tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7122549.post112124270103409314..comments2023-11-10T16:19:46.880-05:00Comments on Blogslot: Of Showstoppers and Deal BreakersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7122549.post-1122178625834101062005-07-24T00:17:00.000-04:002005-07-24T00:17:00.000-04:00AP style is "James'," but formal style (and even W...AP style is "James'," but formal style (and even Washington Post style) is "James's."Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01512881095588291721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7122549.post-1122138345656239022005-07-23T13:05:00.000-04:002005-07-23T13:05:00.000-04:00My husband uses "showstopper" that way all the tim...My husband uses "showstopper" that way all the time. I will have to show this to him. Although I wonder about Erik "Babe" Morse's comment, because hubby is in computer science. <BR/><BR/>Where can I ask a question about the possessive for names ending with s? I have always followed the AP stylebook and made it James' book. I'm being excoriated by some MLA junkie who says it's James's and everything else is wrong.<BR/><BR/>LynnBastethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15031109621488847594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7122549.post-1121991761113186362005-07-21T20:22:00.000-04:002005-07-21T20:22:00.000-04:00My brother worked for Ernst&Young, and said that w...My brother worked for Ernst&Young, and said that was their term for anything that needed to be fixed before they could move forward.<BR/>Looks like we're stuck with it. Are there other words that have gained definitions that are opposites? I think of "bad", but that's moving into slang.Eric "Babe" Morsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03477635241216248642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7122549.post-1121448140210172632005-07-15T13:22:00.000-04:002005-07-15T13:22:00.000-04:00Wow ... I was shocked to see show-stopper used as ...Wow ... I was shocked to see show-stopper used as a negative, considering my theater background. Sacrilege!Dr. Zoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14716460586465658087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7122549.post-1121381809331626572005-07-14T18:56:00.000-04:002005-07-14T18:56:00.000-04:00there's also a third possibility in between thrill...there's also a third possibility in between thriller and turn-off, which is close to the equivalent of "conversation-ender." as in, somebody says something that brings an otherwise pleasant exchange to a sudden halt.<BR/><BR/>I'm not advocating this usage, just noting that is's a more drifty misusage (rather than a full inversion) . . .ACMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150889888692992746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7122549.post-1121313139970540312005-07-13T23:52:00.000-04:002005-07-13T23:52:00.000-04:00I've never thought of show-stopper (may I buy a hy...I've never thought of show-stopper (may I buy a hyphen?) in the negative, but it seems that it's been used that way for over a decade by computer folks in talking about bugs that halt production. It's <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showstopper" REL="nofollow">Wikipedia's</A> first definition. There's a 1994 book about Microsoft with the title "SHOW-STOPPER!", and it doesn't seem to be referreing to the stunning preformance of Windows.<BR/>So, perhaps the halt-production connatation is growing outside the computer realm.Eric "Babe" Morsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03477635241216248642noreply@blogger.com