Bye bye apostrophe
Photo by James Cridland
I am dismayed by the news that Birmingham City Council has decided to ban apostrophes on street signs (read story here).
I suppose there are far more important things to worry about: the breakdown of society, rising knife crime, the credit crunch. But I love moaning, and I think this is actually quite important.
From now on, no sign produced by the council will contain an apostrophe, so for example, Queen’s Square will now be Queens Square. The ‘brains’ behind this decision claim that it will cut costs and avoid confusion. In my opinion, it’s just sloppiness and ‘dumbing down’.
By the way, I was not surprised to hear that it was Birmingham City Council who introduced this policy. Only a few months ago, they printed a leaflet promoting Birmingham’s recycling achievements, beautifully illustrated with an image of the city skyline. It was only after they had sent 720,000 leaflets to residents that they discovered the picture was of Birmingham, Alabama, not Birmingham UK. At first, they claimed it was not an error, just a ‘generic skyline’. Need I say more?
What do you think? Am I overreacting? Or do you agree? Let me know by adding your comments below.
Leif Kendall wrote:
Hi - Yes, I think you’re overreacting. You say it’s dumbing down, which is sort of true, but so what? Apostrophes in names are never used consistently - there are loads of examples in London where some names have apostrophes and some don’t. So apostrophes are already being used incorrectly or not at all - I think a consistent approach is a sensible step forward. - sounds like you just wanted an excuse to moan
February 5th, 2009 at 3:20 pmThe Topcopy wrote:
I never need an excuse to moan :o)
That’s a fair point - but why should the consistent approach always be the easy, or dare I say, lazy approach? If one council does it, shouldn’t all councils? Should Birmingham Council stop using apostrophes in all its other communications? I guess I just see it as a slippery slope….
February 5th, 2009 at 3:32 pmJames Cridland wrote:
In London, they’re putting them back… check this photo of St Johns Wood tube station (1920s tiling) or St John’s Wood (2000s temporary sign)…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/46221898
PS: Thanks for using my photo. I’d forgotten about that one.
February 5th, 2009 at 5:48 pmThe Topcopy wrote:
Great link! Ah, so maybe Birmingham council have got it right! Thanks for the reply, it’s a fab photo.
February 5th, 2009 at 6:00 pm