by women.
The women were excited to see us and I laughed when my colleagues were dragged off to the dance floor. My laughing stopped when l too was pulled onto the dance floor for an energetic night of dancing !
I didn’t learn much Swedish, but the friendship was wonderful and I didn’t talk about apostrophes’ ‘’!
Yes the contractor won the work !
Me?
An experience of Sweden that I will never forget !
OFB
@werdermouth - On the one hand I'd hate you to miss anything but on the other hand I'd be delighted if Boro got an early goal ! Too greedy to ask for two...?
Brilliant. Really well done.
Who the hell's Ben Doan?!!!
So. two changes: Howson & Doak for HH & Jones, the former not even in the match-day squad; Marcus Forss on the bench.
@stircrazy - It would be a good sign for the future if Forss could get on for the last 30 minutes. He's still the most likely to score if through on goal (though it's so long since that happened now that my memories of it are in sepia). Conway has worked his socks off and has scored some goals so I hope he can do the job as well. Then if Latte Lath can return and get a few goals we'd have three who can score more than just the odd goal here and there. A team will need at least three to do that, to go up
Let's hope the season starts here. Properly starts. Not stutters. Up to the players tonight....
@original-fat-bob - I'd like nothing better. The chicken dinner went down well. Too much of a rush to get to the Fireworks Display. So now it's down to the footie. I have the bubbly ready...
McGree gives Boro the lead in the 31st minute, assisted by Doak. 🙂
McGree gives Boro the lead in the 31st minute, assisted by Doak. 🙂
CJ: Boro lead! Doak is the architect, having once again been Boro's most threatening here. He beats his man, gets to the byline and crosses for McGree at the near post who does so well to adjust his body and flick it first time inside the near post.
Make that two - Conway in the 35th minute with a little help from Azaz. 🙂
CJ in the 43rd minute:
Two superb Dieng saves
Boro could do with half-time. They've lost a grip of this one, despite their lead. They rely on Dieng twice more to keep their slate clean. the first one is a well worked corner to Madsen on the edge and his effort is curling bottom corner before Dieng gets down and pushes it wide. From the corner. Varane gets a solid header on it, but Dieng is across his goal so well to push this one wide too. Doing wonders for his save percentage this evening! Now Boro need to re-settle and get a grip of this game.
And his verdict on the first half:
Without being brilliant, Boro very quickly established control in the game and a quickfire double gave them what looked a good lead. QPR responded well to going two down though and Boro have Dieng to thank. Need HT to settle now.
Here's hoping they can hold out better in the second half than they did at Carrow Road.