When North Yorkshire Council announced that it was dropping the apostrophe from many of its street signs recently, a little bit of the soul of a million pedants died. Well, perhaps not quite a million, but certainly an awful lot to judge by the acres of press coverage the event received.
Yorkshire’s stated reason was that the pesky punctuation was playing havoc with its digital databases. But it was forced to backtrack when it came to retaining apostrophes on street names – the public-facing bit that really seemed to upset people. But it won’t necessarily appear in those databases, hidden away from general view.
That was probably the right move. But they certainly wouldn’t be the first council, or indeed the first brand name, to decide that apostrophes were surplus to requirements.
Bookshop Waterstones dropped theirs a decade or so ago. And neither Harrods nor Selfridges appear to have suffered from losing it (in 1928 and 1945 respectively). Though Sainsbury’s and MacDonald’s seem to be carrying on regardless, at least for now.
There are many of us, to be sure, who can find it within ourselves to get offended by a misplaced apostrophe (though there have been a few since the days of George Bernard Shaw who’d like to see it disappear altogether). But with names, whether streets or brands, the fact is you can spell it whatever the hell way you choose, though in Yorkshire’s case, the context of where you use it is important.
But in general writing, it’s still worth taking care. For all those potential customers who don’t notice whether you’ve placed it correctly, left it out or added it when you shouldn’t have, there will be many others who notice something’s wrong, perhaps even subconsciously, and that can throw up a barrier to sales.
People who don’t notice bad punctuation won’t notice when it’s right, but for the many who do, it’s a tiny stamp of authenticity that reflects the quality of your writing and your respect for those who will read it.
The point: Correct punctuation matters… you never know who might be reading.
When North Yorkshire Council announced that it was dropping the apostrophe from many of its street signs recently, a little bit of the soul of a million pedants died. Well, perhaps not quite a million, but certainly an awful lot to judge by the acres of press coverage the event received.
Yorkshire’s stated reason was that the pesky punctuation was playing havoc with its digital databases. But it was forced to backtrack when it came to retaining apostrophes on street names – the public-facing bit that really seemed to upset people. But it won’t necessarily appear in those databases, hidden away from general view.
That was probably the right move. But they certainly wouldn’t be the first council, or indeed the first brand name, to decide that apostrophes were surplus to requirements.
Bookshop Waterstones dropped theirs a decade or so ago. And neither Harrods nor Selfridges appear to have suffered from losing it (in 1928 and 1945 respectively). Though Sainsbury’s and MacDonald’s seem to be carrying on regardless, at least for now.
There are many of us, to be sure, who can find it within ourselves to get offended by a misplaced apostrophe (though there have been a few since the days of George Bernard Shaw who’d like to see it disappear altogether). But with names, whether streets or brands, the fact is you can spell it whatever the hell way you choose, though in Yorkshire’s case, the context of where you use it is important.
But in general writing, it’s still worth taking care. For all those potential customers who don’t notice whether you’ve placed it correctly, left it out or added it when you shouldn’t have, there will be many others who notice something’s wrong, perhaps even subconsciously, and that can throw up a barrier to sales.
People who don’t notice bad punctuation won’t notice when it’s right, but for the many who do, it’s a tiny stamp of authenticity that reflects the quality of your writing and your respect for those who will read it.
The point: Correct punctuation matters… you never know who might be reading.
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