# Abolish apostrophes and commas! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 27, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967 "2010-05-27T16:39:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/21 "2010-05-28T22:32:37Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve been noticing this in sporting news - the possessive apostrophe has pretty much disappeared. I don’t read sporting news (how much longer are the NBA playoffs, anyway? They’ve been going on for, like, a YEAR, it seems!), so I can’t speak to that. But it’s true in many other venues. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/22 "2010-05-28T23:10:40Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > . . . (how much longer are the NBA playoffs, anyway? They’ve been going on for, like, a YEAR, it seems!) Well, technically, that’s how long they last (a whole season anyway). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/23 "2010-05-28T23:50:12Z")
Why apostrophes matter. Lesson One: Those old things in the cellar are all my ex-husband’s. Those old things in the cellar are all my ex-husbands. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/24 "2010-05-29T00:28:04Z")
I’m starting to think my idea isn’t such a good one… ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/25 "2010-05-29T00:57:56Z")
Ah, but starting a thread that allows Dopers to geek out on grammar was definitely a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/26 "2010-05-29T04:05:30Z")
> [@Woeg](#): > > I wrote a poem about commas, sort of… > > **Punctuational Perversity** > > I just, > can’t seem, > to keep, > from adding commas to, > my work; > Pausing, > every other word, > like freakin’, > Captain, > Kirk. > Punctuational perversity, > pervades, > within my mind; > I have, > to see, > a comma > at the end of, > every line. > If not, > a pause, > Then a full, > stop, a, > period-ication, > A semi-colon, > dot dot dot, > perhaps a hy- > phenation. > And so, > dear reader, > please, > forgive, > when such, > said things, > invade; > it’s just, > that, > punctuational, > perversity, > pervades. Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/27 "2010-05-29T05:52:50Z")
So has society gotten to the point at which we abolish everything that we learned after the age of seven . . . only because some people stopped learning by that age? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/28 "2010-05-29T07:22:28Z")
spacescapitallettersperiodsandcolonsshouldbenext;onlythesemicolonshouldremain ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/29 "2010-05-29T15:57:50Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Why apostrophes matter. > Lesson One: > Those old things in the cellar are all my ex-husband’s. > > Those old things in the cellar are all my ex-husbands. Thank you. I can’t talk about this objectively because I’m an English professor and writer, and for many years I was an editor. However, I’m afraid we may be on our way to losing the apostrophe (though not the comma). My students rarely use apostrophes, and when they do, they don’t use them correctly. They will use an apostrophe for a plural instead of a possessive, and they avoid using them for contractions as well. The comma, though? No way. That will be around for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/30 "2010-05-29T23:28:50Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I don’t read sporting news (how much longer are the NBA playoffs, anyway? They’ve been going on for, like, a YEAR, it seems!), so I can’t speak to that. But it’s true in many other venues. The NBA playoffs finish up the the same time as the Stanley Cup - mid-August. Then they start pre-season. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/31 "2010-05-29T23:36:37Z")
[Eats(,) Shoots and Leaves](http://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1592400876/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275176114&sr=8-2) ---
**Author:** ![Woeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Woeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Woeg)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/32 "2010-06-01T18:49:49Z")
😃 Glad y’all liked it - it was a fun one to write! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/33 "2010-06-01T19:12:45Z")
> [@Woeg](#): > > 😃 Glad y’all liked it - it was a fun one to write! Okay - that threw me for a loop. Coming off the heels of Musicat’s link to “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” I thought you were Lynne Truss! ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/34 "2010-06-01T20:26:19Z")
I’m laughing at all of this “we’re losing the apostrophe” business. I could gather plenty of real-life examples if I weren’t at work right now, but these made-up ones are quite typical: \*\*Large Ice Cream Cone’s: $2.25 New and Used Car’s Dancer’s 7 nights a week\*\* Not to mention the rampant use — right here on SDMB — of “it’s” for the possessive “its.” ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/35 "2010-06-01T20:36:22Z")
Woman: without her, man is nothing. Woman, without her man, is nothing. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/36 "2010-06-01T22:13:12Z")
[QUOTE=DChord] I’m laughing at all of this “we’re losing the apostrophe” business. I could gather plenty of real-life examples if I weren’t at work right now, but these made-up ones are quite typical: Large Ice Cream Cone’s: $2.25 New and Used Car’s Dancer’s 7 nights a week Not to mention the rampant use — right here on SDMB — of “it’s” for the possessive “its.” [/QUOTE] Are these apostrophe’s migrating to the wrong place’s on their own… ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/37 "2010-06-01T22:24:39Z")
> [@Woeg](#): > > 😃 Glad y’all liked it - it was a fun one to write! That was the most interesting thing I read that day. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/38 "2010-06-01T22:38:32Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > I’m laughing at all of this “we’re losing the apostrophe” business. > > I could gather plenty of real-life examples if I weren’t at work right now, but these made-up ones are quite typical: > > \*\*Large Ice Cream Cone’s: $2.25 > > New and Used Car’s > > Dancer’s 7 nights a week\*\* > > Not to mention the rampant use — right here on SDMB — of “it’s” for the possessive “its.” My wife and I were laughing at a car dealer’s ad in the paper over the weekend because of excessive use of apostrophes. **Chevy’s! Hyundai’s! Toyota’s!** The whole ad was like that. When a business can’t even be bothered to spell-and-grammar-check their ads, there’s not much chance of them getting my business. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/39 "2010-06-01T22:51:14Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Chevy’s! Hyundai’s! Toyota’s! Ugh. People seem to be under two incorrect assumptions: 1. All proper nouns need an apostrophe when making a plural. 2. Words ending in a vowel need an apostrophe when making a plural. It drives me crazy. And it doesn’t make a lick of sense. I blame the people who defend using apostrophes to pluralize an acronym or abbreviation (not wrong per se, it’s just an alternate way of doing it that ends up confusing further uses of the apostrophe). ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967/40 "2010-06-02T13:46:43Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Ugh. People seem to be under two incorrect assumptions: > > 1. All proper nouns need an apostrophe when making a plural. > 2. Words ending in a vowel need an apostrophe when making a plural. > > It drives me crazy. And it doesn’t make a lick of sense. I blame the people who defend using apostrophes to pluralize an acronym or abbreviation (not wrong per se, it’s just an alternate way of doing it that ends up confusing further uses of the apostrophe). IINM, pluralizing an acronym, abbreviation or date by using an apostrophe was not just “an alternate way,” but standard practice until relatively recently (e.g., ICBM’s, CD’s, the 1960’s). Anyone know when the _AP Stylebook_, et al, started recommending that the apostrophe not be used? I agree that it led to confusion, and that CDs is more elegant than CD’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-apostrophes-and-commas/540967.md?page=3)