Hug Your Apostrophes Tonight When They Go To Bed, And Tell Them You Love Them
Birmingham City council has decided that its road signs and place names should no longer have apostrophes because they cause confusion to those who do not understand how they should be used. King’s Norton, for instance, will become plain Kings Norton and St Paul’s Close will no longer be possessive. Just imagine Wren’s cathedral without the apostrophe to see how ludicrous this is. Councillor Len Gregory, who made the decision, said he did not see the point of the apostrophe. What a defeatist position to adopt in a week when the illiteracy of a quarter of our population has been exposed. Increasingly, our children will only ever see the apostrophe in its stray form, as in “theyre nut’s”. If you want to see the apostrophe rescued please sign our online petition at www.telegraph.co.uk/debates
sob
January 31st, 2009 at 1:29 pm
The (English) book “Eats Shoots and Leaves” is dedicated to restoring the rightful place of the apostrophe/comma. It even has pages of stickers so public signs can be corrected. If I understand the English spirit – a combination of dogged defiance in the face of arbitrary authority, and pedantry – there will be teams of Apostrophe Pandas (there is a picture of a Panda on the cover of the book) invading the streets of Birmingham.
January 31st, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Just remember, Brummies: It’s all in a day’s work.