NationStates Jolt Archive

"On the streets of Birmingham, the queen's English is now the queens English.

England's second-largest city has decided to drop apostrophes from all its street signs, saying they're confusing and old-fashioned.

But some purists are downright possessive about the punctuation mark.

This week, the council made it official, saying it was banning the punctuation mark from signs in a bid to end the dispute once and for all." The Associated PressI'm not sure if I should be shocked and appalled, or just roll my eyes at the stupidity of something and keep going.
In America butchering the Queen's English is a sport, but we expect the British to dot the "I's" and cross the "T's". I am shocked and devastated that Birmingham has decided to ban punctuation marks from street signs.

How can school teachers in America convince their young charges to punctuate correctly, when the Brits have basically said: To hell with punctuation.

Apostrophes may be old-fashioned but they aren't confusing, in fact the lack of punctuation is very confusing. I pray that the Birmingham council will have a change of heart, the thought of an English city banning punctuation is frightening.
No, just...no. How the hell can you ban apostrophes for being "old fashioned/confusing"?
Thoughts, comments, jokes?

Edit: Link. (http://newsblaze.com/story/20090131135301reye.nb/topstory.html) And another (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090131/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_no_apostrophe). (More official, I suppose.)

nxt thng UNo d kdz wl B ritN lk dis

Ive already commented on this before but...

This will start an underground band of punctuation correctors, "vandalising" their way to better punctuation on the streets! XD

There are many very good reasons not to go to Birmingham, this isn't necessarily one of them.

I don't see a problem with making Moore's St., into Moores St.

I suspect the real reason is to save money on the comma paint, I expect someone has done a costing on street names and found you can save GBP1,500 on dropping all the apostrophes.

Wow. the stupidity it making cm dumr bi minite.

lol, my first thought was how can you have never been to Birmingham?

I can understand never going back, I try not to go north of Mobile....Or Hattiesburg for that matter, but still, lol...

lol, my first thought was how can you have never been to Birmingham? Wrong Birmingham. :D

How difficult are apostrophes to use, anyway?

They are NOT "Hello, there is an S coming up" signs.

They signal a possessive (Mary's ball, John's car, women's rights) or a contraction (It is becomes it's, they are becomes they're).

The only fussy one is the gender neutral possessive its. "The cat moved its kittens to another hiding place."

It's sad that Birmingham essentially has said that their populace is too stupid to learn this.

Since American schools do still teach this (I did two weeks ago), it's a clear indication that they're superior to schools in Birmingham. ;)

lol, my first thought was how can you have never been to Birmingham?

I can understand never going back, I try not to go north of Mobile....Or Hattiesburg for that matter, but still, lol...
That one in Alabama....?
It was named for the one in the UK.
And I've never been to Alabama, so that's how I could have never been to Birmingham.

So these are the real life versions of spelling nazis we see online.

That one in Alabama....?
It was named for the one in the UK.
And I've never been to Alabama, so that's how I could have never been to Birmingham.

lol, I know, Im just saying that was my first thought after reading the word Birmingham...

and knowing that He's from Alabama, it seemed odd...

So these are the real life versions of spelling nazis we see online.
Pardon?

A spelling nazi would insist on it being written correctly, not throwing out all apostrophes because it's "too hard to figure out."

So these are the real life versions of spelling nazis we see online.

No, these would be more along the lines of 'Spelling Anarchists'.

And I've never been to Alabama, so that's how I could have never been to Birmingham.I live in Alabama, I think he got them switched. ;)

and knowing that He's from Alabama, it seemed odd...I've been there a few times. Honestly, I'd rather go to ATL. It's more fun, and there are a lot of things to do.

Pardon?

A spelling nazi would insist on it being written correctly, not throwing out all apostrophes because it's "too hard to figure out."

No, these would be more along the lines of 'Spelling Anarchists'.

How bout a compromise, What if we just call them spelling Commies?

Pardon?

