Cursed Words

Recently I finally got around to reading Tom King's A Once Crowded Sky.  It was actually an ARC though not one I got from Amazon Vine.  Anyway, because it was an ARC there were a few typos and such.  If I were the editor, though, what I would have marked the most were annoying, unnecessary contractions.

Something me and my possibly-deceased frenemy John Oberon agreed on is one of the lamest contractions is 're.  Some of the common uses like "they're" or "we're" aren't so bad but other uses it's pretty lame like "where're" or "there're" because if you actually say it aloud the contraction 're sounds exactly like the word "are" and really the only difference is one character for the space, so you're not really saving much effort.  I mean go ahead and try it.  Say, "There're four lights!"  Or, "Where're the Pop Tarts?"

Even if you don't say it aloud, you can think it and realize it's a pretty useless contraction.  An editor should really eradicate the useless contractions like that.

It's one of those things that when you think about it, it's pretty dumb.  Contractions're not always the best way to go.