Monday, June 04, 2007

Doing the Lord's Work

Knowing how to use the apostrophe correctly is a blessing and a curse. It makes writing quite a bit easier and yet nearly every day you come across a store sign that says ''Have it done you're way!" and grit your teeth. I tend to make my students write out a sentence like ''It's a shame that the dog has lost its tail." But, of course, that generally makes no difference.

So, it's not as important as ending world hunger, but I'm glad to see there is an Apostrophe Protection Society. If only there was something a bit more violent, like an Apostrophe Enforcement Syndicate.

4 comments:

Holly said...

Perhaps surprisingly (perhaps not...) I had an apostrophe question that's been bugging me for ages, so I posted it in the forum there, and got 2 answers within an hour. Bearing in mind that it was no-o'clock in the morning in the US when I posted it, that's pretty remarkable. Either there's an international community of people deeply concerned with apostrophe usage, or some people stay up very late indeed, waiting for those in need of immediate punctuation savvy. Either way, I approve.

Rufus said...

I like to imagine they're something like hari krishnas.

Holly said...

Do hari krishnas get snarky with one another about punctuation? The question I asked has gotten more response than I ever expected, and now they're starting to turn on one another's commentary like starving cichlids. But, in fact, none of them has tried to sell me a pencil.

Rufus said...

The world of punctuation enforcement is probably very lonely and cruel- like the old west.