Why Should The Use Of Apostrophes Confuse Anyone?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9932152/Council-bans-apostrophes-from-all-street-signs-to-avoid-confusion.html

[bazwillrun]

petty little busybodies..as usual

[ichkeria]

Apostrophes seem to confuse greengrocers - indeed most users of English.

Even you on your "Socialist Worker's" (sic) thing below

[Prudie]

Someone's probably suggested it would save £30 a year in ink.

[Old_Geezer]

We should ban all councillors to avoid confusion.

This sort of wrong move rather irks me. Says more about the ability of the councillors to understand anything, and assuming we are all as thick as they, so everything drops to accommodate the lowest common denominator.

[Gromit]

It seems odd to ban them.

But it is also largely pointless to have them in the first place.

Gromit Boulevard sound better than Gromit's Boulevard.

[Old_Geezer]

Gromits Boulevard
And no, I don't think it sounds better.
Sorry. I mean, and no, I dont think it sounds better.

[THECORBYLOON]

Ichkeria, maybe the SWP has only one member?

[optomist]

may I suggest you pop out and buy or (surruptitially] read page 2 of today's Times paper. It has an article there which explains very precisely why we need
apostrophes......

[ichkeria]

"Ichkeria, maybe the SWP has only one member?"

Ah, that'll be it then :-)

[anotheoldgit]

ichkeria

/// Apostrophes seem to confuse greengrocers - indeed most users of English. ///

/// Even you on your "Socialist Worker's" (sic) thing below ///

Perhaps I was taught wrong all those years ago, but I was led to believe if something is belonging to something then an apostrophe was in order.

Such as the sign Specialist's in Men's Hairdressing, there should not be an apostrophe in Specialists, but one in Men's

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[sp1814]

I have noticed that many people hav problem with apostrophes, even here on AB.

I was taught the rules at school, but there are exceptions in the public domain there are contradiction.

For instance, why does the tube station Earl's Court have an apostrophe, when Kings Cross doesn't?

[ichkeria]

We need apostrophes - AND they confuse people!

Maybe this move is to compensate for all those extra ones people feel the need, somewhat inexplicably, to put in when not required

[Buenchico]

>Socialist Worker's< implies that there is only one worker.

If there's more than one, it must be >Socialist Workers'

[sp1814]

AOG

It should be Socialists Workers Party, because its a workers party for a number of socialist.

If you write Socialist's Workers Party, it would be a workers party for a single socialist.

Actually, now that I think of it, it makes more sense for it to be written as:

Socialist Workers' Party.

That would be grammatically correct. You would put the apostrophe after the plural possessive noun, and the noun in this is Socialist and Party.

[ichkeria]

AOG
The official name of the SWP is the apostrophe-less Socialist Workers Party. Otherwise it would be, unless TheCorbyLoon is correct, the Socialist Workers' party.

Sorry I didn't mean to pick on you :-)

[sp1814]

Buenchico

I would've got in there first had I not waffled on for ages.

[coccinelle]

If the owner is plural and the plural ends in an 's' then the apostrophe comes after example girls' hairdressing. If the plural doesn't end in an 's' then the apostrophe comes before. example men's hairdressing. Maybe Kings Cross should really be Kings' Cross....

[THECORBYLOON]

Reading this question's title, http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1221638.html, do you have problems anotheoldgit?

[Gromit]

Mid Devon has a Conservative leader and 24 Conservative Councillors. The others have 18, but strangely, the Conservatives do not have overall Control?

[Graham-W]

sp1814
Maybe Earl's Court refers to belonging to one Earl, but Kings Cross is the Cross of many Kings.