Do we still need the apostrophe? Pick n Pay, Barclays and Woolworths don't think so. Simon Griffin, author of 'Fucking Apostrophes', believes we do and should not leave the decision to retailers.
Or grocers, who have been blamed, often unfairly, for using the apostrophe as a plural as in potato's, tomatoes', cauli's, carrot's, banana's and more.
It's not that Griffin hates apostrophes; he just doesn't like them used in the wrong way. Simple, you might say, until you get to "its" (a possessive pronoun) and "it's" (a contraction). Confusing the two is one of the most common errors in the English language.
Griffin clears up many difficulties with the apostrophe that lurk where least expected. There are, for example, three parks in England named after St James and each one uses the apostrophe differently.
Like correct spelling, the apostrophe should be used correctly so that readers will know the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.
• 'Fucking Apostrophes', by Simon Griffin, is distributed in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers (Icon, R155).
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