Get the latest tech news
North Yorkshire apostrophe fans demand road signs with nowt taken out
Council says punctuation mark must go to suit computer databases, but grammar purists see signs of falling standards
A council has provoked the wrath of residents and linguists alike after announcing it would ban apostrophes on street signs to avoid problems with computer systems. Dr Ellie Rye, a lecturer in English language and linguistics at the University of York, said apostrophes were a relatively new invention in our writing and, often, context allows people to understand their meaning. A spokesperson from North Yorkshire council added: “All punctuation will be considered but avoided where possible because street names and addresses, when stored in databases, must meet the standards set out in BS7666.
Or read this on Hacker News