Forgive me, but I simply must unburden myself of the rage I feel toward those who engage in an ever-growing assault on the English language. No, it's not the endless use of terms like "24/7" or "inside the box" or "outside the box", tedious though they may be. It's not ebonics, for in the end I would like to think that foolishness such as this will collapse under its own weight.
The scourge that surreptitiously threatens to scuttle the very framework of the language is apostrophe abuse. Yes, it's the wholesale insertion of apostophes in order to mistakenly indicate plural! This madness must stop! Note the definition of apostrophe:
The superscript sign ( ' ) used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations.
Now, read the beginning of this ABC News story:
The Hershey Company -- one of the nation's best known candy company's -- may not have Willy Wonka's golden tickets, but it does have a secret weapon: a Cherry Cordial Creme Kiss.Is it not self-evident that this should be companies? Is it too much to ask that people who write for a living actually know how to write? This is no isolated case, I am endlessly bombarded by ads in the newspaper hawking "Camry's" and "Corolla's" for sale and I am left to search for the possessive or contraction that would justify the employment of the apostrophe, to no avail.
Certainly, I have committed grammatical errors for I am an imperfect creature constantly striving to improve. I do, however, respect the apostrophe for its contribution to the language and feel it my duty to speak up against its abuse.
Having made that point, I can now resume grousing about more weighty matters. I thank you for your indulgence.
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