The second largest city in England, Birmingham, has passed a rule to get rid of apostrophes on all street signs. A city official explains that many apostrophes denote "possessions that are no longer accurate" (King's Heath) and generally "confuse people." A city official says:
"If I want to go to a restaurant, I don't want to have an A-level (high school diploma) in English to find it." Grammarians are quite naturally in an uproar:
"They are such sweet-looking things that play a crucial role in the English language," said Marie Clair of the Plain English Society...".How do the boys feel?
Chip: "As a public educator, it's sadly but clearly the case that we're in a losing battle over proper grammar. In this era of 'instant communication,' the best I can hope for in a student paper is that it's at least as good as a well-written text message, rotflmao"
Richard: "I can stand to lose a few apostrophes, but nobody better take my fucking commas. In addition to their beauty on the page, I like them for their ability to make readers pause."
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