A spelling nazi would insist on it being written correctly, not throwing out all apostrophes because it's "too hard to figure out."

No, these would be more along the lines of 'Spelling Anarchists'.

This one:

"In America butchering the Queen's English is a sport, but we expect the British to dot the "I's" and cross the "T's". I am shocked and devastated that Birmingham has decided to ban punctuation marks from street signs.

How can school teachers in America convince their young charges to punctuate correctly, when the Brits have basically said: To hell with punctuation."

To be honest I can't think of to many traffic signs other than place names that might have extensive punctuation. I don't remember STOP having one of these '?' hanging around. In Alberta we usually just use pictures and colours and it gets the point across.

Pardon?

A spelling nazi would insist on it being written correctly, not throwing out all apostrophes because it's "too hard to figure out."

Well, reading further, it appears it is grammar nazis causing the problem.

Apostrophes were used when the street retained some meaning behind its name, such as Market Street, so St. John's Street tended to be where St. John's church was.

Yet with new streets being added all the time, one still has to name them. An example given was Druids St., purists were complaining that it should be Druid's St.

Yet, really, why, it's a street name with no real meaning, one could call it Djgfek St., if one needed to.

So to put a stop to the amount of complaints, the council has decided on a uniform policy of no apostrophes since if you include them, people will always spot an inconsistency - should it be Druids St., as in there's lots of Druids there or Druid's St., as in it's owned by Druids.

Who cares, it's a made up name for a new street.

How bout a compromise, What if we just call them spelling Commies?

No, no, then they would be trying to get all the words together, no word longer than another, and get rid of those bourgeois vowels!

How can school teachers in America convince their young charges to punctuate correctly, when the Brits have basically said: To hell with punctuation."

The same way they keep the metric system at bay:

"You don't want to be like them silly europeans, now, do you?"

:p

No, no, then they would be trying to get all the words together, no word longer than another, and get rid of those bourgeois vowels!

Lmao, In Soviet Russia, Words Spell You!

Well, reading further, it appears it is grammar nazis causing the problem.It's the principle of the thing. ;) :p

Well, reading further, it appears it is grammar nazis causing the problem.

Apostrophes were used when the street retained some meaning behind its name, such as Market Street, so St. John's Street tended to be where St. John's church was.

Yet with new streets being added all the time, one still has to name them. An example given was Druids St., purists were complaining that it should be Druid's St.

Yet, really, why, it's a street name with no real meaning, one could call it Djgfek St., if one needed to.

So to put a stop to the amount of complaints, the council has decided on a uniform policy of no apostrophes since if you include them, people will always spot an inconsistency - should it be Druids St., as in there's lots of Druids there or Druid's St., as in it's owned by Druids.

Who cares, it's a made up name for a new street.

Btw, I'm surprised environmentalists havent weighed in. Apostrophes are extra paint.

The same way they keep the metric system at bay:

"You don't want to be like them silly europeans, now, do you?"

:p

Actually metric turns u French. During freedom fries season, some schools were calling metres freedom inches.

You would find it funny if you were to keep up with Caltrans' (California DoT, essentially) doings...

They've switched from imperial to metric and back to imperial... I was actually working for a general contractor when the last switch was made. XD

Ssshhh, they speak british in the UK, not english. :Þ

What are they teaching in schools these days?

Ssshhh, they speak british in the UK, not english. :Þ

Its a cross between German and English.
something about that Hanoverian dynasty couldn't be assed to learn how everyone else pronounced English, but having the authority to force everyone on the island to pronounce it their way.Britons was the fear of Catholics really worth letting a bunch of Germans butcher the English language ?

Its a cross between German and English.
something about that Hanoverian dynasty couldn't be assed to learn how everyone else pronounced English, but having the authority to force everyone on the island to pronounce it their way.Britons was the fear of Catholics really worth letting a bunch of Germans butcher the English language ?

Maybe its time to get the Jacobites back?

Not that surprising, they did this in Germany with the double s character.