I make a bit of a fuss about using apostrophes appropriately with my students, but the truth is I'm not all that bothered about them. In the recent kerfuffle over the Yorkshire apostrophe I'm very much in the camp of the Bard from Barnsley and looking forward to the demise of this tricky bit of punctuation. But in the meantime I tell my students that since some 70% or so of those taking exams haven't a clue how to use the things, they may as well stand out a bit as experts, which isn't too difficult if you let yourself recall what you were taught in primary school. Putting the apostrophe in the right place will impress those examiners of English who actually themselves know how to use the things.
But having said I'm pretty relaxed over the things, I must say it's hard to figure out how someone from Yorkshire might not realise the beautiful precision of Gerrit in t'bin. How could it be otherwise?
Must say, it's good to know that Ian McMillan's ultimate plan is for the royal family to speak like us. A worthy project indeed.
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