Is the apostrophe dying?

[Torsten]

Hi,

Do you think the apostrophe is dying and we soon won't see it anymore? I'm asking because I see that a growing number of people write words like "cant", "dont", "wont'" "arent" and "lets". In my opinion, this is just sloppiness and shows that the writer doesn't have a great a respect for the language. In some cases it can be confusing to leave out the apostrophe (let's vs. lets). I think those "apostrophe killers" haven't learned to type properly and simply look for a shortcut. Not typing the apostrophe is almost as bad as chopping words (u instead of you, r instead of are, etc.)

Anyway, what is your take on this?
Thanks,
Torsten
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[prezbucky]

The thought sickens me.

It seems people are leaving the apostrophe out of places where it's necessary... and inserting it into places where it's incorrect to do so.

Examples of mistakes I see every day in my job:

The dog ate it's bone.

Your doing a good job.

Lets go to the mall.

My dad let's me eat a double portion.

Customer wants to disconnect they're (or there) services.

The 1980's (does eighties have an apostrophe in it? no) were great!

etc.
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[Jamie (K)]

English got along without an apostrophe until sometime in the 17th century, so I suppose the language would be fine if the apostrophe disappeared now. But as Prezbucky says, you see people adding it where it shouldn't be as often as you see people deleting it where it should be.

Due to bad education, many English speakers can't keep plurals and possessives straight, so they just put an apostrophe in both of them most of the time. As one English professor told me, "When my students write an apostrophe, all it indicates is that an S is coming."

By the way, both 1980s and 1980's is correct, depending on which style manual you follow.

Personally, the sloppy English typing habit that I hate the most is when people type "u" instead of "you". My mind always sees it and hears [u], like in Dutch, instead of the English word the writer intended. A close second is when people don't capitalize nationalities or the names of languages. Drives me nuts.

[lost_soul]

You're describing the slip-ups peculiar only to native English speakers.
The average non-native speaker would never make them unintentionally, maybe only to pass off as a native speaker. It happens because most learners first learn English using a textbook.
Not long ago I myself even would pronounce your and you're differently - they have always been 2 different words.
We, non-natives, make other, peculiar to us mistakes, like we can use the wrong article (for me it is a devastating scourge - I have been unable to straighten it out 100% yet) or the wrong word (f.e. She has been stolen (instead of robbed)).
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Alex

How much upchuck would a woodchuck upchuck if a woodchuck could upchuck ?

(a guy from Russia)

[Torsten]

Hi Alex, what is the difference in pronouncing "your" and "you're"?
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Jamie (K)]

In VERY careful American speech, your is pronounced [yor], and you're is pronounced [yur]. In ordinary language, they're both pronounced [yr].

[prezbucky]

Jamie

Doesn't "1980s" make more sense than "1980's" though?

One could reasonably ask (upon seeing "1980's") questions like "What does 1980 own?" and "1980 is what?". hehe
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Jamie (K)]

To us today, "1980s" makes more sense, but there was some logic to writing "1980's". I don't know what it was, though.

Things change all the time. My dad was born in 1909, and to his death he still wrote "to-day". Watch an old 1920s movie, and you might see a sign that says, "BIG AIR SHOW TO-DAY" or something similar.

[NinaZara]

I think it depends on when or where we need to delete it. Like when I am SMSing my father, I don't even write with the correct spelling. The things I do are:

1) I delete all apostrophe.

2) Misspell words purposely like "I miss you" becomes "I mis you"

2) Simplify "not" to "x"

And so on. To me this is understandable because I am writing through the Short Message Service.

But what I do not understand is why people keep on insisting writing like that when they can write as many as they want on a place like this forum.
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