Sad news from Boston, England: John Richards, Ig Nobel Prize-winning founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society, has died. He taught the world that proofreading is a form of moral philosophy. David Seymour reports, in the Boston Standard: Tribute paid to Boston man and founder of internationally famous Apostrophe Protection Society following his death, aged 97 […]
Tag: apostrophe
An end at the Apostrophe
The founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society, who in 2001 was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for that achievement, has announced that the Apostrophe Protection Society will come to an end. He made the announcement with a tinge of happy bitterness. A December 1, 2019 news report in the Evening Standard says: A society dedicated […]
Misplace apostrophes – miss out on med school?
The perennially thorny issue of apostrophe misuse has been correlated with lack-of-success at medical school. Researchers Dr Michael Cop and Dr Hunter Hatfield of the University of Otago, New Zealand, decided to test whether undergraduate medical students’ abilities in handling apostrophes might be linked to their (future) career prospects : “We therefore examined the placement […]
De-apostrophication in Britain
Comes the news, reported by the BBC, that : Apostrophe ban on Devon council’s new street names The apostrophe is being banned from street names in parts of Devon to “avoid potential confusion”. Mid Devon District Council said its new streets had not contained apostrophes for many years, but the policy was now being made […]