The Dang Apostrophe

The Dang Apostrophe

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The Dang Apostrophe
The Dang Apostrophe
It's not that you can't, you shouldn't

It's not that you can't, you shouldn't

Just because someone isn't supposed to do something, doesn't mean they won't. A lesson in fisticuffs and football coaches.

Danny O'Neil's avatar
Danny O'Neil
Nov 29, 2022
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The Dang Apostrophe
The Dang Apostrophe
It's not that you can't, you shouldn't
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There is a difference between can’t and shouldn’t. That difference has become blurred in part because of the way people speak on the internet these days.

I’ll start with an example. After Oregon State defeated Oregon in Saturday’s Civil War, the Beavers fans were on the field. One made a hand gesture toward one of the Duck players and appeared to say something. The Duck player ended up hitting him in the back of the head.

Twitter avatar for @WestCoastCFB
WestCoastCFB @WestCoastCFB
An Oregon player sucker punched a Beaver fan after the game
1:00 AM ∙ Nov 27, 2022
1,613Likes304Retweets

Several people who responded to this incident by saying, “He can’t do that.”

Twitter avatar for @Erixson41
Chris the bard @Erixson41
@dannyoneil Anything less than a racial slur a player can’t hit a fan
1:20 AM ∙ Nov 27, 2022

This is blatantly incorrect.

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