Imagine the English language without
apostrophes. Let us close our eyes for a while and think what a smoking ruin
the world might have been in. Trendy, grammatically incorrect phrases like “Your
Stupid” and ”theres nothing wrong.. ” will be rampaging and plaguing our
language and literature. Worst of all, these wrong phrases could end up influencing
the minds of our younger generation and it will lead them astray to think, write
and use these broken phrases. All of these will eventually lead to the erosion of
and degradation of the beauty of English language. Therefore, for the preservation
of such rich language with a relatively long history, the apostrophe should be
kept.
Firstly, in order to efficiently put the
message that we intend to convey across clearly, apostrophes are very
important. Without apostrophes, there would be unnecessary confusions that arise
and lead to misinterpretation of the original intended meanings of the author.
Thus, this misunderstanding will spread on and eventually lead to rather embarrassing
results. For example, according to Nury Vittachi’s article 3 Beautiful Terms Killed by the Internet, he has mentioned of an
English academy started by Anu in India. However, because someone has dropped
the apostrophe, Anu’s English Academy became Anus English Academy. Now, I
believe that we all can see the huge difference between having and not having
an apostrophe. Sure, you may think that apostrophes are so annoying having to
put them to denote possession. However, take this instance of Anu’s to Anus
English Academy. An established institution for passing on the wonders of
language arts to the next generation has instantly been downgraded to a ridiculous
one-of-a-kind place to teach your butt how to talk. Aye, you may laugh at this
nonsense, but this is the kind of glaring error when apostrophes are absent. It is so out-of-this-world it doesn’t make
sense without the apostrophe. Hence, in view of Anu’s English Academy, to
prevent such shamefully hilarious expressions from arising and evoking an
expression of disgust and surprise on people, the apostrophe is mandatory.
Apart from producing a myriad of
confusions, the absence of apostrophes is going to give everyone a hard time
trying to speak and write what is on their mind. This will hinder the
efficiency in conversation and also make talking and penning down your thoughts
a pain in the neck. For example, if apostrophes were removed, shortened,
dynamic phrases like “couldn’t, wouldn’t, mightn’t” will have to be spelt in
full as “could not, would not, and might not.” Spelling things in full is really
a chore and is very troublesome especially if you want to convey a message and
get a reply fast. Also, writing in full makes a casual chat between one’s
friend and him become like a conversation between two diplomats or important
people. And this, brings us to the beauty of having apostrophes. Apostrophes are short, compact phrases that
are supposed to be used in our daily conversations with our friends and family
or just about anybody to create a more relaxed atmosphere. With this more
informal setting, we get to let down our hair and talk our hearts out on our
views about a matter to let loose after a hard day at work. It tears down the
walls of seriousness and lets people have heart to heart chats that will allow
them to relish in this game of exchanging intellect and views on different
matters. And hence, without the apostrophe, life would really be a 24-hour
intense environment with no rest until you snuggle in bed. How do you like this
kind of lifestyle?
Other than causing bewilderment and also
being an ultimate chore, the apostrophe is an integral part of the English language’s
history. Apostrophes are almost as old as time and definitely have been helping
to define specifically and clearing the air since the day it was born. Since
apostrophes have existed for such a long time, and is on the decline in usage
now, then it is time that we take action to save this situation before it gets
worse off instead of abandoning it. There is a Chinese saying that, translated literally
says “It’s not too late to mend the fold even if some sheep have escaped”.
Faced with this current situation of the abuse of the English language, we
should instead find a way out of this disastrous problem instead of letting this
virus plague us even further and gnaw our language culture away even further.
Let me give you an analogy. Apostrophes are like that sweater/T-shirt in our
closets that has been there since forever and it is that essential apparel that
you have. However, now some nuisance moth decided feast on it and there are
holes in it. How would you feel about it and what will you do? If it were to be
me, I would go get some needle and thread and mend the hole so I can wear it
again. Leaving it to the moths doing nothing about it is a rather illogical
course of action. And if anyone were to be in my shoes, I believe that they
would do the same. So, if you can have the initiative and instinct to mend your
own favourite outfit, then why not put in a little more effort to mend that
little apostrophe hole in your writing the next time and play your part in
helping to conserve the wonders of the mother tongue of approximately 359
million people.
In retrospect, I firmly believe that the
apostrophe should not be discarded. Since it has been serving us for so many
years, throwing it away will be like ditching your long-time friend. Therefore,
if it is not okay to ditch a long-time friend, why expunge the apostrophe? Yes,
friends can be annoying and they can cause trouble, but what is life without
friends? Apostrophes have helped us have clear references, show possession and
have become one of the most important and integral part of the English language
culture. Therefore, I urge you to join me in a campaign to SAVE THAT APOSTROPHE.
Yes, haters will continue to hate, but for the sake of the development and preservation
of the language, I think it is necessary and it’s definitely time to begin the
fight against this pathogen from wreaking havoc in our language.
