# Grading Season: Apostrophe, stay or go? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 12, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grading-season-apostrophe-stay-or-go/476895 "2008-12-12T16:16:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grading-season-apostrophe-stay-or-go/476895/21 "2008-12-14T20:07:10Z")
personal opinion, dump it. but then again I am all for getting rid of 99% of the nonsense that is formal english. thinks like using an ’ in an abbreviated word…what the Frak is that all about? you leave out a letter to save space/time and REPLACE IT WITH SOMETHING ELSE THAT TAKES SPACE AND TIME AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! yeah its a pet peeve of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grading-season-apostrophe-stay-or-go/476895/22 "2008-12-15T19:34:20Z")
> [@stuyguy](#): > > FWIW, _“correct”_ apostrophe usage seems to have made noteable shift just in the past several decades. In grade school (in the 1960s) I was taught that to make words ending in s, z and x possesive you added an apostrophe only (not apostrophe+s). Z and S, I can see with the apostrophe only But X? “The ax’ blade” “The fox’ tail” Really? ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grading-season-apostrophe-stay-or-go/476895/23 "2008-12-15T19:55:03Z")
IIRC, something like 93% of all communication is non-verbal. When reading the written word, this makes precision that much more critical in order to impart accurate meaning, since the audience is missing the non-verbal cues which might illustrate what exactly is intended by the words. I feel that the apostrophe in possessives helps to achieve this goal, by clearly illustrating that “this word is a possessive.” The willy-nilly manner that other people misuse the apostrophe simply speaks to ignorance of its proper usage and not to a flaw in the usage itself. If a person is writing with the intention of being understood, it logically follows that they will make some effort to obey the rules as they are prescribed. Unfortunately, that is a bit of a moving target with regards to some of the finer points, but the sentiment holds true, IMO. Written language is a fairly new innovation in the grand scheme of things, and we are still seeing many of the associated growing pains. I don’t think that means we need to start throwing babies out with the bath water, however. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grading-season-apostrophe-stay-or-go/476895/24 "2008-12-15T20:04:55Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > personal opinion, dump it. > but then again I am all for getting rid of 99% of the nonsense that is formal english. thinks like using an ’ in an abbreviated word…what the Frak is that all about? you leave out a letter to save space/time and REPLACE IT WITH SOMETHING ELSE THAT TAKES SPACE AND TIME AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! > > yeah its a pet peeve of mine. You don’t actually use contractions in formal writing, because (as you point out) they’re mostly spoken shortcuts. You write out the full “do not,” “they are,” “is not” and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Jelymag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jelymag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelymag)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grading-season-apostrophe-stay-or-go/476895/25 "2008-12-15T20:14:26Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I like monkey test’s. If you cant master the use’s of apostrophes’s by the ages’ of eight or ten, then you wo’nt be able to do lot’s of other kinds’ of seriou’s thinking, either, which tell’s the res’t of u’s how s’mart you really are. Thank, you for making my head, explode. This is, worse, than random, commas, in sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grading-season-apostrophe-stay-or-go/476895/26 "2008-12-15T21:42:10Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > I caution all who would reform spelling and usage that down that path lies the madness that is calendar reform. _Now_ I know how I’d use my Jedi Mind Powers! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grading-season-apostrophe-stay-or-go/476895.md?page=1)