The Apostrophe Just Wants to be Your Friend

Some of you might know that I am completely apostrophe-obsessed. These tiny marks serve a large purpose in our written language; reading English riddled with apostrophe errors (or worse yet, with no apostrophes) is very difficult and distracting.

Recently, I learned that Birmingham, England, does not share my view on apostrophes. In an act of war on the Queen’s English, this city banned the use of apostrophes on road signs.

Does this make any sense to you? Apparently, the city fathers (surely they weren't women!)grew tired of complaints about apostrophe errors, and rather than encourage sign makers to learn something as important (and, might I add EASY?) as apostrophe use, they voted to abandon the apostrophe altogether. What message does that send to our students? If something is too hard, (whiny voice) you can just change the rules so you won’t have to bother with it.

If my community follows Birmingham’s lead, I will be the last person defending the poor apostrophe and its correct usage. Please join me. If you need to brush up, click here to check your own skill with the darling little apostrophe. I know you'll become good friends.

Imagine a world without apostrophes. I begin to hyperventilate -- just thinking about it.

And while I'm at it, please encourage your circle of friends to stop with the 'u' in their text messages. Two more letters won't kill them.