26 September 2007

 

Twas

I saw something yesterday that used the phrase " T'was the night... " It looked wrong to me. Shouldn't it be " 'Twas "?

Hey! Look at that! (OK, well, you can't see it. But I can.) My automatic spellchecker (which doesn't like the word "spellchecker", by the way) flags " t'was " but accepts " 'twas ". So I was right! The question now becomes, why didn't their spellchecker notice?

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# posted by mamurd @ 12:10 AM
Comments:
You *do* understand that it is a contraction for "It was", don't you? Leads me to think it should be " 'Twas" with a leading apostrophe to indicate the missing "I". But let me check my 1966 Webster's Dictionary -- Hah! -- it says " 'twas" is the proper contraction for "it was." Apparently, your spellchecker is not smart enough to check for the leading apostrophe.
# posted by Blogger Pedicularis : 9:56 AM
 
'Tis "'twas," all right.
# posted by Blogger Sotosoroto : 10:00 AM
 
I did have a leading apostrophe. And I know what it's a contraction for, which is why I was pretty sure that t'was was wrong.

I'll go add some spaces. Maybe that will make it more clear.
# posted by Blogger mamurd : 5:59 PM
 
So, 'twas right in the first place? 'Parrently, this blogger was 'rong in their previous post. ;)
# posted by Blogger Pedicularis : 3:52 PM
 
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