~by Denise O’Brien Van
I’ve lived with apostrophes all my life (see writer’s name.)
And a recent friendly discussion about whether to write 1900 or 1900’s got me thinking about when and how to use that airborne punctuation mark.
Overuse and underuse of the flying comma are everywhere. We’ve all seen the signs:
Open Sunday’s
Were open today
No bicycle’s on the sidewalk
Its a deal
I learned proper usage of the comma in the sky from dedicated grammar school teachers.
And why was it called grammar school?
The word grammar comes from a string of Greek words about writing. According to Wikipedia, the Greek concept of grammar was about understanding the rules and structure of language, which includes punctuation.
The Romans and then the French got hold of the Greek word and changed it a little, and then the English finally got us to “grammar.”
So in grammar school, pupils are taught, among other things, to punctuate.
And, what exactly, is punctuation for? The answer is clarity. All those squiggles and dots help readers make sense of what they’re reading.
And, what exactly, do apostrophes do? They indicate ownership: The bee’s knees. They indicate ommissions to form contractions: “It’s” is a short way of saying “it is.”
Apostrophes started in Greece, too, where it meant “turning away.”
My grammar school teachers taught me how to use my favorite punctuation mark in words besides my maiden name. The English teachers at Jefferson High School were strict about punctuation, especially apostrophes, and, believe me, the rigorous nuns in Dubuque’s Clarke College English department were fanatic about it as they read and graded my English literature papers and exams.
When I became a journalism student and Daily Iowan cub reporter at the University of Iowa, I got my own copy of the “Associated Press (AP) Stylebook,” a handy manual listing the ways reporters should spell and punctuate as they write newspaper articles.
It’s been my Bible ever since because it’s logically arranged in plain English, and at 312 pages of “how to” in hard cover (2013 edition), less imposing and easier to navigate than the other major usage guide, “The Chicago Manual of Style,” where the help section comes in at 760 pages in its 1993 edition. Granted, the “Chicago” is used mainly for long scholarly papers (mostly how to footnote), not for the reporting of what happened today.
But they both agree that it’s 1900s (a plural noun for describing the early part of the 20th century), not 1900’s (a possessive noun).
***
Now aren’t you glad there are 11 apostrophes in this column, along with 21 commas, 19 periods, seven sets of quote marks, six sets of parentheses, three question marks and three colons? Think of how diffficult it would have been to read without all those specks and wiggles that let you know when to stop and then keep going, pause, pause a little longer, or answer a question. (And in this afterward, there is one apostrophe, plus seven commas, two periods, one question mark and one set of parentheses).
Denise O’Brien Van of Jefferson is a former newspaper reporter and public relations practitioner. The O apostrophe in her surname is short for “son of Brien.” Retired, she now writes for local nonprofits, and occasionally for local news outlets, still trying to use correct punctuation always.
