Wink-wink, nudge-nudge

Get ready for some frenetic blogging as I try to clear out some of the links I've been saving up.

Next up is the latest The Word column from Jan Freeman. She covers the language of love and innuendo in British stories about supposed ooh-la-la-ing between Jack Straw and Condi Rice. (On a trip to Iraq, he slept in her bed; she slept on an air mattress.)

Headlines such as "Jack 4 Condi: He Tried Diplomacy but Wants a Special Relationship" and ''Condi: Hop into My Bed" turned up.

Freeman opened her column with:

It's not yet the snore heard 'round the world--but just give the British tabloids a few more days.

So why the apostrophe before round?

There shouldn't be, as Bill Walsh points out in his latest entry at Blogslot.

One meaning of round is "around." So there's no need for apostrophizin' in "round-the-clock service" or "shot heard round the world."

I'm not sure if Freeman's column was Walsh's inspiration; if not, it's a well-timed coincidence.