An Apostrophe walks into a rather seedy bar.
The barman says - 'Mate I think you're in the wrong place' [1]
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Why do people get so hung up (pardon the pun) on the apostrophe?
Did you know there is even an Apostrophe Protection Society in the U.K?
True! You can find their website here.
Wikipedia goes on and on about the rules governing the use of the apostrophe. Pages and pages and pages of rules.
For those interested you can view them here. Personally I wouldn't bother! I'd rather use the three basic rules offered by the Apostrophe Protection Society (herein refered to as the APS because I am tired of writing the word apostrophe.)
The pedants of apostrophe usage, APS [2] say there are three basic rules and I'm happy to go with them.
Their basic rules are:-
1. They are used to denote a missing letter or letters, for example:
I can't for I cannot.
It's for it is.
I don't for I do not.
2. They are used to denote possession, for example:
The dog's bone.
The company's logo.
Jones's bakery (but Joneses' bakery if owned by more than one Jones)
3. Apostrophes are never ever used to denote plurals! Common examples of such abuse (all seen in real life!) are:
Banana's for sale. - should be Bananas for sale.
Menu's printed to order - should read Menus printed to order.
1000's of bargains - should be 1000s of bargains
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For much of this blog I have referred to a book titled Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. by Lynn Truss. [3]
It's a very funny read even if you don't give a hoot about punctuation, give it a look.
There is a review of the book on The Guardian.
You can read it here.
[1] -The Author.
[2] The apostrophe Protection Society
[3] Truss, L 2009, Eats, Shoots and Leaves:The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, Fourth Estate, Hammersmith, UK.
