# Whence the overuse of the apostrophe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960 "2007-05-21T19:08:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2007, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/41 "2007-05-26T04:11:37Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] I’m not talking about “its” vs. “it’s” so much, as I’m sure even someone who has mastered that rule can admit it is a bit confusing. [/QUOTE] Confusing, perhaps - but it’s among the simplest and most regular rules in English: if you mean “it is”, use “it’s”; otherwise, use “its.” ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/42 "2007-05-26T13:57:36Z")
[QUOTE=flight] OK, now I am having trouble finding a good reference for that statement. I don’t think I am misremembering though. [/QUOTE] I don’t have a reference either, but I concur. British academic writing contains comma splices right and left. ---
**Author:** ![Lowend100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b77776/32.png) [@Lowend100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowend100)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/43 "2012-11-27T16:28:34Z")
There’s no doubt that the overuse and misuse of the apostrophe is peaking right now. Someone thanked me in an email today by writing, “Thank’s”. I now see wrongly used apostrophes all over the place - they are very common on the internet, which is expected, but now I see them them on all sorts of signage, even on billboards. As a writer, I feel it’s a dangerous trend… this is the type of thing that can greatly mangle and obscure the meaning of a word or sentence. Anyone who values clarity of expression should be concerned. Contributing factors? How about lousy grammar and punctuation instruction at the grade school level, epidemic-level ADD, and the prevalence of texting in the culture? Whatever the reasons, it sure does seem to have reached critical mass. I wonder though, if this isn’t part of the ongoing evolutionary mechanism of the language. We no longer easily understand Victorian English, for instance, because the language has simply changed a lot since then. I wonder if a lot of those changes initially may have looked like improper usage and mistakes. If a mistake becomes the dominant usage, isn’t it just a matter of time before it becomes standard usage, and therefore, correct? Are misused apostrophes due just to sheer laziness? Is it that people just can’t be bothered to make the distinction between a possessive and a plural? Come on folks, it really isn’t that hard. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/44 "2012-11-27T16:42:04Z")
zombie or no it’s absurd. my mind’s synapses are overloaded. even if you try to be careful and watch your p’s and q’s you still can get it wrong. there should be no multipurpose punctuation marks. each punctuation should only do one thing. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/45 "2012-11-27T16:51:33Z")
Braiiiiin’s!!! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/46 "2012-11-27T17:02:24Z")
The studies I’ve seen show a neutral or slightly positive correlation between texting and language facility in youths. It’s the emails I get from adults well past their teenage years that contain the most egregious errors in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/47 "2012-11-27T17:19:12Z")
Also, what ever happened to capitalizing the first letter of words that begin sentences? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/48 "2012-11-27T17:23:56Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Also, what ever happened to capitalizing the first letter of words that begin sentences? Economic conditions. Capital is in short supply because of the low interest rates. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/49 "2012-11-27T18:53:09Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The studies I’ve seen show a neutral or slightly positive correlation between texting and language facility in youths. > > It’s the emails I get from adults well past their teenage years that contain the most egregious errors in my experience. Correcting correspondence generated by my employees was the biggest headache I had at one job. I think there was one person in there (other than the admin assistant) who understood grammar and punctuation basics. I refused to allow a letter to go out looking like a 4th grader wrote it, which caused some bitterness among the masses. Hopefully they are better off for the experience. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/50 "2012-11-27T19:12:11Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > In a way, it’s a funny circle. Grammar and spelling rules were very lacking in formalized structure prior to the advent of the printing press. Now, as we move away again from printed materials to an electronic analog, language and its rules become less formal. Actually, much later than that. One of the more interesting bits of historical trivia regards the variation of spellings and grammar during American Colonial times. I have read how an academic of some stripe basically re-created the accent of somebody famous (Daniel Boone, perhaps?) by paying attention to how he spelled words. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/51 "2012-11-27T19:40:31Z")
[ApostropheAbuse.com](http://www.apostropheabuse.com/) [ApostropheCatastrophes.com](http://www.apostrophecatastrophes.com/) ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/52 "2012-11-27T23:37:02Z")
What’s a comma splice? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/53 "2012-11-28T10:32:18Z")
**It’s** not that hard to give each word **its** proper spelling. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/54 "2012-11-28T10:48:23Z")
From my hometown. It always used to crack me up: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=kenilworth&hl=en&ll=52.33648,-1.57996&spn=0.001608,0.00327&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=12.750751,26.784668&hnear=Kenilworth,%2BWarwickshire,%2BUnited%2BKingdom&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=52.33648,-1.57996&panoid=AgFD41TzRp19GJN75f21Fw&cbp=12,273.92,,0,6.28 It has been that way since the 80s. I can’t decide if they are trolling or not. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/55 "2012-11-28T16:39:01Z")
Keep [this](http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab72/EveOz/apostrophes-1.jpg)in mind. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/56 "2012-11-28T16:54:34Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > “It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru.” Nothing wrong with that statement. Unless you think that a Subaru has a what, and it’s the possession of that what that makes a Subaru, a Subaru. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/57 "2012-11-28T16:56:02Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > What’s a comma splice? Writing two sentences together as a single sentence, with a comma rather than a period at the end of the first. "John was carrying a pack, he thought it was too heavy.’ ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/58 "2012-11-28T16:58:22Z")
> [@flight](#): > > Oh, and while we are arguing apostrophe use, here is a question for you. I work with military people with whom overuse of acronyms is endemic. Many of these act as verbs, ones for which I occasionally need a past participle. As many times people know the acronym but have forgotten what it actually stands for, I unable to write out what it stands for in order to preserve clarity. > > So, what is the past participle of NDE? > > We need to NDE that piece soon. > > No, that’s OK, we NDE[-ed, -d, 'd?] it yesterday. I always use _'d_ to past-tense an abbreviation or acronym used as a verb. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/59 "2012-11-28T17:33:15Z")
This mistake seems to be increasing in occurance parallel with the misuse of quotation marks. A store near us has this sign up: For Sale “Now” ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960/60 "2012-11-28T20:57:38Z")
A store near my house has a sign that says: CUSHION’S DRAPE’S ALTERATION’S [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-overuse-of-the-apostrophe/404960.md?page=4)