Thursday 10 December 2015

Apostrophe misuse - #becauseitschristmas

Amongst my pet hates - be warned, the list is getting longer the older I get - is apostrophe misuse.

A recent post on social media for an upmarket wine shop in a nearby market town said the following:

"I enjoy a glass of wine each night for it's health benefits.  The other glasses are for my witty comebacks and flawless dance moves".

Now, I shared this because I found the sentiment amusing, but also stated that rogue apostrophe really needs removing!

I've always been a great believer in the 'if in doubt, leave it out' rule, but somehow this has resulted in my most recent source of apostrophe-related stress.

The culprit?  The Asda Christmas advert and its hashtag #becauseitschristmas.

Now I'm fairly certain that you can use apostrophes in hashtags.  I don't think you get charged by the symbol or anything. 

So why - particularly when we're trying to teach 10 and 11 year olds for the SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) SATs - is a major supermarket and their advertising agency committing such a heinous crime of apostrophe omission and misuse?

I know there will be some people reading this thinking to themselves 'with the current state of the world have you not got more pressing things to concern your brain Bach?'

Yes, that's a good point, but when you can't control the big things in life, you can at least try to get the small things right.

Moreover, grammar is important.  If you're applying for jobs or writing e-mails in a business context, if your grammar and punctuation is appalling it's not going to create a good impression.

The Barclays Lifeskills advert, which gives us helpful advice on how we should use our social media to get a job, could also do with explaining to people the difference between 'it's' and 'its', and 'there', 'their' and 'they're'.  It could also tell them that it's 'should have', not 'should of'.

While they're at it, could they please let Asda know it should be #becauseit'sChristmas!

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