god save the apostrophe

[squishtoy]

OH MY GOD.

Birmingham, the second-largest city in in England, has decided to drop apostrophes from all street signs, saying they're confusing and old-fashioned.

"Apostrophes denote possessions that are no longer accurate, and are not needed," councilor Martin Mullaney, who heads the city's transport scrutiny committee, said. "More importantly,

Comments

[bookofjude]

Its okay, Birmingham sucks anyway. Dont you think?

[squishtoy]

I don't even know where it is. For once I'm proud of not knowing something to show HOW INSIGNIFICANT THAT 2ND LARGEST CITY IS TO ME.

That will never happen in London. Will it catch on?

[bookofjude]

I dunno! I've only ever been there once and it was a bit of a dump?

[squishtoy]

Good. Maybe the money the city saves from not making apostrophes will go into a De-Dump Birmingham campaign.

[icarusancalion]

I'm appalled. Kind of amused because they're so going to be replacing those signs soon. But also appalled.

[squishtoy]

It's a huge fuss over one small dot, but I honestly think the English language is a bit of a foundation for human communication. :|

[icarusancalion]

Have you seen mad_maudlin's post? She's a linguist, hilarious, and I learned just what Birmingham is removing. The possessive apostrophe is a relatively recent development and -- well, you'll see. Go read. *shooing gesture*

[squishtoy]

*lost* I have to digest this. It's blowing my mind in a bad way.

[bleakwinters]

Oh, I'll tell this to one of the guys I work with, he studies in Birmingham and I make it a point to say what a shithole it is. This will add more mocking fuel to my fire. Awesome! :D

[squishtoy]

What are his thoughts on apostrophe conservation?

[bleakwinters]

Indifferent. He doesn't care. Then again he is English and we all know how some of them feel about proper learnings.

[pornography]

that is the kind of ridiculous idea i would expect from americans! oh england.

[squishtoy]

I expected this from the Midwest, really. :(

[eska_rina]

head, meet desk >:|

WTF is WRONG with people?! :O Not using apostrophes is confusing, and no, you don't need a fucking A-level in English to understand apostrophes - you just need to be able to read -_-

[squishtoy]

And it's funny, what about non-possessives like contractions? Will Birmingham start saying "dont" and "cant" and "isnt"? It seriously messes with me.