Keep Using Apostrophes Correctly, We Implore You
Those of us who respect and appreciate the correct use of the apostrophe were awakened yesterday by bad news: John Richards, one of the most outspoken advocates of correct use of the apostrophe, is giving up. He published his reasons for this decision on the website of the Society for the Defense of Apostrophes , an organization he founded in 2001:
There are two reasons for this. Firstly, at 96 years old, I am reducing my obligations, and secondly, fewer organizations and individuals now care about the correct use of the apostrophe in English.
We and our many supporters around the world have done everything in our power, but the ignorance and laziness that are present in our time won!
(Due to increased traffic to the homepage following Richards’ announcement, it is temporarily unavailable.)
I can understand the need to reduce obligations when you turn 96 (!), But isn’t it time, frankly, to give in to the ignorance and laziness that are present in our time ? It might be time to relax the requirement for full sentences and proper capitalization in text messages, but the line needs to be drawn somewhere – and right here. I’ll be damned if I tell you it’s okay to screw up the apostrophe . We deserve the best.
Apostrophes add an extra layer of nuance to our written language. They indicate ownership and replace missing letters in abbreviations. But they need to be used correctly. If the apostrophe is incorrect in one place, it can be annoying. Hope you just felt overwhelmed.
In fact, this news could not have come at the worst time of the year: the season of holiday cards is approaching, which means that many of you are going to address your envelopes to the “Smiths” or “Smiths” and think that you are doing a great job. But you didn’t plural Smith. You made it possessive, and now the Smiths feel unsettled, asking themselves, “Ours what ?”
When Richards was a young man (a 75-year-old retired editor and reporter), he had the strength to speak out against all the restaurant “menus” in his area. He created email templates for team members to send to companies to alert them to their grammatical mistakes. Over time, he gained a following and gained fame, as reported by the Washington Post :
In 2013, Richards and the Apostrophe Defense Society staged a major coup when Mid Devon County Council overturned its decision to ban the use of apostrophes on all street signs. The government agency claimed that GPS devices melt when faced with punctuation marks, an argument Richards found “terrifying.”
But when he closes the group, we can take comfort in the fact that the website itself will “remain open for some time for reference and interest” (that is, after the traffic has stopped). You can still check out his rules for using apostrophes and his frequently asked questions , including “Can an inanimate object own something?” and “Should you use apostrophes after numbers or individual letters?” And if you’re in the mood for a little annoyance, its archive of apostrophe abuse is a good place to visit.
Meanwhile, Grammarly hasn’t given up hope yet. Grammarly will continue to explain how apostrophes help us to clearly form contractions, possessive nouns, and pronouns – and why they are (almost) never used to form plurals.
Richards has fought well throughout his career – and far beyond. Let us (apostrophe to indicate that this is short for “let’s”) prevent his work from being wasted. When in doubt, look for it .