Apostrophe Catastrophe

By pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
Derry, Northern Ireland
December 1, 2019 8:34am CST
Oh dear - proponents of the correct use of the apostrophe have given up and have shut-up shop, closing down the society that was started to educate people in the correct ways to use this handy punctuation mark. Alas, they say, "People just don't care..."
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/apostrophe-society-shuts-down-because-ignorance-has-won-a4301391.html
6 people like this
5 responses
Anna
@LadyDuck (459684)
• Switzerland
1 Dec 19
This is happening in most countries, people are becoming illiterate, because they just don't care.
2 people like this
pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
1 Dec 19
Perhaps illiteracy is to be blamed upon the propensity to use TXT speak, and the ubiquitous smartphone...
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (459684)
• Switzerland
2 Dec 19
@pgntwo YES! I blame the smartphones more than anything else.
1 person likes this
pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
2 Dec 19
@LadyDuck The smarter the phone, the "stoopider the luser", I guess? P'raps. Or maybe some just can't be bothered to follow the rules of grammar no more
1 person likes this
Fiacre Banks
@xFiacre (12641)
• Ireland
1 Dec 19
@pgntwo This is indeed sad news.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (459684)
• Switzerland
2 Dec 19
@xFiacre I agree that it just tastes all wrong if misspelled, as it sounds very wrong to read all the time "voila" instead of voilà on this site. (I often also read viola, why to use foreign words if you do not know the meaning and how to spell them?).
3 people like this
Fiacre Banks
@xFiacre (12641)
• Ireland
1 Dec 19
@pgntwo @maluse @ladyduck And I have given up trying to teach restauranteurs how to spell crème brûlée correctly. It just tastes all wrong if misspelled. Even the French restaurant in Hill Street spells it incorrectly.
3 people like this
pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
1 Dec 19
It's enough to upset a man's sense of propriety:
'Laziness has won': apostrophe society admits its defeat
www.theguardian.com
Organisation formed in 2001 to preserve punctuation mark comes to a full stop
DE
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
26 Mar 20
I believe his mission was doomed to failure. Unfortunately, the man didn't take textspeak into consideration. (It is possible he didn't believe texting was going to stick around 18 years ago... after all, he would have been 80 and few older people bother to learn/use texting even now.) Uhm... I tend to talk about 40 minutes a month on my phone but send roughly 2,200 texts a month. *shrug*
1 person likes this
M.-L.
@MALUSE (69409)
• Germany
1 Dec 19
If they have given up, I can take over. Is there money in the business? Considering that there are so many needy clients there should be. :-)
It's vs. Its ----- Where's The Problem? / myLot
www.mylot.com
Many a post’s (has) been written on the topic of apostrophes. The ones in the know have nodded in agreement, the ones in the dark have either looked at the text...
1 person likes this
pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
1 Dec 19
I wondered if you'd spot the gap in the market (or lack of it, I guess!) I suspect it's all to do with BREXIT - who knows what committees exist in Brussels for standardising punctuation across the EU...?
M.-L.
@MALUSE (69409)
• Germany
1 Dec 19
@pgntwo The topic of standardising seems to be one of the worst nightmares of the British. I see them bouncing up in bed at night horrified by the idea that one day in the not too far future all EU cucumbers will have to have the same length. "Oh, horror, horror, horror". (Macbeth)
2 people like this
Jessica
@JESSY3236 (19008)
• United States
3 Dec 19
That is sad. It drives me crazy to see companies misspell things.
1 person likes this
pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
7 Dec 19
Sounds like you're in the right place then!
1 person likes this