What did the poor apostrophe ever do to deserve such unpopularity?
- Bob McCalden
- Feb 1
- 1 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
There is quite a good article on the apostrophe on RTE's website (RTE is the national radio broadcaster in Ireland).The article, updated in January this year, also has a link to an interview I did on RTE back in September 2023, so it's doubly worth having a look at.
Here's an extract of the article to set the scene:
Analysis: This little piece of punctuation has been labelled 'aberrant', 'troublesome' and 'ambivalent' and is regularly embarrassed in public places
The humble apostrophe has had an arduous journey through the English landscape. Labels ranging from 'aberrant' and 'ambivalent' have been levelled at this poor little piece of punctuation over its 300 year evolution. Linguists like Donald Hook have called it as "a troublesome symbol", while Elizabeth Sklar termed it "a crooked mark".
What did the apostrophe ever do to deserve this? To understand its predicament, an examination of its origins might help. Despite existing in languages such as Catalan, French and Italian, the apostrophe is widely regarded as unique to the English punctuation system. The 2003 best-selling guide Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Liz Truss highlighted interest among the general public in how this arcane system works, dedicating an entire chapter to ‘The Tractable Apostrophe’.
The full article can be found on RTE's website here: