Apostrophes

This is a little off-subject but if anyone is genuinely interested in looking back 44 years, this is a good place to start: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976. Mind you, time vanishes when you get reading it and maybe you don't need to remember The Cod War, Jimmy Carter becoming US President and an assassination attempt on Bob Marley and his manager.

We actually do need the apostrophe for clarity in written English. Here is an example:

The boys coats were lying on the floor.

Does this mean that one boy's coat was lying on the floor or that two or more boys coats were? In more important sentences than the above, it could make a crucial difference.

The other function of the apostrophe is to show us where one or more letters have been left out of a word, as in "I'll phone you back later" where the words "I shall" have been run together, becoming "I'll"

"Doll'd up" could be considered correct, as the "e" in "dolled" has been left out, but like you, Mealybug, I think it is more likely that your hairdresser and her sign painter didn't know the grammatical rule.

Nipsum, why comment if this kind of thing bores you? There are plenty other discussions on GransNet.

Very touched that so many contributors [plural, no apostrophe]!!! wish to know about our globe-trotting adventures since December 1975, or more to the point why it is that after 44 years, we decided to return to the UK. Believe me, the decision was not an easy one.
Both of us had necessarily and unfortunately had to be hospitalised in France {NB, we were only in France during the last 12 years, before that 15 years in Belgium, 5.5 years in Oz, and 12 years in South Africa}. My OH for the "nasties", needing a 4 hour extremely invasive operation, me with optic neuritis. Trying to cope with medical technology in one's own language is difficult enough, but in a foreign tongue is distressingly and doubly problematical.
We have two darling granddaughters whom we love dearly and whom we felt were growing up without their GPs. After careful reflection we started looking in their area, outside London, only to find the prices are outrageous. Ergo, it was essential to start looking further afield but still within striking distance of Hertfordshire. We found a delightful converted Barn and installed ourselves here in Dorset last September.
At first we had difficulty in understanding what folks were saying to us - language is ever-changing of course, but have now become used to the change in inflection. We have met with kindliness, helpfulness, and welcome but have quickly had to come to the conclusion that we are no longer "anyone special" simply run-of-the-mill residents. We were of course previously "les anglais" where we lived in France.
The moral of this {dreary}? story is NEVER LOOK BACK. Maintain a positive attitude and things should come right.
Any comments would be appreciated and welcomed.

I don't care enough to waste time writing about it.

A local hairdresser near me has a big name sign on the front of her shop saying "Doll'd up" and it annoys me every time I drive past.

local fish and chip shop, called Bryan's for years, rebranded itself to The Fishermans Wife.
GGrrrr.
I told them it made no sense.
but I could see they had no idea what I was talking about. I now go to Kirby's.

Grannytotwins it Pedants’ Corner - many pendants, one corner.
From a pendant!!

We have a such a rich language and I am sad that it is being simplified to accommodate texting and other forms of speedy communication. I still cannot send a text without checking spelling and grammar.

I think you you would be surprised how much spelling punctuation and grammar is taught in junior schools . Children are picking it up really well. I think perhaps their parents generation were the ones who missed out.

evianers, please do share your impressions of Blighty, 44 years on! It will be fascinating.

As to apostrophe use, I am old school - they make reading/understanding so much easier (when used correctly!).

I have a few friends/acquaintances who email and I have to sit and work out the actual content of their mails. Pure gobbledegook and occasionally it is really easy to misconstrue the real meaning of their mail!

One there was wrong...it had to be taken out...simple

My grandson is fourteen and goes to a special needs school. He’s a sweet boy and in many ways his mental age is around five. One thing he’s good at though is grammar and punctuation. His apostrophes, semi-colons, commas and full stops are perfect every time. If he can get these right, surely adults can? He’s definitely going to be a pendant’s corner member of the future!

Grammar is so important and should be used correctly. Sadly, I don't think it is taught as well as it used to be.
It's like the 'times tables' -many children don't have a good command of these, and they are so useful in so many ways.

In ‘74 I moved abroad, returning in ‘89. The cultural shock on my return was extreme. Took me years to adjust.
Good luck OP, are you finding it difficult?

MaizieD I know exactly how to use punctuation and do so in my writing. I just don't see the point of apostrophes.

Some shop owners apparently use them wrongly so that people won't be able to resist coming in to tell them and then they chat and look at the goods ;)

I still like to see apostrophes used correctly. Must admit though I do have to stop and think when using them. What I have recently found confusing is loose and lose. I have for as long as I can recall thought that loose is sounded the same as choose and lose is as in noose. But appears I am wrong loose is sounded as in noose. I too wonder why anyone would return after an absence of 44 years. It will be another world altogether.

Strange though it sounds, assuming that should have read 'The Glasses Man', then in a sense that apostrophe was used correctly.. in place of a missing letter or letters. Unusual and quirky use of the apostrophe.

Wood thoaz hoo donet kair abut aposstrofeys like spelin too bee enny oled how too?
Apostrophes have a purpose.They affect the meaning of what is written. I won't bore you with a lesson. It's quite easy to grasp if taught properly.
Unfortunately an idiot government decided that teaching English grammar in schools was a waste of time, so a whole generation of teachers do not know the rules.

You will find living back here a struggle.
I was away for 18 years and when I came back I felt I was living in a foreign country. So many things had changed.

I saw a lovely sign in a shopping centre last week announcing that the Glass’s Man wished a Happy New Year to all and would be back on Tuesday!

I think that people find them hard because they don't have any idea why the apostrophe is being used.

How many people do know?

It is just possible that the mandatory reintroduction of formal grammar teaching in primary schools some 5 or 6 (or maybe more) years ago might lead to a revival of the correct use of the apostrophe, but as many primary teachers, who themselves were at school when the teaching of grammar was more or less abandoned, don't have much of a clue I'm not altogether hopeful.

I think, vampirequeen, that you have absolutely no idea about the function of punctuation. It's there to give the reader clues as to exactly how the written word should be interpreted. Familiarity with it makes reading faster as you don't have to waste time working out meanings from context.

It's a mystery to me why people find them hard. But it's not known as "the greengrocers' apostrophe" for nothing.

I think apostrophes should always be used properly. There are already too many ways to be misinterpreted, especially online. Dropping one aid to communication is a step backwards in my view.

44 years ago! That would make it 1976. Two Labour leaders, a Royal family split, a British Formula One World Championship - pretty much the same! Oh! 16.5% inflation and a High Street shop [The Body Shop] actually opening so some things different.

I think apostrophes should be dropped altogether. You can work out the meaning from the context.