It’s heartbreaking for me to realize that very few people know the difference between “your” and “you’re”; and, some of those who do know the difference cannot be bothered with that one pesky tick mark our elementary school teachers told us was necessary when combining two words. Suddenly, “you’re” is becoming “youre.”
I blame text messaging for the impending extinction of the apostrophe. It’s too much of a hassle for today’s instant gratification generation to find that stupid punctuation key on their phones. Communication these days is all about speed, speed, speed. Correct grammar be damned.
Of course, there are those who are still using apostrophes, but many are doing so incorrectly. The website ApostropheAbuse.com grants us the opportunity to laugh at this. Here are just a few humorous examples:
[slideshow]
HahahahahahHah best photo’s ever! 😉
Im totally with you on this, Kim. Your totally on the mark.
Ha. See what I did there? Seriously, though, I’m with you. And you’re right. For me, though, it’s more annoying than heartbreaking to see you’re and your confused. Or they’re and their and there. Drive’s (ha, couldn’t resist another one) Drives me crazy.
However, I do have to tell one on myself. Ever since I’ve become a mom, I have been doing a lot more one-handed typing. Baby in one arm leaves only one hand free to respond to e-mails. And in those instances, I’ve been guilty of eliminating the apostrophe as well as caps. Same crime as the instant gratification generation but different motive. Does that make it any better?
Steph, your forgiven. Ha.
That is one of my biggest pet peeves. I have to subscribe to that site!
One time, my boss got upset because I wrote PDFs instead of PDF’s. She made me go back in and add apostrophes. I don’t understand why.
Your boss is wrong 😉
Maybe they should go away if people know the contraction but can’t remember what letters are missing or understand how to use an apostrophe?