Fings ain’t what they used to be!

We’ve all heard of ‘Angry of Tunbridge Wells’,  but I have to confess to being ‘Confused of Harrogate’ and all because of a missing apostrophe on my road sign which proclaims that I live in ‘St Georges Road’.   

So, when giving my address on any communications do I opt for St George’s, inserting the apostrophe, or alternatively, do I appear to be a total ignoramus and leave it as it appears on the road sign and on any official letters from Harrogate Borough Council?

Until recently residents of another road in Harrogate were even more confused.   Did they live in Queen’s Road or Queens Road?  The sign at one end of the road announced it to be ‘Queen’s Road’ while at the other end it was without any apostrophe, becoming ‘Queens Road’.

In the wake of a campaign by a national newspaper highlighting such grammatical howlers, council staff around the country are being issued with an “idiot’s guide” on how to use apostrophes and other punctuation marks correctly in a bid to stem their misuse in street signs and official notices.  Hopefully, a copy of this worthy guide is on its way to Council officials in Harrogate.

According to a recent survey, nearly half the nation cannot use the possessive apostrophe and, most annoyingly, often replace ‘they’re’ with ‘their’  or become confused over ‘your’ and ‘you’re’.  It seems that around half of UK adults tested are unable to use the apostrophe properly.

In fact, when it comes to punctuation in general, we are abysmally muddle-headed or plain lazy.   All too often the humble comma is over-used as is the colon instead of a semi-colon. 

As for over-used words, one I would most definitely abolish from the English language is ‘nice’. Should I ever be so described, I would consider it the ultimate insult! 

Test your grammar skills here: The Ultimate Grammar Quiz