Could 2018 be the year the apostrophe disappears? Greengrocers everywhere – famed for their “melon’s” and “tomatoe’s” – appear to be winning their long-running battle with grammarians over use of the apostrophe, with text use hastening the demise of the much-abused punctuation mark.
A new report[1] by a leading linguistics researcher believes that misuse has now become so prevalent – with even university students struggling to use it correctly – that apostrophes may soon become redundant. Researchers found that literate undergraduates incorrectly inserted apostrophes in plural words 13% of the time. When it came to using apostrophes in singular possessive words – such as “the coffee pot’s lid” – results were even worse with mistakes 47% of the time. For plural possessives – such as “all the cups’ handles” – they got it wrong 72% of the time.
Professor Kemp, the report’s author, explained, “When much of people’s reading and writing is electronic, it’s no longer seen as important to write grammatically correctly, as long as the message gets across. One of the biggest ‘victims’ of this trend is the apostrophe.”
The apostrophe’s decline comes in spite of the sterling efforts of the Apostrophe Preservation Society, which fights heroically for the punctuation mark from its stronghold in Lincolnshire. The group has been joined in their fight by language vigilantes such as ‘The Apostrophiser’ who has erased or introduced apostrophes on shop signs in the Bristol area.
However, all hope is not lost. Professor Kemp suggested that devotees of the apostrophe who are tempted to correct apostrophe errors should not give up. “When people don’t see apostrophes used correctly in the print environment, there’s less incentive for them to try to get them right.”
So, grammar pedants like The Apostrophiser and members of the Apostrophe Preservation Society may yet prove to be the apostrophe’s salvation. If you want to ensure your business’ written communications are always correct, consider running it past a grammar professional.
[1] Joint study by Nenagh Kemp, University of Tasmania, and Clare Wood & Sam Waldron, Coventry University 9.12.17
