I would like to see people who don't know the difference between it's and its correct their semi literate postings. If you need some advice, just ask.

Good god, how did you pass your exams?

Or hyphenation.

Lol busted in 1

You would think an aspiring member of the grammar and spelling taliban would check before posting

billypop. Proper name. Should be capitalized.

Thread title. Should be "O-level English".

Epic fail. Off with his head.

With regards to hyphenation. What are the rules? Over the years I've seen people put in hyphens all over the place. Often incorrectly, as in words like Coordinate. Also. Why on earth isn't the word "to-day" hyphenated anymore? Who moves the goal posts?

Lastly, with regards to "O" Levels. Where in English do you remove part of a word, like Ordinary and replace it with a hyphen? An apostrophe, yes, as in O'Clock for "of the clock" but a hyphen? I'm not mocking (exam joke, sorry) nor suggesting FA is wrong, but I am truly wondering why and where it's O-Level? It was never written on any of the O or A papers like that from memory. Has it become that like some sort of trade name?

O-level is pointless, the hyphen is misused.
O' level follows the rule of an apostrophe standing in for something omitted but is, nonetheless, rather clumsy.
The thread title is fine and O level is fine, and that was the nomenclature ascribed to it at its inception.

If one really wanted to be so pernickety about apostrophes for abbreviations then shouldn't it be O'level's, in which the second apostrophe is not, as it might appear, the common "greengrocer's apostrophe" misused for a plural but to indicate the missing word "examination"?.

Compound adjective. The hyphen is essential.


(unless you're exclaiming in surprise at discovering some level English, of course. "O, level English!"

The master of pedantry has emerged from 'neath the undergrowth!

What about the spoken word, especially 'bath'?

Why do some people insist on referring to it as a 'baath', when they'd never dream of sending anything on a 'vaan' or cooling themselves with a 'faan'?

Phonetically it's more like 'barth'. The same reason why some folk travel to work on the 'buzz'. Your regional variation, innit.