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Terry as was: You said this (copied and pasted)

Wendy,
This new registration system is rubbish. You can register any number of different names if you want to. All you have to do is offer completely fake (i.e. non-existant e.mail addresses)to go with them. If you can't be bothered to do that then you can "edit" your name for all or any postings. It is not a one IP adress one registration system, which is what is needed.

I almost agree, but actually I don't think you need a new e-mail address, just a new username.

Let's see (You should know it's me, there aren't that many of us!!)

Wendy
you do need a new e-mail address unless you are using the 'Edit' facility. Using that will change the name of all your previous posts under that e-mail address.
(it will also leave your old name free for others to use - whoever took the name 'terry' could do this).

You could search the whole world wide and never come across such an inconsequential bunch of nonentities, (including myself) who have posted on this thread.

Nightynight...Tony.

Kissypoos,

p@

I've enjoyed a late night trawl through this thread and its tangents, but to get back to the original point (or apostrophe) my screen has been invaded by thripps and the little blighters have died there so now I have apostrophes everywhere.

Not sure I'm allowed to do this when the discussion is about apostrophes but, what really irritates me is the "missing L" ie; hospitaw, musicaw, criminaw.....why do all the presenters seem to be dropping their Ls????

Cornishman,

I think your "L" has gone the same way as the little word "OF"

Have you noticed how many people now say "I went out the front door"?

I think it was started by the Americans, perhaps Aristophanes will know.

Thanks Trevor,

I'll see if I can find this Edit button.

Wendy: We use both. I tried to discern a pattern, and for assistance turned to A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage (sorry, no underline or italics here; it's by Evans & Evans, 1957).
"In Great Britain out is never used as a preposition but must be combined with of before it can have an object, as in he went out of the room, he jumped out of the window. In the United States out requires of when it is used in the sense of away from, as in he went out of the house, he went out of her life, but it is used as a preposition without of when it means through, as in he jumped out the window, he ran out the door."
I think it's safe to assume that almost all of us would say, "Look out the window!" or "I can't talk now. I'm going out the door." This may be yet another instance of older English usage that's survived here (just a guess). You know how British musicologists have gone to Appalachia because they're still singing songs from the English Hit Parade of 1673 there; this may be something like that.
On the other hand, I've heard Brits say "out of window." This makes window sound like a substance rather than an opening. I mean like hel-loooooo, what's up with that, guys?

Aristophanes, thank you for taking the trouble to reply in such detail.

I always make a point of saying things like "the cat jumped out of the window" and never "out the window".

Sorry to say that I disagree with your comment that I think it's safe to assume that almost all of us would say, "Look out the window!" or "I can't talk now. I'm going out the door." I think that people of my generation will usually include the word "of".

I enjoy novels written by John Grisham, probably because he has a ghost writer who understands the English language. I have recently put 3 novels straight into the bin as the grammar was so dreadful I couldn't cope with it.

I thank you again for your interest and think that this is a change in our language which, along with the apostrophe, I shall just have to learn to live with!