Bob the Angry Flower speaks out against improper apostrophe use

Comments

1. Curtis Wood says:

   Thursday, 25 February 2010 at 17:21

   Indeed, once one has learnt of correct apostrophe use, it’s pretty easy to use; and one sees bad use all over the place. But most people are simply never taught it. And others forget. And others copy what they see (cf. the greengrocer’s apostrophe).

   But there are some grey areas. Some dictionaries allow apostrophes to avoid confusion about what the letter ‘s’ could mean (e.g. in acronyms and initialisms such as VCR’s, CD’s). But it’s mostly clear: the concise OED has less than a page on the apostrophe. Anyone unclear on apostrophe use should read that section and thus be clear in its use in the future!

   I’m tempted to put that image on my door. But I fear it might cause offense to those not on firm apostrophe ground…
2. Prof. David M. Schultz says:

   Thursday, 25 February 2010 at 18:35

   Hi Curtis,

   To compound the issue, some publishers and copyeditors will prefer one syntax (“during the depression of the 1930s”), whereas others will prefer the other (“during the depression of the 1930′s”).

   Dave