Missing apostrophes filled in after Cambridge city council had them removed from street signs to help emergency services
Reports of councils culling punctuation from street signs has prompted a grammar expert to warn that “if they take our apostrophes, commas will be next”.
Grammar campaigners have used marker pens to fill in missing apostrophes in Cambridge after the city council ruled they should be removed to avoid confusing emergency services.
Kathy Salaman, director of the Cambridgeshire-based Good Grammar Company, said she knew who was responsible for the corrections.
“I haven’t done it myself but the person responsible has been in touch and they have my full support – I won’t be outing them.
“If I was walking along with a marker pen in my pocket and I saw a missing apostrophe, it would be difficult to resist the temptation to fill it in.” More.
See: The Guardian
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United States
Local time: 18:14
Russian to English
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I don't understand how apostrophes can confuse the emergency vehicle drivers? Perhaps they cannot read too well, because otherwise I can't see any connection. Perhaps instead of removing the apostrophes they should arrange some extra language classes for the emergency vehicle drivers.
[Edited at 2014-01-26 10:09 GMT]
Denmark
Local time: 00:14
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
And admit it, if you were bleeding to death or trapped in a burning buildling, you might not care too much about misplaced apostrophes, along as help arrived fast.
Still, would it be possible to get the SatNav system to ignore apostrophes like Google?
That would be a far better solution than mis-spelling name... See more
And admit it, if you were bleeding to death or trapped in a burning buildling, you might not care too much about misplaced apostrophes, along as help arrived fast.
Still, would it be possible to get the SatNav system to ignore apostrophes like Google?
That would be a far better solution than mis-spelling names.
But as I mentioned on another thread, I just remember the Serenity Prayer over other people's apostrophes...
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference. ▲ Collapse
Poland
Local time: 00:14
English to Polish
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Literature existed and flourished before punctuation was invented.
(As much as it pains me to see incorrent usage. And I see it all around me. For example I see all the mistakes you guys make here.
United States
Local time: 18:14
Russian to English
+ ...
It has been scientifically proven (the psychologists did a lot of research on that) that a person cannot see their own mistakes that well;this is why it is ESSENTIAL that all texts for publication be proofread by a proofreader. Also, you would be able to see your own mistakes better; at leapt 24 hours after you have written the text. It is recommended to do any revisions to your own writing at leapt 24 hours after the piece has been written.
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:14
Dutch to English
+ ...
And besides, if I mistype 'don't' or 'I'll' in Google or on my phone, it'll propose the one with apostrophe. Surely ... See more
And besides, if I mistype 'don't' or 'I'll' in Google or on my phone, it'll propose the one with apostrophe. Surely the emergency services have this type of software as well? It's not difficult to do. Just admit you don't know where to put them and stop the silly excuses. Then go and learn what they're for. ▲ Collapse
Local time: 18:14
English
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In the 1970s Quebec's language law, which was designed to promote and protect the French language, prohibited apostrophes on all public signs when it was used to denote the genitive, a punctuation structure that does not exist in French.
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:14
Serbian to English
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Removing punctuation marks is nothing more than pandering to intellectual laziness, (or some shoddy software design?)
Give the 999 operators quick direct access to any database that can help quickly locate the site of the emergency and pass geographical coordinates to the GPS used by the emergency vehicle, make sure the GPS maps used by the emergency vehicle have the latest updates regarding one... See more
Removing punctuation marks is nothing more than pandering to intellectual laziness, (or some shoddy software design?)
Give the 999 operators quick direct access to any database that can help quickly locate the site of the emergency and pass geographical coordinates to the GPS used by the emergency vehicle, make sure the GPS maps used by the emergency vehicle have the latest updates regarding one way streets and real-time info about traffic jams and you'll be getting somewhere...
Or give them a grid position on a paper map - no confusion possible.
But blaming punctuation marks is ridiculous.
A more likely source of delays and confusion would be the same name given to a "street" and a "road" / "avenue" / "mews" in the same area.
[Edited at 2014-01-28 10:35 GMT] ▲ Collapse
Poland
Local time: 00:14
English to Polish
+ ...
One more curious thing. Without apostrophes is actually the way English genitives were originally written. Google something like 'kinges grace' for example. But, there was an 'e' where necessary (unlike in the German genitive, which, by the way, also uses an -s suffix and no apostrophe).
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