Comments on: The World’s Most Dangerous Punctuation Mark

By: Rob O.

Rob O. — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:12:13 +0000

Hasn’t happened too many times, but I get a big kick out of telemarketers calling and asking, “May I speak to either Robert or Daniel, please?” Click.

I’ve noticed that quite a few forms on websites have trouble with the apostrophe too. Often, my name comes thru as something like “O//Daniel.”

I kinda take little devilish pleasure in knowing that I can mess up a system and not even have had to lift a finger to do so.

By: Rob O.

Rob O. — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:54:42 +0000

It's almost enough to give a guy a nasty case of apostrophobia! I've encountered many problems with the way that databases handle the apostrophe. Probably the worst is that in whatever system holds the Texas State birth certificates, my last name is spelled with a space, but must be searched for with an underscore character. This made getting a copy of my birth certificate for a passport several years ago quite a challenge. 3 different clerks at the courthouse got involved before my info could be located. I'm pleased to say, however, that when we visited Ireland about 10 years ago, those folks had absolutely NO problems whatsoever with the apostrophe!

By: Earl Green

Earl Green — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:06:16 +0000

I went to see if I could break WordPress (don’t worry, I used my own rather than somebody else’s). I wasn’t able to, but still, the thought in and of itself scares the bejeezus out of me. In fact, this may explain why, when I see the letters SQL, my brain reprocesses it not into “sequel,” but “squirrel.”

Actually, never mind. I’m not sure anything really explains that thought process, such as it is.

By: Flack

Flack — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:45:44 +0000

Based on the lack of responses, I think I lost a lot of people at ketchup. Oh well — there’s always tomorrow’s post.

By: Dean

Dean — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:32:44 +0000

I got lost at the ketchup.???