You may have noticed a few years back that when Tim Horten's was acquired by an American franchise the apostrophe was removed from the name: Tim Hortens. Well, there was some grammarian gripping at the time but now comes a real anti-apostrophe onslaught, led by, of all people, the British. More specifically, the Birmingham city council, which in a one fell swoop has slashed the apostrophes from all its street signs. They say an address like "Earl's Court" signifies possession, which is inaccurate and outdated. Bollocks, cry the pro-apostrophists, counter-charging that the city council is equating proper grammar with elitism. As the linguist battle rages we'll hope the ripples don't cross the pond to threaten our capital city's apostrophe!
(Image: onthemarkwriting.files.)
No comments:
Post a Comment